As you all know… the Mommy Brain Family recently (a month ago) moved from California to North Carolina.. We knew that we were hiring a professional moving company to take our belongings across the country, but we had planned on packing most of our house by ourselves. We weren’t too sure about how the Rubbermaid totes would hold up, so we decided to let the movers pack our breakables… hoping they’d pack them properly since, you know, they are professionals.

We saved the Rubbermaid totes for some of the more replaceable items… dishes, picture frames, toys, clothing, etc. Oh how I wish I would’ve used the Rubbermaid totes for more of the breakables! I wish they made them large enough for me to pack in my grandma’s Japanese Geisha doll and case, or Daddy’s Compound Sliding Miter Saw. Two things we let the movers “professionally pack”. Two things that got broken or broke through a box. The cardboard boxes, no matter how stuffed with things and paper, still crushed down, bulged out, and basically made a mess of everything. The Rubbermaid totes didn’t bulge, or crush, and nothing broke through them. I also liked how they stayed sealed down so no little creatures could get into them. They were pretty much protecting the contents from any possible leaks or spills. Who knows what else got packed in the truck with our things. 

In any case, the Rubbermaid Totes won this battle royal… I can not express enough how, if I could do it all over again, I’d pack with the Totes rather than cardboard. The best thing about them after the unpacking is over, I can still use them to store things in the garage, to take to the beach, or in the house to keep craft things together. If I don’t need them, they stack nicely inside each other to reduce the space it takes to store them. Cardboard boxes, on the other hand, take up way too much room whether they’re broken down or not. I can’t just throw them away, because that would be wasteful. There isn’t a recycling program here that I could take them to. So, I’m stacking them up in my garage, waiting for people to come buy them at a seriously discounted rate than what I paid for them. It’s ok though.. It makes some good fun money for the girls to get books at their favorite book store.. 

Please, enjoy my video comparison between the cardboard boxes and the Rubbermaid Totes… You will see what I mean! Don’t forget to leave me a comment letting me know what you thought! Thanks!