How to Move a Refrigerator
By Igor S.Red Cat co-founder, moving people since 2012
A refrigerator is tall, heavy and full of things that spill, smell and break. Here's how our movers get one ready and out the door by themselves: emptied, defrosted, shrink-wrapped and strapped to an appliance dolly, standing up the whole way.
The short version
- 1Empty it, take the shelves out and pack them in paper.
- 2Unplug it, tape the cord to the back, defrost the freezer.
- 3Baking soda inside, shrink wrap around the doors.
- 4Strap it to an appliance dolly and keep it standing up.
By yourself
How to move a refrigerator by yourself
Start the day before: the freezer needs time to defrost. On moving day it's a dolly, a strap and a roll of shrink wrap.
Step 1
Empty it
Take everything out: the food, the ice trays, whatever is in the door bins.
Step 2
Shelves and drawers out
Take out the glass shelves and the drawers, wrap each one in packing paper and pack them in a box for the kitchen.
Step 3
Unplug it, tape the cord
Unplug it, coil the cord and tape it to the back, so it can't drag on the floor or catch on the dolly.
Step 4
Defrost the freezer
If frost has built up, leave the freezer open with a towel and a tray underneath. It can take 6 to 8 hours, so start the day before, then wipe it dry.
Step 5
Something for the smell
Before you close it, put an open box of baking soda inside. A fridge that's just been defrosted and shut up for the move can start to smell, and the baking soda soaks it up.
Step 6
Shrink wrap it
Wrap it in shrink wrap, around and around the doors. They stay shut the whole way, and the finish doesn't get scratched.
Step 7
Strap it to a dolly
Strap it to an appliance dolly, put a foot on the axle and tip it back onto the wheels. It stays standing up the whole way. On stairs, a second person goes below.
Step 8
Let it stand, then plug it in
At the new place, stand it in its spot and give it a few hours before you plug it in, so the oil in the compressor settles back where it belongs.
Tight doors
When it won't fit through the door
Take the house door off before you touch the fridge's. Then open its doors and push it through. The fridge's own doors come off last.
First
Take the house door off
Not the fridge's door, the house's. Tap the hinge pins out and lift it away: it's quick, and you gain the whole thickness of the door.
Then
Open both doors, push it through
Still tight? Take it off the dolly, open both its doors, the fridge and the freezer, and push it through sideways. With the doors swung open only the body has to fit the opening, and the doors swing past the frame.
Last option
The fridge doors, last
Only if nothing else works. Fridge doors can have wires and a water line running through the hinge, so note where each one connects before you take them off.
Lying down
Can you lay a refrigerator down to move it?
Upright is best, on the dolly and in the truck. If it has to lie down, lay it on its side on moving blankets, never on its back or its front.
When it's standing again, give it as long as it was lying down, up to a day, before you plug it in. Moved standing up the whole way, a few hours is enough.
Rather have a crew move it?
Our movers wrap, strap and move refrigerators across DC, Maryland and Northern Virginia every day, up the stairs and through the tight doors, for one flat price set before we start: from $240.
Just need two movers and a dolly? See moving labor.
FAQ
Refrigerator moving questions
answered
What people ask before they move a fridge themselves. Anything else, give us a call.
Talk with Red Cat- Empty it, take out the shelves and drawers and pack them in paper, unplug it and tape the cord to the back, and defrost the freezer the day before. Put an open box of baking soda inside, shrink wrap it around the doors, strap it to an appliance dolly and tip it back onto the wheels. Keep it standing up the whole way, and get a second person for the stairs.
Know your price.
Then let's move.
Your stuff moves. Your price doesn't.
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