What to Wear When Moving: Your Dress Code on Moving Day

Moving days are not just insanely busy but they can be kind of tricky and even dangerous at times. The stress-filled unpredictability that those move days bring about can easily catch some home movers off guard.

Some home movers but not you, right?

Being 100% ready for your moving day is a long process and one little detail that you may not have thought about during your pre-move preparation is what to wear on moving day.

If you happen to have long hair, you will definitely remember to keep it contained during the move so that it won’t get tangled in furniture or boxes. However, there are many more things to keep in mind that just taking care of your long hair.

Learn more about the dress code on moving day and specifically, what to wear on the day of your move.

Why what you wear on Moving day matters more than you think

Throughout the super busy and often chaotic day of the move, your mind will most likely be preoccupied with important issues to resolve and even more important things to do. Moving days tend to be rather stressful and could sometimes be a bit dangerous too, so it’s vital that you cover all your bases when it comes to moving day safety.

It may have never crossed your mind that what you wear on your Moving day will make a difference in any way… until an accident or an injury could stress out, in hindsight, unfortunately, the importance of your choice of apparel.

Don’t wait until it’s too late! Instead, be proactive and learn what to wear when moving house, especially when you’re moving large furniture and heavy cardboard boxes.

Here are the two major reasons why you should be really careful about your moving day outfit – clothes, shoes, and accessories – when the Big Day knocks on the door.

Comfort as in comfortable clothing and footwear

Wearing uncomfortable shoes on moving day could easily endanger the safety of the entire home moving operation.

The clothes and the shoes you wear on your move day should be, above all, comfortable.

Below you can find more information about what being comfortable will mean in your specific relocation case, but it’s good to keep in mind that, from the very beginning, you’ll be subjected to many movements that you may not be well accustomed to stretching, squatting, bending, twisting, walking backward, and so on.

Therefore, forget about being fashionable – you’re after the comfort and freedom of movement that your clothing and footwear will provide.

Safety as in accident-free and injury-free Moving day

You’ll soon learn that being comfortable on the day of your house move is not enough – what you wear when moving should also provide you with a high degree of safety as well.

Look at it this way: if you happened to sustain an injury due to a bad choice of clothes or shoes during your move-out day or move-in day, then it would be of little comfort that what you wore felt comfortable enough.

So, read on to learn what you should wear on Moving day to get that extra level of protection.

What CLOTHES to wear on Moving day

In short, the best clothes to wear when moving are both comfortable and safe. To elaborate on your choice of apparel – a conscious choice that will have a significant impact on how your move pans out, find out what “the best clothing” means in the context of a residential move.

So, what type of clothes to wear on your moving day?

• COMFORTABLE CLOTHES. A mentioned above, you will be constantly moving around the house, including going out the home and going back in countless times, so you’d better prepare one of the comfiest set of clothes you own. The fabric of the clothes you select as your moving day outfit should be flexible enough so that they don’t restrict your movements in any way. You’ll need to be able to bend your knees with ease too. As a rule of thumb, a pair of comfortable jeans and a plain T-shirt should be a good choice if you’re moving in the summer.
• CLOSE-FITTING CLOTHES. You also need your moving day garments to be close-fitting so that they won’t accidentally get caught on something and become the cause for a nonsensical accident. If you’re wearing a shirt or another piece of clothing with loose ends, make sure it’s buttoned up, zipped up or tucked in for the sake of safety.
• BREATHABLE CLOTHES. If you’re moving in the summer, it is a very good idea to wear clothes made of breathable fabric so that you can prevent possible overheating or excessive sweating. Avoid wearing any pieces of clothing that will block the air from reaching your skin, like ones made from leather or other synthetic materials.
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  It’s perfectly fine to copy the moving fashion of professional movers. In fact, you’re encouraged to do just that.
  SEASON-APPROPRIATE CLOTHES. Naturally, what clothes you wear when you move house will depend on the season as well. Dress lightly for a summer move and more heavily when moving in the winter. However, even in the case of a winter move, you shouldn’t have too many pieces of warm clothing on you because the never-ending strenuous activities will make you sweat even more.
• SECURE CLOTHES. In the best case scenario, you’ll have clothes that have 1) multiple pockets, and 2) secure pockets that can be zipped shut. Such types of clothes are particularly handy on crazy busy days such as your move day when you’ll want to keep your cell phone, wallet, and keys with you at all time with no fear of losing them. A few basic tools such as a screwdriver, a measuring tape and a flashlight inside your moving day garments is another bonus you’ll find hard to disregard.
• DISPENSABLE CLOTHES. Your moving day will be fairly unpredictable, and no matter how careful you are, you might still manage to get your clothes really dirty or even get them damaged in the process. To avoid having regrets later, wear the type of clothes you won’t really mind should any of them gets ruined on the day of the move.

What SHOES to wear on Moving day

Even more important than what clothes you wear on your moving day, the type of SHOES you pick for the most energy-draining day during the entire preparation period will determine just how smooth your relocation will be.

Moving days are notorious for throwing a few extra unexpected obstacles here and there – scattered boxes, slippery spots along the exit route, pets running around.  You should be ready for anything! Only on move days should you expect to bang your feet against something hard and heavy, or maybe even having something heavy dropped on your feet.

It’s easy to see why the choice of footwear on Moving day is crucial for keeping everything as normal as it can be. So, besides socks, what should you have on your feet when moving house?

Here are the best shoes for moving furniture, cardboard boxes and other heavy household items:

• COMFORTABLE SHOES. Select one of the most comfortable pairs of shoes you own. Your moving day may be extraordinary long so you need to know that your feet won’t start hurting after the first hour or so ONLY because you’ve decided to put on a random pair. In most cases, sports shoes or work boots will work out great for you.
• FULLY-ENCLOSED SHOES. You want to wear closed-toe shoes that will protect the entirety of your feet in the eventuality of something heavy being dropped on your toes. Just don’t even think about wearing flip-flops, sandals or other footwear that cover your feet only partially.
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  Sneakers – the logical choice when it comes to choosing the best shoes for moving furniture and boxes.
  SHOES WITH GOOD TRACTION. One single slip of your shoes could get you into a lot of trouble. Make sure the shoes you wear on Moving day provide an excellent level of traction on any surface. Take a look at the soles of the pairs you’re considering – they should be of the anti-slip type, flexible enough, and with good treads on them. As you can suspect already, a pair of sports shoes is still your best bet.
• SHOES WITH GOOD ANKLE SUPPORT. Ideally, the best shoes to use on Moving day will also have sufficient ankle support to provide the maximum protection for your feet. If you own any high-top models of sports shoes, hiking shoes and work boots, that’s the pair to pick.

Work gloves

One thing you may not even think about wearing on your moving day, at least not until it is too late, is a pair of gloves. In fact, good hand protection is very important because you’ll be constantly handling various heavy and awkward-shaped items with your hands.

Make sure you get your hands on a good pair of gloves – this way, your hands, wrists, and fingers won’t get cut, scraped or scratched while you’re lifting and carrying stuff around. Also, work gloves will improve significantly the grip so that the chances of something heavy slipping through your hands will be minimal.

Wear high-quality gloves, usually made of durable heavy-duty fabrics such as canvas or leather, that will let you move your fingers freely without fear of those gloves slipping off of your hands while you work.

Useful info: Safety tips when moving furniture

Protection against the sun

Statistically speaking, most house moves are completed during the summer period, so if you yourself are getting ready for a summer move, then one thing you should not forget to wear on your moving day is adequate protection against the sun.

The powerful rays of the sun could burn your skin even without you noticing it. So, make sure you apply sun cream, preferably with a high protection factor, over the exposed parts of your body to avoid painful sunburns. Also, consider wearing sunglasses or a summer hat, if necessary.

In any case, it’s a good idea to check the weather forecast the day before your move-out day and then dress and act accordingly.

What NOT to wear on moving day

Until this moment, we’ve talked about what you should wear when you move house when it comes to clothes, shoes, gloves and protective gear. Now, let’s discuss briefly what you should NOT wear on moving day.

Clothes

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  Be flexible when deciding what to wear on moving day.
  Do avoid wearing baggy clothes that may get caught onto something and cause an accident or a personal injury.
• Avoid wearing clothes that restrict your movements in any way.
• Avoid wearing brand new clothes that may get ruined easily during the unpredictable move day.

Shoes

• Do avoid wearing shoes that do not provide good traction.
• Avoid wearing high-heel shoes, flip-flops, sandals or any other open-toe type of shoes.
• Avoid wearing uncomfortable shoes for a prolonged period of time – otherwise, blisters, scrapes or sheer foot pain may quickly appear.

Jewelry

Do NOT wear any jewelry pieces on moving day – loose necklaces, large rings and bracelets, and long earrings can easily prove to be rather problematic because they tend to hook easily on various items and can break in an instant. What’s more, you may hurt yourself because of them.

Pack up your jewelry in your trusted jewelry box prior to moving day to avoid any problems.