fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2798 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2798 ⌋

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So, I'm moving to a different country soon, and thought I'd send some of my stuff ahead in a cardboard box.

Because the box needs to be both big and sturdy enough to survive a flight, I got one from work, where we get our office supplies delivered in. Just the right size and should be alright in an airplane.

Now, like an idiot, I put a pretty wet dishtowel on the cardboard box and only realised now, a couple of ours later, when I saw the big wet spot on the box. Now it feels like I could poke a hole through the cardboard without much effort.

F!S, how fucked is the integrity of the cardboard box? I can't get a new one from work, as I literally saved this one on Friday before it was picked up with the rest of our boxes to be recycled. Can the box still be used to send stuff on an airplane once the spot is dry? The spot is on the short side of the box and takes up about a third of it.

I can't believe I've been so careless!

Do you have tape? Wrap the box in layer upon layer of packing tape, each strip overlapping the last. That way it won't matter what the box is like, the tape will protect it like a plaster cast on a broken leg.

... seconded - but if you can, wait until the damp spot has dried.

OP

That's no problem, I won't have to pack until a few days. It's just not enough time to get some new big boxes at work, as they time the recycling pick-up in such a way that all the regular big deliveries have come in and unpacked before the truck comes around. Thanks!

Sorry for the late reply - time zones.

I'll wrap the box in layers of tape anyway, as it's one of those "evident tapering" boxes, where, upon opening, you strip away a bit of cardboard from the opening flap.

I didn't think that the tape would still work if the cardboard as such was too weak! That's good to know. Getting a second roll of tape will be easier than finding a new box. Thanks!

Cover the weak spot up with copious amounts of packaging tape, maybe? Trying to open a box that's 80% covered in tape is hell, so surely it'd help reinforce the box (in theory).

OP

That's skippy's idea as well. I might try to get my hands on a smaller piece of cardboard and tape it on the inside, so nothing will press against the weak spot directly.

Or add some plastic wrap.

I thought about this as well, before the wet spot happened! To prevent tampering you rip off a part of the top flaps when you open the box for the first time, so it's evident when it has been openend. Now there's a bit of space between the flaps, though, which I intended to cover with lots of tape and plastic wrap, maybe.

Do you know if any plastic wrap works (say, the one from the kitchen), or is that some kind of special moving plastic wrap?

The kitchen one works too. I think softer plastic wraps are better. By the way, they use simillar wraps for suitcases in airports - only they have bigger rolls and use a rotating machine.

I had post delivered with boxes wraped in a bubble sheet on the outside, then in a plastic wrap, then in a scotch tape.)

In airports they use a soft, scretchy thin plastic wraps. Kitchen ones work - my friend uses them for his bag all the time. You can also make handles with the tape.

Depends on the cardboard box. Some dry up okay, some don't. Make sure it dries at room temperature, so no putting it on a heater or using a blow dryer.

Then clingfilm is probably your best shot.

It mostly dried over the night, but I'll give it until the evening to see what's what.

Is normal clingfilm (the one used in the kitchen, for example) enough, or would I need a special moving clingfilm?

Yes, normal clingfilm. It's maybe a little bit thinner/softer than the industrial form but it should work and it's readily available.

Good luck with the move!

To everyone who replied:

Thanks, guys! It looks like it's not quite the disaster I was afraid it would be last night. I'll definitely use the tape, and probably clingfilm as well just to be sure. I still got a couple of days to figure it out, after all. :)

[ SECRET POST #2798 ]

Stupidity, thy name is anon

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OP