What can be a good substitute of styrofoam protection of appliances which somebody wants to transport, but has already lost the original styrofoam protection?
We often by something new and after that throw away the packaging material, but after some time we need to transport the appliance somewhere and need to protect it from any damage during transportation. A new cardboard box of suitable size can be easily obtained but what can replace the original styrofoam.
Moving blankets are sold for this purpose, but I've wrapped objects in old bath towels. Works well to keep a snug fit between the objects and the insides of the box.
For large appliances, padded rugs are used by commercial movers, and a terry-cloth towel could probably serve the same purpose for small ones (and would be useful in the kitchen, too).
I recommend spray foam insulation. Put plastic over the appliance so the foam will not stick. Set the appliance in the box. Spray the foam around the appliance. It's only necessary to fill the corners and maybe do a spot midway. Foam insulation is very sturdy, cheap, available, and emulates original packing.
Do a Google search for "spray foam insulation for packing" to read more. I'm not going to paste from websites here because abundant info is available.
I don't know how this wasn't mentioned before, but you can use 'anti-stress material', or 'bubble wrap' (whichever you prefer to call).
It has 'pockets' of air with different sizes and resistence.
It's easily obtainable and quite cheap (0.80€ per m2, in Portugal).
After you are done moving what you want, you can releave the huge stress with it!
Luckly, Wikipedia has an article about this.
You just need to be sure to get enough to loop it 3-4 times.
If you want to use the original box, you can!
Just loop it fewer times and you are set!
If you want, you can ignore the box completely and give it to the kids or the pets to play with.
