What movers won't move – and what to do with it instead

Almost every move has a moment when a mover picks something up, looks at it and puts it back down on the floor. Usually it is a camping-stove gas cartridge, the petrol can from the garage or a shelf of unlabelled jars. This is not fussiness: the cargo box of a moving truck is a closed space where hundreds of kilos rub against each other, and in there even a small leak is a big problem. This guide explains what we leave behind, what we take under certain conditions and what you are better off carrying yourself – and where those left-behind items actually go in the Helsinki region.

Why not everything rides in the truck

There are three reasons, and they are usually the same at every moving company:

• Safety. The cargo box is hot in summer, below freezing in winter, and the load shifts with every braking. A pressurised container or an open fuel can does not belong in the same space as mattresses and cardboard boxes.
• The law. Transporting dangerous goods has its own rules, and a normal moving truck and a mover's training usually do not cover them. A small household quantity in your own car is a different matter from the same tin in a commercial transport.
• Insurance. Transport insurance covers a broken dinner set, but usually not cash, jewellery or damage caused by a substance that should not have been in the load. That is why valuables travel in your pocket and chemicals take their own route.

Not on board: these stay out of the moving truck

• Gas bottles and camping gas. The LPG bottle for the barbecue, camping-stove cartridges and the cylinder of a soda maker are pressure vessels. A bottle you think is empty almost always holds residual gas, so it does not ride in the load either.
• Fuels and jerry cans. Petrol, diesel, lighter fluid, lamp oil. The most surprising item: the lawnmower, chainsaw and moped only travel with an empty tank. Run the tank dry or drain the fuel into a can the day before.
• Paints, varnishes and solvents. Thinner, turpentine, acetone and white spirit always stay behind. An unopened tin of water-based interior paint is often taken – ask in advance.
• Aerosols. Hairspray, spray deodorant, insect spray, spray paint. A pressurised can in a warm cargo box is a risk even when it is half empty. Small cosmetic sprays travel happily in your own bag.
• Fireworks and ammunition. New Year leftovers, distress flares from the boat and cartridges for firearms do not go in a moving truck under any circumstances.
• Pool and cleaning chemicals. Chlorine, drain opener, strong acid and alkaline cleaners, hot-tub disinfectants. Ordinary dishwashing liquid and laundry detergent are fine once the caps are taped and the bottles stand upright.
• Unlabelled jars and bottles. With no label, the mover cannot know whether the can holds water or turpentine. An unlabelled liquid stays on the floor – and that is the right call.

On board with conditions: prepare these in advance

• Fridge and freezer: defrosted and dry. Start defrosting at least a day ahead – a freezer thaws more slowly than you expect. Water at the bottom of the appliance runs onto the boxes in the load. In the new home, let the appliance stand for a few hours before plugging it in; the manufacturer's instructions decide.
• Washing machine: transport bolts in place. Without the bolts the drum swings freely and the bearings can be damaged on the way. If the bolts have gone missing, mention it in your quote request. Hoses off and water drained.
• Pianos, safes and other very heavy items: tell us in advance. They need an extra mover and the right equipment, and we assess the route – stairs, lift size, door widths – before moving day. A surprise piano at the door is what stretches a move by an hour, and the price with it.
• House plants: no problem in summer, at your own risk in winter. In frost the temperature inside the cargo box drops below zero, and a ficus does not survive that. In winter, plants are best carried in a warm car.
• Aquariums and terrariums: emptied. Water out, gravel out, fish and reptiles in their own transport container with you. A glass aquarium is never lifted full of water – the bottom gives way.
• Candles, chocolate and vinyl records: not banned, but in a heatwave the cargo box gets hot. On a long trip, pack them in the boxes that go in last or in your own car.

Carry it yourself: these do not belong in the load

• Cash, bank cards and securities.
• Passports, ID cards, driving licence and the tenancy agreement. You need them on moving day: key handover, change-of-address notification, electricity contract.
• Jewellery, watches and small valuables. Insurance usually does not cover them, and a small box disappears easily into a sea of cardboard.
• Keys – for both the old and the new home. A classic among movers: the keys to the new flat packed in the box marked "kitchen 3".
• Medicines, especially prescription drugs and anything kept cold, such as insulin.
• Computers, hard drives and work phones. Your employer's data and your own photos travel in a backpack, not in the load.
• Pets. The cat goes in a carrier in a passenger car, never in the cargo box. A hamster cage is light enough to carry yourself – and its resident will notice the difference.

Quick list: not on board, on board with conditions, carry yourself

So where does it all go? A guide for Finland

• Hazardous waste → HSY's Sortti station. Paints, solvents, aerosols, batteries, fluorescent tubes and small amounts of chemicals are accepted from households free of charge at the Sortti recycling stations in the Helsinki region. Small camping-gas cartridges usually qualify as hazardous waste; a large LPG bottle goes back to the distributor or retailer. Check the current instructions at hsy.fi before you set off. Elsewhere in Finland the equivalent is your municipality's waste station (jäteasema) or the mobile hazardous-waste collection.
• Medicines → the pharmacy. Expired and unneeded medicines are taken to any pharmacy (apteekki), which sends them for disposal. Not down the drain, not in mixed waste.
• Fireworks and ammunition → the retailer or the police. Unused fireworks are usually accepted where they were bought or at a police-approved return point. Ammunition and firearm parts are handed in to the police. Ask in advance – and never put them in a waste bin.
• Fuel → use it up or take it to the Sortti station. The contents of the lawnmower tank go into a jerry can, and the can goes to the Sortti station if you will not use it yourself. An empty can rides in the load once it has been aired out and the cap is on.
• Bulky junk and moving waste → Mover.fi's waste removal. The old sofa, the broken shelf and the packing materials leave on their own load to the Sortti station: transport from €90 depending on the amount + HSY's reception fees at cost, with the receipt sent to you. Electronics, metal and cardboard are free categories at the station, so a load of pure junk often costs only the transport.
• An empty flat left clean → moving cleaning. Once the chemicals and junk are gone, moving cleaning takes care of the rest, and the old home is ready for handover the same day.

Moving-morning checklist

1. Gas bottles, jerry cans and chemicals gathered in one place, out of the load and off the loading route.
2. Fridge and freezer defrosted, wiped dry and door left ajar.
3. Washing machine transport bolts fitted, hoses off and water drained.
4. "Carry yourself" bag packed: documents, keys, medicines, laptop and charger.
5. A quiet room or a sitter arranged for the pet during the move.
6. In winter, plants in a warm car, not in the cargo box.

Once that is done, the rest takes care of itself. Mover.fi's own movers and trucks start from €90 per hour – the truck, the movers, fuel and insurance are all included. Tell us in your quote request what is unusual about your load and we reply within an hour on working days.