How to protect your floors during a move

Protecting your floors while moving
If your floors get a lot of traffic on a "normal" day, you can count on at least tripling the traffic on moving day.  Whether you're hiring movers to do the packing and loading, or you're doing it yourself, it's a great idea to protect your floors before you start moving things out (or in). If you're moving out, the new owners/renters will appreciate it. If you're moving in, you'll be extra glad you took a little extra time to protect your floors— it may keep you from having to hire professional carpet cleaners.

Scratches, footprints, and scuffs, oh my!
I've got hardwoods in my house, and they're wonderful. But, if you've lived with them for long, you know how easily they're scratched and dented.  If you've lived in a house or apartment with linoleum, you know how easy it is to scratch or tear it. And, while it's softer to walk on carpet, it's difficult to slide large furniture across it, and of course, it stains easily.  So, what's a person to do who has no choice but to slide furniture and walk across the floor over and over?

I've got a few suggestions:

A friend of mine who likes to rearrange her furniture on a fairly regular basis introduced me to a product made by EZ Moves called EZ Moves Furniture Sliders.  She said these little guys have made moving her heavy entertainment center much easier.  I checked into them, and it looks like they're padded to protect wooden floors and other hard surfaces.  My friend actually uses them on carpeted floors and said it makes sliding things easy.

Another idea for carpeted floors is…use a product like Carpet Shield. It's a self-adhesive film that covers your carpets to keep dirt that gets tracked in from getting into your carpet.  It comes with a roller so it's easy to put down. It's also tear resistant.  After your move is complete, you can simply pull it up and dispose of it.

As a last resort, you could lay down cardboard, painter's drop cloths, sheets or plastic…but we don't recommend this.  The likelihood of someone tripping over these loose items is pretty high.

If you've used either of these products, or others, let us know what you think.  Any other suggestions on how to protect your floors while moving? Share them with us!