How to move a refrigerator without hiring movers: 10 Steps

If you’ve hired top-rated professional movers to take care of your heavy furniture pieces and large household appliances for you, you have little to worry about.

The movers’ extensive experience in handling big and heavy household items on a daily basis should guarantee the well-being of the bulky possessions you’ve decided to take with you to the new home.

When moving locally, you may decide to take the fridge with you for a number of reasons: the kitchen appliance is relatively new, it works great, and most importantly – there’s no refrigerator in the destination place.

You should know upfront that moving a refrigerator to another house is a difficult task – read on to understand why.

However, you can still manage the heavy job of moving a refrigerator by yourself by learning what you should do and what you shouldn’t do to keep things safe during transport.  

Follow these 10 major steps for moving a refrigerator without having to rely on professionals to get the job done quickly and safely.

Step 1. Double-check if moving your fridge is worth the trouble

The very first thing you need to do before you begin to prepare your fridge for moving is to weigh your options carefully.

Is moving your refrigerator to the new house the best option under the circumstances?

Refrigerators are both big and heavy – unless you’re moving a small portable bridge, in which case you should be perfectly fine. Old fridges weigh A LOT (around 250 lbs.) while new models are a bit lighter (170 lbs.) because of the lighter materials used in their construction.

Refrigerators also tend to be rather delicate appliances because of the easy-to-damage cooling mechanisms they’re equipped with. Fridges look extremely sturdy but that false sense of indestructibility couldn’t be further from the truth.

So, consider your options to make an informed decision.

• Moving a fridge to a new home is a difficult job and it will increase the overall cost of moving.
• On the other hand, leaving the refrigerator behind may be a bad idea, especially when the kitchen appliance is relatively new and works just fine.

Step 2. Gather the necessary moving equipment and packing supplies

Unless your fridge is a portable one, you can’t just lift the appliance, take it out of your home, and then load it safely into the moving vehicle.

Thorough preparation is the key to success when moving a refrigerator between two homes, so it’s time to get the right moving equipment and secure the necessary packing materials.

• Appliance dolly. The safest way to move a fridge by yourself is to use a dolly. The wheel is still considered the greatest invention in history, isn’t it? So, use it. Rent an appliance dolly from a local moving company or better yet – purchase one from a local home improvement store.
• Manpower. You shouldn’t attempt to move your big and heavy fridge all by yourself. The moment you decide you won’t be using professional moving services is the moment when you have to know that you can rely on a few good friends to help you with the task. At least one reliable helper is a must.
• Furniture sliders. To slide the fridge effortlessly away from the wall.
• Furniture blankets. To pad the entire fridge against accidental damage.
• Straps or rope. To secure the fridge onto the appliance dolly.
• Packing tape. To secure the blankets onto the home appliance.

Good to know: How to pack a kitchen for moving

Step 3. Prepare your refrigerator for moving

There are several things you need to do to prepare your fridge for moving:

• Empty the contents of your fridge several days before your move-out date. Use up or give away the food and drinks you’ve decided to leave behind.
• Turn off your refrigerator, disconnect it from the power supply, and let it defrost completely. The defrosting process can take up to 8 hours so it’s a good idea to do this during the night. Catch the water from the defrosting process in suitable containers.
• Remove all fridge parts that can be removed safely – drawers, shelves, trays, lids, etc. – and clean them thoroughly. After they are completely dry, wrap them safely in packing paper (or bubble wrap for the more fragile ones) and pack them in a cardboard box.
• Clean the inside of your refrigerator with the help of the cleaning supplies you have at hand. In most cases, it’s best to use a sponge and a cleaning mixture of water and baking soda. When you’re done, leave the fridge door slightly open overnight to prevent bad smells or mildew from building up.

Step 4. Plan the fridge moving route out of the place

It’s critical that you have a good plan of action for taking the refrigerator out of the current place and loading it up into the moving vehicle. In fact, you’re going to need a foolproof plan to ensure everyone’s safety and the well-being of the big and heavy appliance.

• Measure the dimensions of the fridge – height, width, and depth – and write down the values on a piece of paper.
• Measure the dimensions of all doorways and hallways along the intended path out of the home and compare them with the ones of your fridge. Ideally, the bulky kitchen appliance will pass fairly comfortably through the doors and halls of the place you’re leaving.
• Consider keeping the fridge at an angle when it passes through a smaller door or try removing temporarily the doors from their hinges to gain that extra space you need.
• Follow the link below to learn other tricks that should help you get the fridge out of the place safely when the appliance proves to be just a tad bigger than your doorways and hallways.
• Be sure to remove any obstacles along the intended path out of the place – cardboard boxes, pieces of furniture, and so on.

See also: Help! What to do if furniture won’t fit through the door?

Step 5. Protect the floors against accidental damage

When moving a refrigerator without using the services of professional movers, the chance of ending up with some sort of property damage is high because you have probably never had to move a fridge by yourself before that moment.

Keep in mind that floors are especially susceptible to damage when you’re moving a refrigerator from one home to another.

There are several things you should do to make sure the floors of the place you’re moving out of do not end up (badly) damaged while your fridge is being taken outside.

• Use an appliance dolly. This is probably the best indirect way to keep the floors protected on Moving day. The rubber wheels of the moving dolly will ensure that the legs of the fridge do not come into direct contact with the floor so that no type of floor damage is possible.
• Use furniture sliders. Furniture sliders will help you move the fridge out of its resting place, usually away from the wall, in a way that eliminates the chance of getting scratches on the floor. Remember to use the right type of furniture sliders for the job – gliders made out of hard rubber or plastic are good for carpeted floors while soft felt gliders are ideal for hardwood floors.
• Use plywood panels. Hard plywood panels will do an excellent job protecting the floors against accidental damage when moving a fridge across the room. However, plywood sheets can be expensive so do the math first before you decide how to keep the floors from getting damaged.

Read also: How to protect floors when moving

Step 6. Protect your refrigerator against transportation damage

You have to make sure your fridge is well-protected during the actual move. The main idea is to wrap it in protective padding blankets to create a soft outer layer of protection for the kitchen appliance.

• Place a furniture slider underneath each foot or caster of the fridge, then slide it easily away from the wall without causing any floor damage. This step should be applied when the refrigerator needs to be moved out of a tight space.
• Close your fridge door and secure it in place with a long piece of strong rope. Also, tape the power cord to the back of the kitchen appliance.
• Wrap several furniture blankets around the entire body of the appliance. Alternatively, you can use old regular household blankets for the purpose. Make sure no part of the fridge is left exposed – remember that refrigerators may look sturdy but in reality, they are rather fragile kitchen appliances and as such, they are easily susceptible to damage.
• Use packing tape to secure the padding blankets onto the fridge. Do NOT use tape directly on the delicate surface of the appliance.

Useful info: How to move household appliances easily and safely

Step 7. Load the fridge onto the dolly

The safest way to move a refrigerator is to wheel it out of your house with the help of a moving dolly. It is not advisable to try to move a large and heavy fridge without using the proper moving equipment. To avoid costly property damage or oven costlier personal injuries, you must use an appliance dolly to transport your fridge to the vehicle outside.

• Tip the kitchen appliance slightly and get the moving dolly underneath it.
• Tilt the appliance dolly back until the fridge becomes perfectly balanced onto the rubber wheels of the L-shaped dolly.
• Secure your heavy fridge onto the dolly with rope or moving straps. Some dollies come with straps attached to them, so use them, if available.
• Be careful not to tilt the secured refrigerator at an angle that’s greater than 45 degrees for fear of losing the balance.

Read also: What is a moving dolly and how to use it?

Step 8. Move the fridge out of the home

Once the bulky kitchen appliance is safely loaded onto the moving dolly, it’s time to wheel it all the way to the awaiting vehicle. Here’s the best way to do it:

• Avoid laying the refrigerator on its side because the oil in its compressor may reach the cooling lines and consequently damage the cooling mechanism. Make an effort to keep the appliance as upright as possible or at an angle that’s no greater than 45 degrees to prevent untimely damage.
• Start wheeling the kitchen appliance out of your home. Be very cautious when moving your fridge through narrow doorways or steep stairs. Do things slowly, plan each refrigerator moving step before executing it, and take a timeout to assess well the whole situation if you reach a dead end.
• Have a reliable helper at your side at all times while moving the fridge out of the current place. In most cases, it’ll be easier and safer to pull the loaded moving dolly than to push it.
• Avoid going down the stairs with the refrigerator, if possible. If you have no choice in the matter, then go extremely slowly, only one step at a time while you and your friend keep the heavy load at roughly 45 degrees the entire time.

Must-read: How to use a dolly on stairs

Step 9. Load your refrigerator into the moving truck

The final step of moving a refrigerator without movers is to load the appliance into the rental truck.

• Load your refrigerator, together with the rest of the large household appliances and furniture pieces, first into the truck.
• Use the truck’s loading ramp to wheel the fridge into the storage space. The fridge loading stage is dangerous so use all available helping hands and think before you act.
• Secure your kitchen appliance to the truck’s side walls with ropes or straps to minimize any undesired movements during the long haul.
• Remember to transport your refrigerator in an upright position – this safety measure is critical.

See also: How do movers pack a truck: What do movers load first?

Step 10. Install the fridge in the new place

When you reach your new residence, use the above tips for moving a refrigerator in reserve order to unload your fridge, transport it inside, and reconnect it.

Finally, once your refrigerator is placed in its rightful place in your new kitchen, wait for at least 3 hours before plugging it in and turning it on. It can take a few days before your cooling appliance reaches its optimal operating performance.

Bear in mind that moving a refrigerator without using professional movers can be risky, especially when you don’t have any experience in moving large and heavy household items.

A single judgment error or an unfortunate misstep can lead to costly property damage, including floor damage. What’s more, bad personal injuries are never out of the question either.

Do yourself a favor and hire top-rated movers with many years of professional experience in moving heavy furniture and large appliances from one place to another.