How to pack pictures for moving, in short: tape across the glass with low-tack tape so it cannot shatter into the artwork, wrap the frame, sandwich it between foam and corrugated board cut half an inch larger than the frame on each side, then box it. Mirrors and panes travel standing upright, never flat.
Framed work is the category that gets damaged most often on a New York move, because it is flat, awkward, and looks deceptively easy to carry. The good news is that conservators have published exactly how to do this, and their method is not hard to copy at home. This guide follows the packing procedure used by museum staff, then covers the handling rules for mirrors and fragile objects that surprise almost everyone.
The five-minute version
Every framed piece needs four things: the glass immobilised, the surface protected, rigid boards on both faces, and a box with cushioning on all six sides. Skip any one of them and you have a piece that survives the truck but not the stairwell.
- ☐ Tape the glazing so broken glass cannot travel
- ☐ Wrap the frame so nothing touches the surface directly
- ☐ Add rigid board on the front and the back
- ☐ Box it, fill the voids, and mark which way is up
- ☐ Carry it vertically, on edge, never flat under an arm
The rest of this guide is the detail behind each of those, and the reasoning matters as much as the steps, because it tells you what to do with the piece the instructions do not quite cover.
How to pack a framed picture, step by step
The National Park Service publishes a conservation procedure for exactly this task, and it is the most reliable method available for free. The steps below follow Conserve O Gram 17/6, Packing a Framed Two-Dimensional Object (National Park Service), adapted for a household move rather than a museum loan.
Tape the glazing first. Glass and plexiglas break easily and the shards damage whatever is underneath. Apply low-tack adhesive tape across the entire glass surface, and fold one end of each strip back on itself to make a pull tab so removal does not stress the frame. This single step prevents most of the serious losses, because the difference between a broken pane and a ruined print is whether the glass could move.
Wrap, then sandwich. Cover the piece, folding any excess wrapping toward the front rather than securing it shut. Cut two pieces of urethane foam and two pieces of corrugated board, each measuring half an inch larger than the frame on every side, and sandwich the wrapped frame between them. If the frame is deep, pack the recess level with the top of the frame first, using foam, polyester batting, or folded bubble wrap, so pressure never lands on the glazing alone.
Bind the layers, then box. Run strips of stiff card around the edges of the stack and tape them to the boards, again with pull tabs. Place the package in the middle of a sheet of bubble wrap and pull the edges up onto it. Do not roll the package along the bubble wrap; rolling puts twisting force through the frame. Then double box: put the wrapped package inside a second box lined with two inches of foam on all four sides and the bottom, fill any voids, and seal the outer box with at least three strips of reinforced tape running four to six inches down each side.
Mirrors and glass: the rules that surprise people
Carry mirrors and panes of glass vertically, on edge, never flat. Do not tape anything to the surface of a glass or ceramic object itself. And do not wear cotton gloves. Each of those runs against instinct, and each comes from the same conservation guidance.
On orientation, the National Park Service Museum Handbook, Appendix P is direct: thin flat objects such as mirrors or panes of glass should be carried vertically, because that position distributes the weight and minimises the chance of cracking. Carried flat, a large mirror flexes under its own weight across the middle, which is precisely where it fails.
On tape, note the distinction, because it trips people up. Taping the glazing of a frame is recommended, since that glass is a barrier protecting something else. Taping a glass or ceramic object is not: the same handbook warns never to apply tape or sticky labels to ceramic or glass pieces, because removal can lift delicate overglazes, decals and gilding with it. Frame glass gets taped. A vase never does.
On gloves, cotton is the wrong choice for anything smooth. The handbook advises against cotton gloves for glass and ceramics precisely because those surfaces are slippery, and recommends clean bare hands or snug latex or nitrile gloves instead, with latex specifically for lustreware, iridescent glass and gilded pieces. It also gives the lifting rule that saves the most breakages: never lift by handles, knobs, rims or decorative motifs, always use both hands and support the object uniformly.
Choosing the right box
Match the box to the shape, not to whatever is left over. A flat, wide carton is what a framed piece needs, and a deep carton is what it does not, because depth invites stacking pressure on the face of the work.
Our picture box measures 40 by 4 by 30 inches, which is about 2.8 cubic feet, and that shallow profile is the point. Two smaller framed pieces can share one if you put a rigid board between them and pack the gap, but they should never travel face to face with nothing in between. For anything with an unusual shape, or a frame with an ornate profile that will not sit flat against a board, the box stops being the answer and a custom crate starts being it.
Label every framed carton on the long edge as well as the face, since it will be stored standing up and the face will not be visible. Mark it fragile and mark which way is up, and do it before the box goes on the pile rather than after.
Pieces that should not be boxed at all
Some work does not belong in a carton on any budget: oversized canvases, unglazed paintings, gilded antique frames, anything with a fragile surface that must not be touched, and pieces whose value would make a claim conversation painful. Those want a crate built to the object.
The tell is usually surface rather than size. If the front of the piece cannot safely touch any packing material, no amount of wrapping solves it, because wrapping works by contact. That is the point at which our white glove service is the honest recommendation rather than an upsell, since it exists for exactly this category of item and includes crating built around the piece.
Furniture with glass elements sits in the same territory. Table tops, cabinet doors and display cases should come out and travel as glass, not as part of the furniture, and our guide to wrapping furniture for moving covers how the two halves are handled differently.
Mistakes that cause most of the damage
Four errors account for the majority of damaged artwork on residential moves, and all four are decisions rather than accidents. Knowing them is worth more than any single packing technique.
- ☐ Laying framed pieces flat in the truck, where anything stacked on top lands on the glass
- ☐ Skipping the tape on the glazing, so a cracked pane becomes a cut canvas
- ☐ Wrapping directly against a painted or gilded surface with no barrier layer
- ☐ Packing on move day, when there is no time to let anything be done properly
The last one is the quiet killer. Framed work takes longer to pack than people budget for, and it is always the thing left until the crew is already carrying boxes out. Do the artwork first, days ahead, while the flat surfaces to work on still exist. Our packing services can take the whole category off the critical path if the timeline is tight.
Frequently asked questions
How do you pack pictures and frames for moving?
Tape low-tack tape across the whole glass surface so it cannot shatter into the artwork, wrap the frame so nothing touches the surface directly, then sandwich it between urethane foam and corrugated board cut half an inch larger than the frame on each side. Bind the layers, place it in a flat picture box, fill the voids, and store it standing on edge.
Should mirrors be transported flat or upright?
Upright, on edge, always. National Park Service conservation guidance specifies that thin flat objects such as mirrors and panes of glass should be carried vertically, because that distributes the weight and reduces the chance of cracking. Laid flat, a large mirror flexes across its own middle under its own weight, which is where it breaks.
Can you put tape directly on glass when moving?
On the glazing of a picture frame, yes, with low-tack tape and a folded pull tab for removal. On a glass or ceramic object itself, no. Conservation guidance warns that removing tape or sticky labels from ceramics and glass can lift overglazes, decals and gilding along with the adhesive, so a framed print and a glass vase get opposite treatment.
What should you not use to handle glass and ceramics?
Cotton gloves, counterintuitively. Glass and ceramic surfaces are slippery and cotton makes the grip worse, so conservation guidance recommends clean bare hands or snug latex or nitrile gloves instead. Also avoid lifting anything by its handle, knob, rim or decorative detail; use both hands and support the whole piece.
When is a custom crate worth it for artwork?
When the surface of the piece cannot safely touch packing material, or when the frame will not sit flat against a rigid board. Wrapping protects by contact, so a work with a vulnerable unglazed surface or an ornate gilded frame is not solved by more padding. Oversized canvases and high-value pieces fall in the same category.
The bottom line
Tape the glass, never let anything touch the surface directly, use rigid board on both faces, and keep every framed piece standing on its edge from the moment it is packed until it is hung again. For glass and ceramic objects, handle less, lift with both hands from the body, and keep the tape away entirely.
If your move includes work you would rather not pack yourself, a free in-home or virtual estimate is the point at which the fragile items get looked at individually and priced properly, before anything is wrapped.
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