If you plan on moving your dry cleaning business to a new building fairly close to your current proximity, there are several steps you will want to take to prepare for the process. Since you are in charge of caring of your clients' clothing, special care will need to be taken to make sure no one's special outfit ends up damaged. Here are some tips to use when packing up your dry cleaning business to bring to a new structure.

Make Some Calls

Before you start the packing process, go through your customer list to let them know about your move in case they were not notified when they were last in your establishment. Make clients who have clothing on the premises a priority, as they will need to gather their items before you leave if you plan on moving to an area they cannot access. This will help minimize the number of items you will need to bring along with you. 

Protect Yourself

Have customers sign a waiver when they drop off clothing during the last weeks before your move showing they will not hold you responsible if something happens to their clothing during the move. In most cases, the clothing will arrive in pristine condition if you take proper precautions. However, it is best to give people the option in waiting to clean their items later or taking them to another service.

Package Appropriately

Place clothing in plastic wardrobe bags to help protect them from inclement weather or debris as they will be taken out of your building to get on and off the moving vehicle. Place two or three stick-on labels on each package with the customer's information printed upon it. Hang the bags on rolling garment racks. Check the labels to make sure they are placed on the racks alphabetically by each customer's last name. These can be easily pushed into a moving van or truck, allowing you to transport the items without wrinkling or disorganization.

Prepare Other Items

Place your thread, needles, buttons and other sewing items into plastic storage drawers. These allow you to separate the items depending on their usage or by color, making it easy to find them when you need to make repairs to new clients' clothing upon opening at your new establishment. 

Place any documentation you need to run your business into similar containers or file drawers. Back up your computerized documentation on a hard drive and keep this on your person rather than putting it into the moving van or truck.

After sorting the items, label the fronts of the drawers and tape them shut using heavy-duty packing or duct tape so they do not spill out into the moving van or truck during the move. These can be neatly placed along the walls of the truck, helping to contain rolling carts in the middle.

For more information, contact Father & Son Moving & Storage or a similar company.