To wrap a dining table, first remove the legs or leaves if they detach, then pad the table top with moving blankets or bubble wrap, protect all four corners with extra layers, and secure everything with stretch wrap rather than tape applied directly to the furniture. Wrap the legs separately, bag the fixings, and always carry and store the table top on its edge rather than flat.<\/p>\n
Most damage to dining tables during a move happens in three places: the corners, the leg joints, and the finish itself where tape has been stuck to it. A methodical wrap addresses all three, and it takes less time than repairing a chipped corner afterwards.<\/p>\n
You will want moving blankets or thick furniture pads, bubble wrap with large bubbles for corners, stretch film on a roll, corrugated cardboard sheets or corner protectors, packing tape, a marker, resealable bags for fixings, and the relevant screwdrivers or an allen key set.<\/p>\n
One material to avoid is polythene sheeting wrapped tightly against a solid wood or lacquered top for long periods. It traps condensation, which can bloom a finish or lift veneer. Where a table will be stored for weeks rather than days, keep a breathable blanket next to the surface and use stretch film only as the outer layer.<\/p>\n
Clear the table completely, then turn it upside down onto a blanket on the floor so the top is protected while you work underneath. Two people should always turn a table, lifting from the ends rather than the middle of a long side.<\/p>\n
Remove the legs if they unbolt. This single step reduces the risk of damage more than anything else, since legs and their fixing points are the weakest part of a table under transport stress. Take out any extending leaves and treat them as separate items. Photograph the underside before you undo anything, which makes reassembly straightforward months later.<\/p>\n
Put all bolts, washers and brackets into a resealable bag, label it, and tape it to the underside of the table top rather than putting it in a box of miscellaneous items. Fixings that go missing are far more inconvenient than they sound, because dining table hardware is often specific to the model.<\/p>\n
Start with a clean, dry top. Trapped grit under a wrap will be dragged across the finish by every vibration in a van.<\/p>\n
Lay a moving blanket over the top surface first, since a soft layer against the finish prevents both scuffing and any chance of bubble wrap texture printing into a warm lacquer. Then add bubble wrap over the blanket, bubbles facing outwards, and bring it over the edges.<\/p>\n
Corners need the most attention. Add folded cardboard or purpose made corner protectors at each corner, then wrap extra bubble wrap around them. On a glass top, tape a large X of packing tape across the glass over the blanket layer, which helps hold fragments together in the event of a break, then pad heavily and sandwich the glass between two sheets of cardboard.<\/p>\n
Finish with stretch film wound around the whole assembly. Stretch film grips itself, so nothing needs to be taped to the table. If you do need tape for extra security, apply it only to the film or the blanket, never to the finish or to unprotected wood.<\/p>\n
Bundle detached legs together with a blanket between them so they cannot rub, then wrap the bundle in bubble wrap and stretch film. Pay particular attention to the feet, which chip easily, and to any metal collars or brackets left attached.<\/p>\n
Leaves should be wrapped individually with blanket and film, then labelled clearly so you know which leaf belongs to which table and which way round it fits. On extending tables, the leaf edges carry the alignment pins and are easy to damage.<\/p>\n
If the legs do not detach, wrap each one individually before wrapping the frame, and add generous padding where the leg meets the top. That joint takes the load if the table is ever set down carelessly.<\/p>\n
Carry a wrapped table top on its edge, vertically, with one person at each end. Held flat, a large top flexes across its width and can crack along a joint or stress a veneer. On its edge it is far more rigid.<\/p>\n
In a van, stand the top vertically against a side wall and strap it in place, with a blanket between the table and the wall. Do not lay heavy boxes on a table top even when wrapped, because point loading is what cracks tops in transit. Legs and leaves can travel flat, tucked where they will not slide.<\/p>\n
For longer term storage, choose somewhere dry with a stable temperature. Unheated garages and lofts swing between damp and hot, which is what causes joints to loosen and veneer to lift. Raise the table off a concrete floor on battens or pallets so moisture cannot wick up into it, and leave a small air gap around the wrap rather than pressing it against a wall.<\/p>\n
Solid wood is relatively forgiving physically but sensitive to humidity, so breathability matters most. Veneered and high gloss tops scratch easily and need the softest possible layer against the surface, plus rigid cardboard over the flat areas. Glass demands the X of tape, cardboard on both faces and a strictly vertical position. Marble and stone are heavy and brittle: never carry a stone top flat, and always support it along its full length.<\/p>\n
Metal frames are usually the least troublesome, though powder coating scuffs and any exposed welds or sharp edges should be padded so they do not damage whatever they travel next to.<\/p>\n
If a table is already tired, a move is often what finishes it off, and it can be more sensible to replace than to transport. Our modern dining tables UK sale<\/a> covers a broad range of shapes and materials, while the modern extending dining tables UK<\/a> suit homes where the new room is a different size from the old one. For anyone downsizing, the glass dining tables UK<\/a> range keeps a smaller room feeling open. Have a look at the full collection at Furniture in Fashion<\/a>, where we offer free delivery to most UK mainland postcodes.<\/p>\n Unwrap the table in the room it is going to live in rather than in a hallway, so you are not carrying an unprotected top through doorways. Cut stretch film carefully with a blade held flat against the film, angled away from the surface.<\/p>\n Let a table that has been in cold storage acclimatise for a day before you tighten everything fully. Wood moves with temperature and humidity, and bolts done up hard in a cold garage can be under strain in a warm room. Turn the top upside down on a blanket again to refit the legs, tighten in a diagonal sequence rather than one corner at a time, then check for wobble on the finished floor and adjust any levelling feet.<\/p>\n Storage is a different problem from moving, and the wrap that protects a table in a van will damage it over six months in a lock up. The difference is moisture. Plastic sheeting and bubble wrap trap humidity against the surface, and a sealed wooden top will bloom, cloud or grow mould in a cold unit.<\/p>\n For storage, use breathable materials against the table itself. Moving blankets, cotton dust sheets or acid free paper all allow moisture to move. If you want a plastic outer layer for dust, leave the bottom open rather than taping it closed, so air can circulate.<\/p>\n Store the top flat and supported across its full width if you possibly can. A large top stood on edge for months will take a set, particularly a solid timber top, and glass tops stood upright must be on a padded batten rather than directly on concrete. Keep the table off the floor on pallets or battens, since concrete wicks moisture upwards.<\/p>\n Photograph the table before you wrap it, from several angles and close up on any existing marks. If a removal firm damages it, that photograph is the difference between a settled claim and a disagreement. Check whether your policy covers items you packed yourself, because many do not, and if the table is genuinely valuable it may be worth paying the firm to wrap it.<\/p>\n Label everything, including the obvious. Write the contents on the fixings bag, tape it to the underside of the top rather than a leg, and mark the wrapped top with which face is up. Number the legs and mark their corresponding corner if the table has any asymmetry, because tables that went together perfectly can fight you on reassembly when parts get swapped.<\/p>\n Yes, if they unbolt. Detached legs travel more safely, the top becomes easier to carry, and you remove the joint that is most likely to fail under transport stress.<\/p>\n No. Packing tape can pull lacquer, leave adhesive residue and mark wood. Wrap in blanket or stretch film first and apply tape only to those layers.<\/p>\n Tape an X across the glass over a blanket layer, pad it with bubble wrap, sandwich it between cardboard sheets, and transport it standing vertically and strapped in place.<\/p>\n Use both. A blanket goes next to the finish to prevent scuffing and texture imprints, with bubble wrap over it for impact absorption, particularly at corners.<\/p>\n Keep it upright in a dry space with a stable temperature, raised off concrete floors, with a breathable layer against the surface rather than sealed plastic that traps condensation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Wrapping a dining table properly is mostly about protecting three vulnerable areas: the corners, the leg joints and the finish itself. This guide runs through the materials worth having ready, why dismantling the legs and leaves reduces risk more than any amount of padding, and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":59018,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3334],"tags":[75,902,293,139],"class_list":["post-59017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-how-to-guide-for-your-home","tag-dining-table","tag-furniture-care","tag-moving-house","tag-storage"],"acf":[],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furnitureinfashion.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furnitureinfashion.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furnitureinfashion.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furnitureinfashion.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furnitureinfashion.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59017"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.furnitureinfashion.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59017\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furnitureinfashion.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furnitureinfashion.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furnitureinfashion.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furnitureinfashion.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Unwrapping and Reassembly<\/h3>\n
Wrapping for Storage Rather Than Transit<\/h3>\n
Insurance, Labelling and the Boring Details<\/h3>\n
Frequently Asked Questions<\/h3>\n
Should you remove dining table legs before moving?<\/h3>\n
Can you put tape directly on a dining table?<\/h3>\n
How do you wrap a glass dining table top?<\/h3>\n
Is bubble wrap or a moving blanket better?<\/h3>\n
How should a wrapped table be stored long term?<\/h3>\n