Preparing your refrigerator for moving day

Empty, defrost, dry

A refrigerator is one of the few appliances that can damage the rest of a load. Water from a half-frozen freezer soaks boxes. Food warms up in a van and is then unsafe. The preparation is simple, and it needs to happen the day before, not while the crew is on the path in Thornhill or Savile Town. Packing can box the kitchen around it. The defrost is still yours, because it takes hours.

Eat, give away or bin the food. Do not ask us to transport an open carton of milk “because it is only a local move”. Local vans are not fridges. A cool box in your car is the right place for anything you genuinely need that night, and even that should be sensible.

Switch the appliance off at the socket. If it is a fridge-freezer, give the freezer time to defrost with the door open and towels on the floor. Bowls catch meltwater. Do not attack ice with a knife. You will puncture a pipe and the repair will cost more than the patience. When the ice has gone, wipe the cavity dry. Leave the door ajar so it does not close on damp air and grow mould before we arrive.

How it travels

Remove loose shelves if they rattle, and pack them so they cannot crack. Tape the lead to the back in a coil. Do not tape the door shut in a way that ruins the seal. A broad strap, or the method we use on the day, is better than packing tape across a plastic front. Tell us if the fridge is an American-style wide model. Doorways in Dewsbury terraces and town-centre flats are the usual limit. Measure before you assume it will leave the kitchen it was built into. Sometimes the doors of the appliance come off. Sometimes the kitchen door does not allow it, and the conversation has to happen before moving day.

Water and ice dispensers that are plumbed in need disconnecting by someone competent. We will not pull a pipe out of a wall and hope. Gas cookers are a separate issue and also need a fitter. We move the fridge once it is a dry box.

At the new house

Stand the fridge upright where it will live. Check the manufacturer’s advice on how long to wait before you switch it on. Many makers want the oil in the compressor to settle if the appliance has been tilted. We will not invent a number of hours here, because models differ. Read the plate or the manual. Do not restock it until it is cold. A warm fridge full of shopping is how food spoils on night one.

Keep a small food shop in the car, not in the van. House removals will put the appliance in the kitchen if the space is clear. New-build kitchens sometimes have a gap that does not match the old fridge. Measure that gap when you get the floor plan.

Insurance is provided with your move. Ask us what is covered when you book. Call 01924729860 if the fridge is unusually large or built in. Built-in fronts that belong to the kitchen usually stay with the house.