How to Move Furniture Without Scratching Floor? Complete Guide!

The process of how I learned how to move furniture without scratching floor was a hard one. Since I live alone, I always need to ask for help from people in my neighborhood because I had to lift them!

And what I did was what many people would do – I researched. I tried to find ways to transfer my heavy furniture inside the house with ease. Luckily, I found a couple of effective guides and tutorials.

To move and transfer furniture without damaging your flooring, try to find someone who can help you.

If you’re alone, use the best, proper lifting techniques for easier and faster lifting. Lastly, use special furniture moving equipment.

Whether your floors are new or if they’re the floors since you moved in, it’s important to keep them free from potential damage like scratches.

Before discussing the process, let me first enumerate a couple of equipment and materials you can use.

What You Can Use to Move Your Furniture

One of the most important things in learning how to move furniture without scratching the floor is knowing the materials and equipment to make it easier and more secure.

I found a couple of them, but here are the best ones that you can purchase right now.

Furniture Gliders

These are my personal favorites because they’re easy to find, inexpensive, and they’re durable.

I consider these the best option for transferring and moving furniture to the extent that they’re my go-to.

Tip: You can use them on the tip of the legs of the furniture to move them smoother and more securely.

Dollies

Dollies, more commonly known as platforms, are also effective and efficient for moving furniture.

You’ll be able to find dollies for rent from trucking companies and movers, but you can purchase one of your own, too.

It’s not typical for me to use dollies because I still have to exert effort in lifting them up to the dolly. After that, though, everything that follows would be easy.

Moving Straps

These are straps that you can use as a device to transfer weight from your back and arms when lifting a heavy object. This can take the weight off of items that are too heavy.

There are many different kinds and types of moving or lifting straps, choose one that would suit your taste.

Mostly, moving straps are designed to be used by 2 people – one for each side of the furniture for lifting.

So, this can be of no use if you’re going to move your furniture alone or with the help of professionals.

Masonite or Hardboard

Another material you can use is Masonite, but they’re usually known in the market as “hardboard.”

It’s a type of smooth board you can insert and slip at the bottom part of the furniture, for you to simply pull and push them without damaging or scratching the floors.

Cardboard

Cardboards are the perfect alternative for hardboards or Masonite. This is my second option for moving furniture, especially those that are above carpets and heavy-duty rugs.

There could be other equipment and materials in the market that you can use to assist you with the move, but these are what caught my attention because they seem the fittest for this type of application.

4 Tips on How to Move Furniture Without Scratching Floor

It’s not always required to use equipment when moving your furniture. In fact, there are a few different ways how it’s done, and I’ll thoroughly discuss each of them for you.

So, here’s the guide I came up with on how to move heavy furniture without scratching the floor.

TIP #1: Move Furniture With Someone Else’s Help

The first and probably the best thing to note is to ask for another person’s help. A team of 2 in moving even heavy furniture is usually enough to get it off the surface.

If you have someone at the house who can lift, then your life will be much easier.

There is no shame in asking for a person’s help, especially if it’s moving furniture – everyone understands.

By having an additional individual, you wouldn’t need to push the furniture, which can potentially damage and scratch the floor.

You can lift it easily, distributing the weight between you and the other person.

Using Transfer or Furniture Straps

As far as I can recall, I only used furniture straps once because it was still heavy, but I can definitely feel the drastic change in how convenient it was to transfer.

Note: Most furniture straps are applicable when there are 2 people carrying or lifting the furniture. 

The strap is placed around the waist of both people, and it’s positioned at the bottom of the item.

With furniture straps, it’ll be like distributing the weight to 3 different areas, not just 2.

Just because you have another person helping you, doesn’t mean that you can do it fast. You still need to perform the moving or the transporting slowly, but surely.

I mean, you don’t want to wake up the next day with a sore back, hips, and arms, right?

TIP #2: Disassemble Your Furniture

In the event that there is no one present to help you, don’t worry, you can go solo by disassembling your furniture. Most furniture pieces are dismantlable by detaching the screws and attachments they have.

This is, of course, if you can take your furniture apart because not all furniture and fixtures can be disassembled.

This is effective if you’re moving from one house to another because you can maintain each piece in healthy and good condition – including the shininess of your flooring.

I’m talking about sofas, dining tables, pianos, shelves, living room center tables, etc.

If you can disassemble them, do so before you even think about moving or transferring them to another location.

Prepare your screwdrivers, pliers, and your flatheads for the disassembly of your furniture.

But what if your furniture can’t be disassembled like chairs and other types of stationary tables and they’re heavy? Would you need to call movers? No, definitely not!

In fact, that’s what I’ll discuss in the next part, which is…

TIP #3: Use Furniture Moving Equipment

This is probably the best tip of all, and it works especially if you are alone and you’re going to move your furniture just inside the house – you can do so without the fear of leaving scratches on your floor!

The ones I made a list of above are what I can tell you are the best and easiest to find.

Here’s a brief explanation of how you can use each of them.

Using Furniture Gliders and Sliders

1. Carefully lift the furniture up, just enough to insert the gliders.
2. Do this on each leg of the furniture.
3. If the gliders aren’t secure enough, apply an adhesive to them.

NOTE: If you’re applying an adhesive, make sure you’ll be able to get them out of the furniture’s legs.

Using Dollies

The only work you’ll have to do with dollies is that you have to lift your furniture and mount it onto the dolly.

From there, you simply just need to push and pull the dolly to where you’ll be moving your furniture.

Using Furniture Straps

Wrap the strap to the bottom part of the furniture. Once done, take one end and wrap it around your waist. Ask the other person helping you to do the same.

Using Hardboard (Masonite) and Cardboards

1. Place the hardboard or cardboard laid flat out on the floor.
2. Gently lift and push the furniture on top of it.
3. Make sure that the furniture is placed stably on top of the board.
4. Use the board to pull the furniture and move it from one place to another.

NOTE: It’s worth placing the furniture on top of 2 board pieces. So, in case one breaks, you have another layer of cardboard that can protect your floor and can make the moving of your furniture easier.

TIP #4: Use the Correct Lifting Techniques

This last tip calls for people who are strong and confident that can move furniture pieces by themselves.

My number one enemy when I lift furniture by myself is the feeling of being sore from just lifting it off the surface.

So, what you need to do is correctly lift these objects to avoid being hurt. Here are a couple of tips for lifting heavy furniture:

• Keep a good and firm grip on the furniture
• When lifting, bend your knees to gain better balance
• Always keep your back straight and aligned to your hips
• Refrain from moving swiftly – always move slowly and smoothly
• When sliding, push instead of pull

NOTE: Make sure that you plan and strategize on how you will transfer your furniture pieces.

These are the different tips I have for you to properly move and transfer your furniture and keep your floor free from damage and scratches.

Final Words

Floor damages and scratches are what many of us consider our worst nightmares.

So, if you can’t get a hold of a tutorial on how to move furniture without scratching the floor, then today is your lucky day!

Never worry about scraping your floors ever again!