Listen to this guide
Moving house with a full length mirror comes down to three things: protect the glass face, protect the edges and corners, and keep the mirror upright on the truck with nothing leaning on it. If you kept the carton it came in, use that and you are mostly done. If you did not, this guide gives you the wrap, brace and load sequence we use, plus the carton size and weight for each of our mirror sizes, so you can size a replacement box or blanket wrap before moving day.
The short version
Glass face: two layers of corrugated cardboard, taped to each other, never to the glass. Edges: a protector on every corner, and a cardboard strip round any arch or oval edge. Outside: one or two removal blankets, taped closed on the blanket.
Carry it upright on its long edge with two people. Load it on its edge or end, against something soft, strapped in two places. Never flat, never with anything stacked on it.
What size box or wrap does your mirror need?
A mirror travels in a carton about 6 cm longer and 6 cm wider than the mirror itself, and 6 cm deep. Those are the numbers to work from when the original box has gone in the recycling. The table below comes from the packaging dimensions and packed weights listed on our product pages, read on 5 November 2026, plus a little arithmetic.
| Mirror size | Carton (cm) | Weight: mirror / in carton | Each person carries | Wrap round / wrap length | Load space on its long edge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 160 x 60 (Svelte X) | 166 x 66 x 6 | 13 kg / 17 kg | about 6.5 kg | 164 / 186 cm: one blanket | 176 cm long, 71 cm high |
| 180 x 40 oval (Eclipse) | 186 x 46 x 6 | 12 kg / 14 kg | about 6 kg | 124 / 206 cm: one blanket plus the ends covered | 196 cm long, 51 cm high |
| 180 x 80 (Titan, Zenith X, Rachelle) | 186 x 86 x 6 | 16 to 22 kg / 20 to 26 kg | 8 to 11 kg | 204 / 206 cm: two blankets | 196 cm long, 91 cm high |
| 200 x 100 (Magna X, Augusta X, Grandeur, Cascade X) | 206 x 106 x 6 | 28 to 32 kg / 32 to 39 kg | 14 to 16 kg | 244 / 226 cm: two blankets | 216 cm long, 111 cm high |
Wrap round = twice the carton width plus twice its depth, plus 20 cm of overlap. Wrap length = the carton length plus 10 cm to fold over each end. Blanket counts assume a 180 x 200 cm removal blanket; measure yours, because sizes vary. Load space allows 10 cm of length and 5 cm of height for the blanket bulk. Our Le Vue 120 x 100 window mirror ships in a 126 x 106 x 6 cm carton at 15 kg if that is the one you are moving.
What you need before you start
- Corrugated cardboard big enough to cover the glass twice over. For a 200 x 100 that means sheets at least 206 x 106 cm, or two flattened boxes per face overlapped by 20 cm and taped together.
- Edge protection. Corner protectors for square corners, and for curved edges a strip of cardboard about 10 cm wide, folded lengthways over the frame. Length guide: about 157 cm to cover the arch of a 200 x 100, 126 cm for a 180 x 80, 94 cm for a 160 x 60, and about 381 cm to go all the way round a 180 x 40 oval.
- One or two removal blankets, from the table above. Old duvets or thick towels work for a short trip.
- Packing tape and a marker, a pair of gloves each, and a second person.
- Two ratchet or cam straps if the mirror is going in a truck or van.
How to pack a full length mirror, step by step
- Clean it, then check it. Wipe the glass dry (our cleaning guide has the method) so grit is not ground into it under the cardboard, then look over the edges and corners in good light. A chip you find now is not a chip from the move. Take a photo of the front and back.
- Take it off the wall and strip the back. Lift it off its hooks with two people, glass facing you. Leave the hangers on the frame if they are screwed in and sit flat; take off anything that sticks out, such as a wire or a removable bracket, and tape it in a bag to the back.
- Cover the glass. Lay the first sheet of cardboard over the glass face and the second over the back, both edge to edge with the frame. Tape the two sheets to each other round the outside so they clamp the mirror between them. No tape touches the glass or the frame.
- Protect every edge. A corner protector on each square corner, then the folded cardboard strip over any arch or oval edge, taped to the cardboard sheets. On a frameless mirror the glass edge is the edge, so this step matters most there.
- Blanket and mark it. Wrap the bundle in the blanket, ends folded in, and tape the blanket to itself in three or four bands. Write GLASS and draw an arrow to the top on both faces, so whoever loads it knows which way it stands.
How to carry and load it
Carry it upright on its long edge with one person at each end, hands under the bottom edge and on the side, not hooked over the top. Walk it, do not swing it. Doorways and stairs are where mirrors get hit, so if your stairs have a tight turn, check whether a large mirror will fit up your stairs before you lift.
In the truck, the mirror goes on its long edge or on its end, along the side wall, with something soft and flat against both faces: a mattress, a sofa back or a stack of blankets. Strap it in two places, one near each end, so it cannot slide forwards when you brake or tip when you corner. Then load around it, never against it. Boxes stacked against the glass face are the most common way a mirror cracks in a move.
Never lay it flat with anything on top.
Laid flat, the glass takes the full weight of whatever is stacked on it, and the truck bed flexes over every bump. On its edge, the frame and the glass carry the load along their strongest line. If the only way it fits is flat, it goes on top of everything else and nothing goes on it.
If you still have our carton
Our delivery page describes how we pack every mirror: firm foam and a sturdy 35 mm wooden frame inside the carton. If that carton is in the garage, it is the box to use. Slide the mirror back in the way it came out, refit the foam, tape the ends closed and keep it standing the way the arrows point. Write the room it is going to on the outside so it is not opened in the wrong place.
Arched, rectangular, oval or frameless: what changes
- Arched tops (Magna X, Titan, Svelte X, Rachelle) have two square corners at the bottom and a long curved edge at the top. The curve is the part that gets knocked on a door frame, so give it the folded strip and an extra fold of blanket.
- Rectangular mirrors (Augusta X, Zenith X, Aldren X) have four corners, and the corners take the hits. Four protectors, then the blanket.
- Oval mirrors such as the 180 x 40 Eclipse have no corners at all, which sounds easier but means the whole edge is exposed. Run the strip all the way round, roughly 381 cm.
- Frameless mirrors (Eclipse, Rachelle, Cascade X) have bare glass edges. The edge strip is not optional on these.
The glass in our mirrors is annealed silvered mirror glass. If it does break it breaks into sharp pieces, so wear gloves while you pack and unpack, and if something goes wrong in transit, leave the mirror wrapped until you can open it on the floor with gloves on.
At the other end
Stand the bundle against a wall where nobody will walk into it, and unwrap it upright. Check the edges and the back the same way you did before the move and compare with your photos. Then plan the wall again from scratch, because a different house means a different wall: our guide to hanging a mirror on plasterboard covers fixings by weight, and if it is going to lean instead, secure a leaning mirror so it cannot tip.
The mirrors these numbers come from
Each of these lists its carton size and packed weight on its product page, so you can check before you pack.
Magna X Arched Full Length Mirror 200 x 100
Slim black frame, arched top. 29 kg on its own, 36 kg in its 206 x 106 x 6 cm carton: a two person carry.
View Magna X →
Zenith X Rectangular Full Length Mirror 180 x 80
Slim black frame, four square corners. 19 kg on its own, 23 kg in a 186 x 86 x 6 cm carton.
View Zenith X →
Svelte X Arched Full Length Mirror 160 x 60
Arched top. 13 kg on its own, 17 kg in a 166 x 66 x 6 cm carton; one 180 x 200 cm blanket wraps it.
View Svelte X →
Eclipse Oval Frameless Full Length Mirror 180 x 40
Frameless oval with bare glass edges: give it the full edge strip. 12 kg on its own, 14 kg in its carton.
View Eclipse →Frequently asked questions
Can I lay a full length mirror flat in the truck?
Not with anything on top of it. Laid flat, every box stacked on the mirror presses straight down on the glass, and one bump over a speed hump can crack it. Stand it on its long edge or on its end, against the side of the truck or between a mattress and a sofa back, and strap it in two places so it cannot slide or tip.
Should I tape a cross on the mirror glass?
It will not stop the glass breaking. At most it holds pieces together if it does break, and on a full length mirror it leaves adhesive on the glass and the frame. Put the tape on the cardboard and the blanket instead, never on the glass or the frame finish.
Do I need a special mirror box to move a full length mirror?
No. If you kept the carton your mirror came in, use it: ours are 6 cm deep with foam and a timber frame inside. If you did not, two sheets of corrugated cardboard over the glass, protection on every corner or curved edge, and one or two removal blankets taped closed will do the same job for a move across town.
How heavy is a 200 x 100 mirror to carry?
Our 200 x 100 mirrors weigh 28 to 32 kg on their own and 32 to 39 kg in the carton. That is 14 to 16 kg each for two people, but it is a long, wide, awkward shape, so the hard part is control rather than weight. Always carry it with two people, one at each end, upright on its long edge.
How much room does a full length mirror need in a car or van?
Wrapped and on its long edge, allow about 216 cm of floor length and 111 cm of height for a 200 x 100, 196 by 91 cm for a 180 x 80, and 176 by 71 cm for a 160 x 60. Measure the load space and the door opening before moving day, not on it.
What should I check before hanging the mirror again at the other end?
Unwrap it upright, look over the glass edges and corners in good light, and check every hanger, D ring or bracket on the back is still tight. Then treat the new wall as a new job: find out what it is made of and use fixings rated for the weight before it goes up.
Moving without the mirror?
Browse our full length mirrors, with the carton size and packed weight on every product page. Delivered NZ wide by Mainfreight at the live rate shown before you pay, or collect from our Albany showroom at Unit B, 19 Arrenway Drive, Rosedale. Afterpay available. NZ designed, NZ owned.
Written by the C&F Creation Team. Figures: the packaging dimensions, packed weights and mirror weights on our mirror product pages, read on 5 November 2026; wrap and load space figures worked from those carton sizes; packing description from our delivery page, read the same day.
