Moving is hectic and expensive. On top of the relocation cost, house contract, utilities and new furniture items, you also need to worry about purchasing packaging materials, packing, and relocating your belongings to your new home, which is an arduous task.
If you are on a limited budget, thinking about ways to save on the cost of packing materials, and wondering if there’s a good chance to get your packing needs met for free, this article is for you. There are easy and accessible ways to get free bubble wrap and free packing materials and save money with minimal effort, and we’ll go over everything you need to know to learn how to do it.
Do I Need Bubble Wrap?
Before you go on a quest to hunt down bubble wrap in your city, there’s likely an obvious question on your mind, “Do I even really need bubble wrap for packing?“
Bubble wrap is one of the best, most practical, and versatile packing supplies, and here are the reasons why you need it:
- Needed When Packing Fragile Items
Whether it is electronics, appliances, or heirlooms, bubble wrap is the best protective material to package your items for moving. Bubble wrap prevents friction, protects surfaces from scratches and abrasions, and safeguards your breakable items. This is why it is by far the most used packaging material not just by households but by businesses, warehouses, and shipping companies as well.
- Lightweight and Flexible Packaging
Bubble wrap is lightweight, easy to store, and flexible. Regardless of the size of the furniture or electronic item, you can use bubble wrap for protection during packaging. You can use it with moving boxes and plastic bags. All this while adding little weight to the package making the items easy to carry and store.
- Easy to Use
Bubble wrap is incredibly simple to use. You don’t even necessarily need tape or a box cutter. You tightly wrap it around the item before packaging, put it in a box or a container, and that’s it. This is adequate to provide reasonable protection to most household items during relocation!
Is Free Bubble Wrap Worth It?
Though this might be surprising to hear, you can find perfectly usable bubble wrap for free with a bit of research and effort! Here are the reasons why you should expend that effort to find free bubble wrap:
- Saving Money During Relocation
Relocations are expensive endeavours. Filling paperwork, changing addresses, moving your belongings, and signing new housing contracts require significant time and resources. Saving every little bit of money helps reduce the financial stress on you. Getting all the bubble wrap you need for free certainly helps.
- Relatively Simple to Acquire
It is hard to overstate how easy it is to find brand-new bubble wrap for absolutely free. Whether you want a bulk roll or a small amount, access to free bubble wrap is just a few short minutes of effort away!
- Environmentally Friendly
Though recyclable, bubble wrap is ultimately made from plastic, which is arguably one of the most environmentally harmful materials on the planet. By seeking out free, already-used bubble wrap, you reduce the demand to manufacture new ones. This is the most environmentally friendly way to use bubble wrap and will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Find Free Bubble Wrap
Local Retail Stores and Businesses
- Offices and Local Businesses
Cardboard boxes, bubble wrap, and other packing materials are widely available at local businesses and stores. Whether it is for storage, shipping, or retail purposes, you’ll find these items in mom-and-pop shops and home improvement stores. In most instances, these supplies just sit in storage gathering dust too.
A great way to save money and receive free packing supplies is by talking to store managers near you and asking if they have any packing supplies they don’t need. Don’t worry about being a bother! In most cases, business owners are glad someone is coming along to get all those extra cardboard boxes and bubble wrap off their hands.
Suppose you want to be consistently acquiring free bubble wrap. In that case, you can also try forming a long-term relationship with the business offering to take extra packing supplies off their hands whenever new shipments arrive. They get to dispose of unneeded packaging materials, and you’ll get free bubble wrap.
- Warehouses
Warehouses often deal with packaging and shipping items, so they naturally use a lot of packing materials homeowners need during relocation. Most warehouses have old usable items lying around in storage that, while unsuitable for industrial usage, are more than enough to meet a homeowner’s packing needs!
You can find bubble wrap and other packing materials for free by visiting warehouses in your area and asking if they have any unneeded/extra packing supplies you can get off their hands. A lot of them will be happy to lend you a hand.
- Liquidations
When companies go bankrupt, they often hold large auctions called liquidation sales where they try to pawn off for very cheap prices. These are not only excellent places to buy items, but there is often a free stuff section where the business offers all the items that are too invaluable to sell for free.
These sections are often a treasure trove of free packing supplies. You can get free boxes, bubble wrap, box cutters, tapes, and more. Doing a local search to see if any liquidations are happening near you is well worth the effort!
Free Bubble Wrap Online Listings
- Gumtree
Gumtree, or Craigslist if you’re in the US, are the most popular online listing websites. Though most listings are either advertisements or old items for sale, all too often, home and business owners list items they don’t need and offer to give them away for free. This is a win-win situation. The business/homeowner won’t have to spend money to have the items thrown out, while people who need the item can get it for free.
Bubble wrap is one of the most common items listed on these websites for free. If you live in an urban area, you will almost certainly find listings offering free bubble wrap near your area on these websites. Simply type bubble wrap into the search bar, find a listing in your immediate area or current town, get in touch with the person to arrange a time/place, and receive your free bubble wrap!
- Facebook Marketplace
Only debuting in 2016, Facebook Marketplace has quickly become one of the primary ways for people to list, sell, and give away old items in the UK and the rest of the world. Simply logging into Facebook will show you hundreds of listings located just miles from you. With a simple touch of a button, you can check out the profile of the person listing the item and send them a message.
Unsurprisingly, Marketplace has also become a favourite of homeowners looking to get rid of unnecessary items. Furniture, appliances, wood: You name it, it is likely listed on Marketplace. This makes it a great place to go and look for free packing materials. Cardboard boxes, bubble wrap, and packing paper are all listed for free regularly on the website.
Other local Second-hand online platforms and forums are worth checking out if you can’t find free bubble wrap on online listing websites. There are usually Facebook groups for freebies, cities usually have popular forums, etc.
Your Social Circle
- Friends and Family
If any of your friends and family moved house, has a large warehouse, or ordered new furniture/appliances recently, they likely have bubble wrap and maybe other packing supplies lying around.
Getting in touch with friends and family is a great way to get your hands on free moving boxes and bubble wrap. Just give them a call, explain your situation, and outline all the items you need, and you’ll almost definitely find free bubble wrap!
- Workplace
If local offices and businesses are such great places to find free bubble wrap, why not try your luck at your own workplace? By looking around, you’ll probably find unused packing material lying around, and if you are on good terms with your boss, asking to take some home is fine, especially if it is for moving house or an equally large undertaking.
There’s likely little use for these supplies in your office, and your boss won’t mind giving them to you. A great way to get free packing materials if you’re working for a small or medium-sized company!
Purchase Bubble Wrap at Affordable Prices
Being the best way to protect fragile items and a must during a house move, if you have no luck getting free bubble wrap, you’ll most likely need to purchase it. So, we’ve compiled a list of tips you can use to help you buy bubble wrap at little cost:
- Buy in Bulk
Find bubble wrap offered in bulk, ideally alongside other items like packing paper and boxes, if you want the best prices.
- Check for Sales
Retail stores and moving companies that have a packing service offer periodic sales on bubble wrap and other packing materials. Catching one of these sales is a great way to reduce costs.
