What can we take....?? Advice please,

[themilkybarkid]

Just had a removal firm around for a quote and was told that we really shouldn't risk taking:

1. The Dyson Vacuum cleaner
2. Garden (Wooden) table and six chairs
3. Garden Hose
4. External aluminum ladders
4. Electric Lawnmower

Your advice and experience on these particular items appreciated

many thanks

[whakapapa]

Can't comment on it all because we've not got our stuff over there yet, but the dyson is a strange one because it's so easy to clean! The only issue the guys who did our estimates threw up is the hose in it, but they said a stick with a sponge on the end with a lot of milton fluid would do the trick!

[girlwithanewf]

Absolutely no problem with the dyson vacuum cleaner, just give it a good clean. Mine was fine.
Same for ladders. Outdoor stuff will need a very good clean, I only took garden pots in the end and cleaned them well. Some of these removal companies don't seem to have any idea what they are talking about. One large well-known company told me it would be difficult to take my furniture, all made of wood and that it would need be treated. They didn't get the job. I think they just tell people these things to make life easier for them. The company I went with in the end had a much more pragmatic approach and told me it really depended on the individual inspector on duty at the time, that some things would be inspected and others wouldn't. This really seems to echo the experiences shared here. I had nothing inspected, but others did. I also think it would be a good idea for everyone coming here to tell the original packers what did and did not get inspected so they actually have some real feedback for future customers.

[Mamee & Co]

The only thing off your list we left behind was the lawn mower! Having said that I regret not buyinng a new one and testing it out on a patch of grass in the UK as the lawnmowers here were more expensive and not as good as those available in the UK we found.

[Mickfin]

All of it can be brought in. It just has to be REALLY clean. They will be interested in the outdoor items and may or may not chose to inspect them. They will be looking for cobwebs, spider evidence, dirt etc. So the key is to CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN your stuff.

[Janey]

Like the other OP we brought all but the Lawn mower but we did also bring Garden pots in no problem, Our bench was not even stained and it cleared Customs fine.

[YouMeAndThree]

We bought over similar to your list except the outdoor furniture (only because it was ready for the scrap heap).

1. The Dyson Vacuum cleaner - we had a Sebo, I removed all filters and packed new spares. Cleaned hoses and brushes as best as we could. Passed without inspection.

2. Garden (Wooden) table and six chairs - Didn't bring wooden ones, just metal.

3. Garden Hose - packed without really doing anything apart from checking for cobwebs. Passed without inspection

4. External aluminum ladders - scrubbing the feet and sweeping out of cobwebs. Passed without inspection

5. Electric Lawnmower - We had a petrol mower. Drained all fuel and oil as best as possible. Scrubbed and scrubbed and cleaned and scrubbed and disinfected and steam cleaned and scrubbed some more. This was deemed as requiring decontaminating by MAF. Think from memory it cost around $40. Strangely enough though the electric garden shredder which we had much more difficulty cleaning, because we couldn't strip it down went through without any MAF inspection at all Wonder if they thought it was a paper shredder?

[Bobbysox]

We brought all of them with us - just made sure they were really really clean, totally stripped the lawnmower to clean it, no problems with MAF at all.
The mower we brought with us is however unused in the garage as we ended up with a big lawn here which is far too much for the leccy mower to deal with, so petrol powered 19inch cut mower with a catcher is the way to go
So consider what your garden may be like before you bother with the cleaning.

[YouMeAndThree]

So consider what your garden may be like before you bother with the cleaning.

Yes, our first had a cobbled rear garden, so no mowing and the front lawns had a contract cut every fortnight. Mower remained unused. I was amazed at how tiny some gardens are, not much more than a metre between house and fence around some properties

Now we've moved to a half acre or so plot and the petrol mower is getting an excellent work out, too much in fact. Wonder if Santa will bring us a ride-on mower this year? Or a goat?

[alldone]

We brought 12 year old Honda mower and this was the only thing in our container that was specially treated - steam cleaned for NZ$50 so much cheaper than buying a new lawnmower. And despite pressure washing it (all the labels came off!) it was still quite grubby so I'm not surprised they wanted to do a bit more to it.

Garden Table and 8 chairs, all wooden, cleaned with "teak cleaner" from B&Q that I suspect was just expensively packaged bleach. Passed without problem.

Vacuum - inspected, no problems.

Ladders - pressure washed but still had some paint/plaster/glue on them, inspected, no problems.