How to Prepare a Washing Machine or Dishwasher to Be Moved

Washing machines and dishwashers are heavy, full of water and easily damaged in transit if they aren’t prepared properly. A little preparation the day before protects your appliance and prevents leaks. Here’s how to do it.

Drain Any Remaining Water

Even after disconnecting, water remains inside. Run a short drain or spin cycle if possible before disconnecting, and check the filter at the bottom of a washing machine — place a shallow tray underneath and open it to drain residual water. For dishwashers, remove standing water from the base.

Secure Hoses, Cable and Door

Coil the hoses and cable and tape them to the back of the appliance so they don’t catch or trail. Tape the door closed (or wedge it slightly ajar to prevent mould if there’ll be a delay before reconnection — but secure it for the move itself). Wipe the interior dry.

Gather the Right Tools & Materials First

Before you so much as touch the appliance, lay out everything you’ll need within easy reach. Trying to find a spanner halfway through draining a machine, with water trickling across the kitchen floor, is exactly the sort of avoidable stress we see all the time. A little preparation turns a fiddly job into a tidy ten-minute task. For a washing machine or dishwasher you’ll typically want an adjustable spanner and a small set of pliers, the original transit bolts (or a packet of replacements), a shallow tray or washing-up bowl to catch residual water, plenty of old towels, and strong tape that won’t leave a sticky residue on the casing.

It also pays to have proper wrapping ready so the appliance doesn’t pick up scuffs in transit. If your packing supplies are looking thin, you can top up on bubble wrap, furniture blankets and tape from our packing materials shop before moving day. Having the right kit on hand from the outset is the single biggest difference between a smooth disconnection and a soggy one.

• Adjustable spanner and pliers for hose fittings
• Transit bolts (keep the originals safe — they’re appliance-specific)
• A shallow tray, bowl and a stack of old towels
• Furniture blankets, bubble wrap and strong, residue-free tape
• A torch for peering behind the unit and a marker pen for labelling

Defrosting a Fridge or Freezer Ahead of the Move

If you’re moving more than just laundry appliances, your fridge and freezer need their own head start, and it’s a job that can’t be rushed. Plan to switch the freezer off and empty it a full 24 hours before the van arrives. Frost and ice need time to melt completely, and the meltwater has to be mopped up and the cabinet dried, otherwise you’ll be transporting a small indoor pond that drips through everything around it.

Lay towels along the base to soak up the runoff and prop the door open to speed things along. Just as importantly, a fridge or freezer compressor needs to settle once it reaches its new home — never plug it straight back in. Standing the appliance upright for several hours, ideally overnight, lets the oils in the compressor drain back where they belong before you power it on. Trying to cram a defrost into the chaos of a busy moving morning is one of the most common mistakes we see, so build it into your plan well in advance. If you’d rather not juggle all of this yourself, our house removals service covers the heavy lifting while you concentrate on the prep.

Protecting & Wrapping the Appliance

Once your washing machine or dishwasher is disconnected, drained and bolted, the next job is to dress it for the journey. White goods scratch and dent more easily than people expect, and a sharp corner against a doorframe can leave a permanent mark. Start by wrapping the whole appliance in a thick furniture blanket, paying particular attention to the front fascia and any glass door. Secure the blanket with tape applied to the blanket itself rather than directly onto the casing, so you don’t peel paint or leave glue behind.

Tape the door shut and tuck the power cable into a tidy loop so it can’t snag or trail. If the original packaging or polystyrene corners have survived in the loft, they’re ideal — they were designed for exactly this. Wrapping well also keeps grease and water from the appliance off your other belongings. If wrapping a houseful of items feels daunting, our full packing service takes the whole task off your hands, and the same protective care that goes into your china goes into your appliances too.

Reconnecting & Testing Safely at the New Home

Arriving is only half the story — reconnecting properly is what gives you a working machine and a dry floor. Before anything else, remove the transit bolts from your washing machine. Running a machine with the bolts still in place can wreck the drum and the motor, so this step is non-negotiable and easy to forget in the excitement of unpacking. Position the appliance, level it using its adjustable feet so it doesn’t vibrate or “walk” across the floor, then reconnect the hoses hand-tight and check the rubber washers are seated.

Turn the water back on slowly and watch the connections closely for a minute or two — a small drip now is far easier to fix than a flooded kitchen later. With a fridge or freezer, remember to let it stand upright for several hours before switching it on. For anything hard-wired or gas-fed, bring back your qualified electrician or Gas Safe engineer to make the final connection. Once everything checks out, run a short empty cycle to confirm the appliance drains, fills and stays watertight. Browse more helpful moving tips if you’ve other rooms still to tackle, and remember the whole job can be handed to us if you’d rather not deal with it at all.