Bracing and Padding the Inside of Crates

Picture this: you’ve spent hundreds of dollars to have your priceless family heirloom
shipped to your new home. You hired the best crate-building company you knew and thought your item would be secure. However, when the crate arrives at your new home, you open it to find your item shattered into a dozen pieces. The item wasn’t adequately secured. Ship N Crate has an easy-to-follow list of suggestions to ensure this doesn’t happen to you.

Why This Matters
Even if you aren’t shipping an irreplaceable family heirloom, a damaged or destroyed item
isn’t what you want to see upon delivery. Hiring experts to

repair luxury items like sculptures, paintings, and electronics can cost thousands of dollars. However, This outcome can be avoided if your crate is padded and braced from within.

Tips for Shipping
Check this List Before Your Item is Crated:
• Will the crate fit your item correctly? It’s risky to ship an item in a crate that only it’s
the item in an awkward position. A sculpture shipped at an odd angle will put stress in areas where the item wasn’t made to hold its weight. You could expect it to get
cracked if the crate abruptly shifted in transit. Find a crate that sits your item
correctly.
• Building Supports. Some items, like sculptures, have weak points or thin pieces that
shouldn’t move much. This is why building beams or adding scaffolding inside a crate is beneficial. This provides simple support for critical areas.
• Cushion Surfaces. The surfaces inside the crate, especially those the item comes in direct contact with, should be padded with shock-absorbing material. It’s easy to
pick the correct material if you account for an item’s density and weight. We recommend polyurethane or polyethylene foam.
• Fill Empty Space. In crates, there will often be empty pockets of space. Packing these spaces with cushioning materials like foam peanuts, paper, shavings, or bubble wrap is a good idea. This will add a barrier to absorb the shock of a fall and help keep your item from shifting in the crate.

In Conclusion
When preparing a crate for your item, there is no such thing as being too secure. Follow our advice and contact Ship N Crate if you have any questions. When we build custom crates, we don’t take chances with your items. Let us help make your next shipment a stress-free experience.