11 Must-Know Tips For Moving In The Summer

Are you moving house this summer? Here are 11 must-know tips for how you can survive moving in the summer. 

 With the sun coming out, it can make the doom and gloom of moving seem a little less.  However, there are a few things you must be aware of and do slightly differently if you’re moving during this time.

Moving during the heat can be seriously uncomfortable, but if you’re prepared, you can definitely make it much less painful and avoid being a sweaty mess!

This post is all about 11-must know tips for moving in the summer.

TIP 1: Book Any Services You Need Well In Advance

Summer is a very popular time for moving so things will get booked up very quickly. If you’re using a removals company or storage service, make sure you call up and reserve a place as soon as you can.

Even if you don’t have your exact moving date yet, you should still call around to check upcoming availability.

You can let the removal company know that you’re thinking of moving roughly around this time to see if they’ll pencil in a rough date for you. Once your moving date has been confirmed, you can let them know.

TIP 2: Plan The Timing Of Your Summer Holiday Carefully 

It’s best to avoid booking your summer holiday right around the time of your move if you can help it. Things can take longer than expected in summer, especially if you are relying on other people (as they’ll be on their summer holidays too).

We recommend waiting at least 2 weeks after you’ve moved in before going away. You want to avoid a situation where something is delayed and you’re having to run off to catch a flight the next day!

The exception to this is if you have lots of family and friends on standby to deal with any issues that pop up. 

Tip 3: Pack Early In The Morning and Late In The Evening

The summer heat can quite literally knock you out. That’s why you should never try to pack up your house at the peak times during the day. It will become unbearable.

Whilst you may not be an early bird, if you can force yourself to get up early in the morning (around 5am or 6am), you’ll find it’s much cooler and easier to pack. By 9am is when it usually starts becoming too hot.

You can also pack late in the evenings, but this might be a risky choice for you. It can become very tempting to slack off and go enjoy a summer stroll instead.

TIP 4: Keep Windows Shut And Blinds Covered During Peak Times

If you’re in a situation where you need to pack during the day, or worst yet, it’s just so unbearably hot all day and all night, then a couple things which can help are:

• Keeping your windows shut during the peak times if it’s exceptionally hot. This might sound counterintuitive, but you’ll just be blowing hot air into your house
  
  
• Pull down the blinds during the day to prevent the sun coming in. If you currently have no blinds or sheer curtains, you can even stick some bin bags to the windows to do the trick !

TIP 5: Stock Up On Cooling And Hydration Supplies

Staying hydrated and cool is a must. If you know you’ll be moving in summer, make sure you stock up on cooling supplies in advance. If you leave it to the last minute, you might find things are starting to sell out.  Some items that can help are:

Fans

Getting a good fan can make a huge difference, but you’ll need to use your common sense with this one. If your fan is just blowing around hot air when you’re packing, turn it off !

Ice cube holder and ice lollies

Ice cubes will come in super handy for drinks and also to help cool down pets.

Water spray

Put the spay in the fridge and it will be a life-saver when you need it most. Water spray is a lot more refreshing and convenient than trying to pour water on the back of your neck and having a puddle left on the floor.

Cold towels

Stock up on cold ice towels and wrap around the back of your neck or forehead when packing.

Water bottles

This one is a no brainer, especially if you have to make multiple trips in the car. Make sure you don’t go anywhere without one!

Cooling box/ice bag 

Having a cooling bag that you can carry with you is extremely important. This way you can transport your drinks and any heat sensitive items (see below).

If you also want to take some food from your fridge and freezer with you to the new house, then a cooling bag is a must. 

Insect bite cream

Given lots of insects will start coming out in summer, make sure you have bite cream. The last thing you want is to have an uncontrollable itch when packing up around the house. 

TIP 6: Expect Packing To Take Longer Than Planned With Regular Breaks

If you think it’ll take you only 1 day to pack up a room, double that time frame and be realistic. If it’s boiling hot, you’re going to lose several hours in the day where it’s simply too hot to pack. You’ll also need to go slow and take regular breaks to avoid overheating.  

This is why it’s extra important to start planning early when you’re moving in summer. Leaving everything to the last minute will be no fun for anyone.

Also keep in mind that if you’re using a removals company, they will most likely be struggling with the heat too. Don’t expect them to finish very quickly and remember to be considerate.

Tip 7: Pay Extra Attention To Kids, Pets And The Elderly

It can be very easy to get distracted with all the packing when moving house, but don’t forget to pay extra attention to those that are vulnerable around you, especially kids, pets, and elderly relatives. 

Make sure they’re drinking plenty of water and staying cool. Giving them ice lollies/cubes and placing a cool towel on them will help make the heat slightly more manageable.  

Tip 8: Be Careful How You Pack Items Sensitive To Heat

There are some items that will be sensitive to heat. These include flammable items, medicines, plants etc. 

Make sure you don’t put your boxes directly in the sunlight where these items could get damaged. If it’s exceptionally hot, you can get a cooling bag to store medicines in.

We recommend grouping any heat sensitive items together, so you know where they all are and you can keep them in a cool area of your house (i.e. downstairs cupboard with a fan). Do not put them on the top floor of your house (this will be the hottest area!).

For moving plants in the summer, remember you first need to keep them alive and not kill them off during the heat, so don’t forget to water them every day.

You may also want to consider moving your plants to the garage (if you have one), as it can be cooler in here during the day given there are no windows to let the sunlight heat up the room.

Tip 9: Don’t Pack Away Your Cooling Supplies By Mistake

Once you’ve purchased your cooling supplies (fan etc), make sure you know exactly where they are on moving day and they haven’t got buried in the depths of a box somewhere. It will make moving day a lot smoother if you don’t have to stress about finding the stuff you need to cool you down. 

Tip 10: Dress The Part

Fashion tends to go out the window when moving but in summer there are a few things you'll want to keep in mind:  

•  Make sure you’re wearing linen or cotton. It will make a massive difference and you’ll feel much more comfortable when packing up
  
  
• Avoid wearing nylon, polyester or synthetic fabrics, as this will trap in the heat and you’ll be sweating non-stop
  
  
• Don’t forget the sunhat, sunglasses and sunscreen. This is especially important if you’re having to pack up things in the garden and will be outside a lot
  
  
• Wear sensible shoes (trainers) with sweat proof socks. Whilst it can be tempting to wear flip flops/sandals/open toe shoes, this is not a good idea when moving. Something can very easily slip and drop on your toe!
  
  
• Hair ties for keeping your hair out of your face and off the back of your neck

Tip 11: Expect The Unexpected When Moving In The Summer

We all want moving to be over with as quickly as possible, but in the blistering heat, you never know what could happen. You should factor into your planning that something could go wrong.

In extreme heat, trees can catch fire and roads can start sinking in. If this is the case, you or the removals company may not be able to travel safely, so there could be some delays in moving to your new home. Whilst this isn’t ideal, remember safety always comes first and it’s definitely not worth taking any risks for the sake of speeding things up.

Extreme heat is less likely in the UK (although 2023 is forecasted to be hotter than 2022!), but you can definitely end up in traffic jams at high temperatures, so you should plan your trips carefully.

Take less busy routes, travel after peak hours, and keep a box on moving day for all your accessible cooling items (fans, drinks, towels etc).

So to wrap up….

Key Takeaways

When moving in the summer, 11 tips you should remember are:

• TIP 1: Book any services you need well in advance
• TIP 2: Plan the timing of your summer holiday carefully
• TIP 3: Pack early in the morning and late in the evening
• TIP 4: Keep windows shut and blinds covered during peak times
• TIP 5: Stock up on cooling and hydration supplies early
• TIP 6: Expect packing to take longer than planned with regular breaks
• TIP 7: Pay extra attention to kids, pets, vulnerable and elderly people
• TIP 8: Be careful how you pack items sensitive to heat
• TIP 9: Don’t pack away your cooling supplies by mistake
• TIP 10: Dress the part
• TIP 11: Expect the unexpected

This post was all about moving house in the summer.

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