Packing Dishes How do you do it?

[The Critters-KEY]

Starting again after 30 years. Going from our pop up of 30 years ago to a new Minnie. We've got a lot of this figured out (we think), but with all this extra storage space in our Minnie, we are wondering how to pack our breakables during travel. We've upgraded from our fine paperware and have added Corell, our favorite coffee mugs, Crock Pot, and a Pyrex casserole dish or two.
We understand the "nesting" concept and have adapted that where possible. Problem is, those dishes that don't nest well. We have lots of cupboard space, dining table bench space and under the sofa storage. Is it best to tub the breakables up and tote them in the truck or wrap each dish individually or use some type of spacers between? Tips and/or suggestions appreciated.
We are on a shake down trip this weekend.

 

[WinnieView]

We purchased a few rolls of non-adhesive shelf liner years ago and including the shelves and drawers also cut different size pieces to use between dishes;

https://www.amazon.com/Duck-Select-12-Inch-20-Feet-Brownstone/dp/B002AS9NAI

 

[The Critters-KEY]

Thank you WinnieView...
We've done that also. Everything is lined including drawers, shelves, and pantry. We thought of cutting out " squares" to place between the dishes but were looking at other options too.

 

[BCam]

Squares or circles of non-skid work well, although, even without it, we haven't had any breakage problems. I guess it all depends on what kind of dishes you have. In our experience, keeping things from rattling is a bigger issue than preventing breakage. This is something we didn't have to worry about in our TTs.

Another thing we've done is to cut pieces of foam "pool noodles" to jam into cupboards to hold things like wine or liquor bottles in place.

 

[lewisedge]

Starting again after 30 years. Going from our pop up of 30 years ago to a new Minnie. We've got a lot of this figured out (we think), but with all this extra storage space in our Minnie, we are wondering how to pack our breakables during travel. We've upgraded from our fine paperware and have added Corell, our favorite coffee mugs, Crock Pot, and a Pyrex casserole dish or two.
We understand the "nesting" concept and have adapted that where possible. Problem is, those dishes that don't nest well. We have lots of cupboard space, dining table bench space and under the sofa storage. Is it best to tub the breakables up and tote them in the truck or wrap each dish individually or use some type of spacers between? Tips and/or suggestions appreciated.
We are on a shake down trip this weekend.

When we first moved into our Itasca Sunova 33C our rattling dishes were a tremendous annoyance. I bought some 1" thick foam rubber and lined the bottom of our dish cabinet with it. Then, when we stacked our china dishes on the foam rubber, we put thin paper plates between them. That completely stopped the rattling while we traveled. To protect our cups and glasses, we bought a bunch of inexpensive 100% cotton long tube socks, cut them in half, laundered them and then slid our cups and glasses into those cloth tubes. The cloth both protects our cups and glasses from breakage and also prevents them from rattling.

 

[Noah4448-WO]

We use the packing material that came with the dishes supplemented with non-skid mats and the extra rolls of paper towels.

 

[jcurtisis]

We just use Corelle dishes with the dish towels or hot pot holders we plan to use sandwiched between them; we also just use plastic bowls and cups. Most of the cutlery is a hard plastic (designed as reusable).

 

[Dottie2019]

This is what we use, as well. We also use it over the top of the stove and put our large cutting board, another layer of grippy shelf liner, then a large pan with an edge to keep stuff from sliding while moving. J.ODell

 

[jerichorick]

Starting again after 30 years. Going from our pop up of 30 years ago to a new Minnie. We've got a lot of this figured out (we think), but with all this extra storage space in our Minnie, we are wondering how to pack our breakables during travel. We've upgraded from our fine paperware and have added Corell, our favorite coffee mugs, Crock Pot, and a Pyrex casserole dish or two.
We understand the "nesting" concept and have adapted that where possible. Problem is, those dishes that don't nest well. We have lots of cupboard space, dining table bench space and under the sofa storage. Is it best to tub the breakables up and tote them in the truck or wrap each dish individually or use some type of spacers between? Tips and/or suggestions appreciated.
We are on a shake down trip this weekend.

We pack all of the cabinets with towels and throw pillows. Even a throw blanket will work. Be careful when packing the fridge. Make certain everything is secure and the doors are securely locked. You'll get the hang of it, especially when you forget to do some important pre trip thingy.

 

[Journey39n]

We found early, that no matter what you did, the first few minutes of travel, there were always rattles in the dish compartments.

We got lucky early, and found that if we took the pillows off the two sofas, and stuffed them into each cabinet space we quieted all the rattles, and kept the loose bags and boxes from falling down when we opened the cabinet doors when parked.

Good Luck.

 

[akeagle]

For dishes my wife took the low-tech route and simply bought plastic or melamine cups and dishes and wrapped them as a group with towels or the puffy non-skid shelf liner from WalMart. For the pots and pans she initially mostly used towels, but after being aggravated at having to unstack them just to get needed towels, she changed to - believe it or not - inexpensive yoga mats (again from WalMart) and cut to the needed sizes. Even on the Alaska Highway there was very little rattling from the dishes and pots & pans.

 

[Oldchinahand]

As we tell friends angling for an invite, "she feeds four and sleeps two".

We are minimalists, a service for four in corelle and flatware, two skillets, a sauce pan and a stovetop moka pot in case the expresso machine dies.

That all fits in two drawers beneath the stove cooktop, separated by squares of non-skid.

We fitted the drawer bottoms with pieces cut from yoga mats (what? who actually uses them?)

Really cuts out the rattles. But, in the cliched vernacular of the day, you need to embrace the sound. Judge your speed over road surface by rattle volume.

Fair Winds and Following Seas

 

[BCam]

And parties eight.

 

[old_engineer]

We use melamine or microwave safe plastic dinner wear. For the couple of Pyrex bowls we carry we will stack them in between our plastic refrigerator storage containers. As to things like mugs we pack them interspersed with the plastic cups so they don't bang together. If we were to ever switch to something like Correl I would cut rubber shelf liner to dish size and use that between the items.

 

[Wayne M]

Wow! We just stack the corell in the cabinet and journey on. Our coffee cups just sit on the shelf in the cabinet. In the prior 2008 Winni we bungee'd the door knobs but in this newer to us we have not done that.

I don't know how dishes could rattle if they are stacked on each other. A rattle needs a little space between things and dishes sit touching each top with each bottom. There are other items in the MH that rattle and little things like dishes would never over-ride them.

As for delicate items, DW wraps or cushions each one before storing. We also use the Blue Sticky Tack stuff to anchor down a few items we leave on the kitchen counter.

 

[Habit 7]

All sound suggestions. Another item that has been useful is coffee filters. I use them between Corelle bowls and plates, between pyrex bowls, as well as a cushion between stacked teflon-coated pots/pans to protect the coating. And a coffee filter is absolutely the cheapest thing you can buy to do the trick!

Happy motoring!

 

[WinnieView]

All sound suggestions. Another item that has been useful is coffee filters. I use them between Corelle bowls and plates, between pyrex bowls, as well as a cushion between stacked teflon-coated pots/pans to protect the coating. And a coffee filter is absolutely the cheapest thing you can buy to do the trick!

Happy motoring!

Coffee filters also make good lint-free cleaning cloths (cheap, cheap, cheap!).

 

[rarebear.nm]

We use non-adhesive shelf liner material cut into squares to pad between thing that might break, scratch or would rattle. In thousands of miles we have never had anything break. Keeping things from rattling in a MH is a much bigger issue somedays. In the 5th wheeler we don't know what's making noise.

 

[Joette]

I put the dishes in the cupboard the same way I do at home for the most part. The plates and bowls I stand on their side in a pan lid holder which keeps them in place nicely. I don't care for the non-skid, because they seem to tip over when they can't slide! The glasses I put into a short sided tupperware container so they don't tip over or slide, and just take them in and out of it as I use them, without having to remove it from the cupboard. For years I used a dish rack and put the dishes in it up in the cupboard, and like it the best, but my new cupboards aren't deep enough for one, or I'd still be doing that, as it held them the best by far.

 

[akeagle]

I think part of the "secret" of cabinet packing is to pack the stacks/items densely enough not to move around in the cabinet. Not so tight as to make it difficult to gets things out, but just enough to keep things from sliding around. My DW is a wizard at this and I think a large part of it is the use of plastic dishes and cups packed in plastic tubs held in place with tension bars.