Heirlooms are Oh’ so important? have you ever gotten something in the mail destroyed or broken GAH! today we are talking Smart Packaging to Protect you  Heirlooms.
When faced with the frightening hypothetical of “what do you grab if you wake up and your home is on fire,” after all the people and pets in the home are safe and accounted for, the next answer for many is family heirlooms. More than expensive TVs or elegant furniture, these items carry sentimentality and personal importance few items can match.

For heirlooms that offer function in addition to form, protecting them when they aren’t being used is as important as taking care of them when they are. A perfect example is fine china. Unless it’s genuinely too fragile to use, people like getting out the “nice stuff” for special occasions, like the holidays. But aside from treating it carefully while being used, it’s important that the way these belongings are stored ensures they stay safe being taken out and put back, as well as the rest of the time they’re packed away, not in use.

To prevent scratches and chips, thin packaging material layers inserted between each stacked piece will help protect the items from each other. Flexible foams are great in this application, particularly if you can re-use materials from packaging you’ve received. Cardboard can also work in a pinch if you have boxes you can cut up. For valuable pieces, taking some extra time to tailor the padding to the items, or spending a little on better materials is important. Something makeshift like newspaper can tear, bunch, or slide away – not the kind of insurance you want for your most valuable belongings. Bubble wrap can be a smart idea too, as long as too many bubbles don’t pop over the years.

No matter how you do it, it’s important that you protect the things the things most important to you. This goes for when they’re in use, as well as when they’re out of sight and out of mind.

Article submitted by The Foam Factory, an online resource for packaging foam and materials, with cushioning open-cell foam, and thin, flexible closed-cell foam varieties available.