Moving soon? You’ve probably got a lot on your mind and your to-do list. You may not have even considered taking down, packing, moving and re-installing your art..

But this part of the moving process is one of the most important, given how precious, delicate and valuable your art might be. To help you get it right, we’ve come up with several quick tips to help keep your art safe during the move and install it correctly at the other end.

Take art down with care

When moving art there are three main opportunities for damage – removing, transporting and re-installing at the other end.

When taking art down, clear the area around the pieces and take your time. Wear art-handling cloth gloves so that the oil from your hands doesn’t affect the frame or smudge the art and be sure not to touch the art itself.

Get your packing materials ready before you start. These could include:

• Packing tape or acid-free artist tape if you can find it.
• A pair of scissors.
• Water and grease resistant paper like glassine to wrap art with.
• Foam or a blanket.
• Bubble wrap, styrofoam or other effective padding.
• Correctly sized cardboard boxes.
• Cardboard corners and brown paper for framed work.

Once your art is down, pack it right away to minimise the chance of damage.

Pack art like a professional

We’ve seen hundreds of artworks damaged or even completely ruined during transit simply because they were incorrectly packed. The fact is, unless you’re an experienced expert there’s no guaranteeing your works won’t be damaged in transit.

To make the process more difficult, different types of art need to be packed with different materials and in different ways. To give you an example of how to pack art safely, here’s a quick step-by-step guide to packing framed works:

1. Use artist tape to tape a star onto the front of the glass. That way if it breaks in transit it won’t damage your art.
2. Put your art face down on brown paper or glassine and wrap edges being careful not to touch the art.
3. Use artist tape to secure the paper to the back of the frame and leave a bit unattached so it can be easily removed. The less tape the better.
4. Tape cardboard corners to the art to protect the frame then lay the wrapped art down on packing material.
5. Wrap the art with one or more layers of packing material then use packing tape to secure it. Make sure the packing tape doesn’t touch the art at any stage.
6. Put the painting in a box that’s a little larger than it to leave room for packing materials. If you’re packing more than one art piece make sure there’s cardboard in between them to ensure they don’t bump into each other. Don’t pack multiple large pieces in one box as they’re likely to damage each other.

The process for packing an unframed piece is a little different – you’ll need to use glassine, cardboard, artist tape and packing material to keep art flat during transit. Sculptures require different treatment again, depending on their size and the medium used.

Once your art is packed it’s time to load it into your moving truck. Store it on its side, not flat as it’ll better absorb impact that way, then secure all other large items that you’re transporting (or even better, schedule a trip just for your art).

Hanging your art

Unpacking your art and re-installing it is another chance to damage it so take extra care during this stage. Or to avoid this altogether and make sure your art arrives in one piece let the professionals at ArtPerfect handle the entire process.

We have decades of highly-specialised experience transporting and hanging art, including museums and some of Australia’s leading fine art collectors. We use the industry’s best equipment, and practices to ensure that art is never damaged in transit and that it’s hung correctly in the best possible spot on arrival.

Need help moving and re-installing your art? Get in touch with us today and we’ll provide an estimate over the phone or a quote after inspection.