If your move date is approaching, you and your family are probably packing everything you need to bring to your new home. As you prepare for your relocation, it’s important to remember that professional movers won’t move every type of item. If you pack something especially valuable or that can be dangerous in a collision, your moving company might refuse your shipment.
Thankfully, there are only a few things moving companies won’t move. Familiarize yourself with some of the most common things local and long-distance movers won’t move to ensure a hassle-free and safe moving day.
What Common Household Items Will Movers Not Move?
The following are some everyday items that your movers might refuse to pack in your moving truck. Planning alternatives for the following items before moving day is best to avoid loading delays.
Pro Tip
- Before moving day, separate any items your movers won’t transport and have a plan for getting them to your new home yourself. Number and label every box you pack so you can cross-reference against the mover’s inventory list as items are loaded onto the truck—and again as they come off at your new home. This is especially important if your goods will be placed in storage between pickup and delivery, as the extra unloading and reloading increases the chance of loss or damage.
Hazardous Materials
Movers will not transport any hazardous items that could lead to team members getting hurt. For example, aerosol cans may explode when exposed to fire, potentially turning a fender bender into a deadly situation. Some common household items moving companies won’t move include:
- Fire extinguishers
- Spray paint
- Nail polish remover
- Paint thinners
- Cleaning products
Each moving company has its own list of items it will not move, and the items considered hazardous might vary between providers. For example, although many moving companies require you to toss cleaning products before loading your shipment, some movers may be willing to transport these items if they don’t contain harsh chemicals.
Ask your moving company for a complete list of dangerous items you cannot move. This will speed up the moving process and ensure you and your moving team are safe.
Pro Tip
- Bob Broz, an assistant professor at the University of Missouri’s College of Food Systems and Bioengineering, recommends reducing your stock of hazardous household products well before moving day. Buy only as much as you need for a project so you aren’t left with surplus solvents, paints, or cleaners that movers won’t transport and that require special disposal.
Keep in mind that the hazardous materials list extends beyond obvious items. Everyday products like bleach are classified as corrosive, and home electronics—including old VCRs and monitors—may contain mercury or lead, making them hazardous household products as well. Start sorting these items weeks before your move date so you have time to arrange proper drop-offs rather than scrambling on packing day.
Don’t simply toss hazardous household products into the regular trash. As This Old House Magazine has advised, products with components that are flammable, explosive, corrosive, or toxic endanger human health and pollute land, water, and air when disposed of improperly. Contact your local sanitation department to ask about special hazardous-waste pickups or find the address and hours of a household hazardous-waste drop-off center near you.
Plants
Moving companies may refuse to move live plants, especially interstate movers, as pests can easily attach to houseplants and move along with you unnoticed. This means that houseplants have the potential to bring local pests to different states, which can be harmful to the environment.
Further, some gardeners use specialized weed killers and fertilizers containing nitrogen. If spilled, these materials can cause corrosive damage to the moving van, so most moving companies will not accept them. This is the same reason why even the best moving companies won’t move cleaning products such as bleach or ammonia.
While moving a potted plant is unlikely to cause an ecological disaster or moving injury, most moving companies prefer to avoid the risk. If you have any house plants, pesticides, or other organic matter that you can’t leave behind, take it with you in your car when you move.
Perishable Foods
Moving companies will not move perishable food items because they have no way of keeping the food cold during transportation. This means that your frozen chicken and milk are unlikely to be safe for consumption when your shipment makes it to your new home. Rather than risk someone getting sick, moving companies will only agree to move non-perishable food items that can safely remain in a truck for days on end.
Pets
If you’ve ever moved in the past, you probably already know that moves can take a long time and get rough. While the best moving companies can arrange pet transportation services on your behalf, most moving companies do not have the necessary facilities to move pets.
Why Don’t Moving Companies Move Certain Items?
The biggest reason moving companies won’t move certain items is due to safety concerns.
Items May Be Hazardous
For example, flammable items or highly pressurized items like scuba tanks present a safety hazard to the moving team in a collision. Movers similarly won’t handle oxygen tanks, solvents, acids, and some household cleaning supplies.
Your Belongings May Be Perishable
Not every item that movers will not move presents a safety hazard, however. Movers won’t move perishable items, including frozen foods, because they don’t want to risk the items damaging your shipment. Moving some houseplants can conflict with the National Plant Board’s recommendations, so most moving companies also refuse to move live plants.
Items Might Present a Liability
Moving companies have the final call on whether they will or won’t move an item, which leaves a bit of a gray area regarding what you can’t pack. For example, while it is not against the law to transport an unloaded firearm across state lines, some movers still refuse to move these items because they do not want to risk an injury. Ask your moving company for more information on specific items they will not move.
You should plan to keep any valuables or items with sentimental value with you when you move. Moving companies do not want to be responsible for high-value items being damaged in accidents. They typically require that you take important documents with you when going to your new home. Separate family heirlooms, expensive jewelry, medical records, photo albums, and other important items before moving.
Most moving companies provide only minimal coverage—typically 60 cents per pound—at no extra charge, which means a 10-pound stereo system destroyed in transit would net you just $6 in reimbursement. You can upgrade to “full value” protection, but our 2025 survey found that only 33% of movers actually purchased additional valuation coverage. For items movers refuse to transport—or for irreplaceable belongings—keeping them with you is the safest bet.
Homeowner Insights
- According to a 2025 This Old House Moving Survey, 62% of respondents who had a negative moving experience cited damaged furniture or other goods as a primary complaint, while others reported lost or stolen items among their grievances. These risks underscore exactly why movers refuse to handle high-value, fragile, or hazardous belongings—and why you should take extra care separating irreplaceable items before moving day.
What Other Things Won’t Moving Companies Move?
Other items that your moving company might refuse to move include the following:
- Antiques
- Fireworks
- Gardening tools and lawnmowers without emptied gas tanks
- Grill and barbeque supplies and tools
- High-value items
- Lighter fluid and motor oil
- Liquor, wine, and beer
Your movers can provide you with a complete list of hazardous or dangerous items they won’t move.
As your movers load the truck, make sure they inventory each item in writing and number every box. Review this list carefully before signing the bill of lading—the contract stipulating the services you’re buying and the cost. Keep a carbon copy of both the contract and the inventory list so you can verify everything comes off the truck at your new home.
What Do Moving Companies Move?
Moving companies can transport almost any household object. Some of the most common items movers handle include the following:
- Books
- Clothing
- Files and large boxes of paperwork
- Furniture
- Musical instruments
- Small and major appliances
Most people hire a professional moving company to move things that are a hassle to relocate without help. Whether you have a lot of bulky furniture or you just don’t have the time to plan a DIY move, local and cross-country movers will be able to transport almost all of your belongings.
Alternatives for Moving Prohibited Items
If you have a few items that your movers won’t take, you have plenty of options for getting rid of them before your move. Perishable food items are not worth moving when you consider the valuable moving van space they take up—consider donating to a local food bank so it doesn’t go to waste. Further, local homeless and domestic violence shelters are always looking for unopened, non-perishable cleaning supplies.
Avoid moving items that could be dangerous if you’re involved in an accident on the road, such as lighter fluid or propane tanks. Dispose of these materials and any electronic waste, including car batteries and old cell phones, at your local hazardous waste facility.
If your appliances still work and are on the newer side, ask a resale store if it will pick them up—and be sure to request a receipt so you can take a tax deduction. Your local Habitat for Humanity ReStore (habitat.org/restores) may even offer pickup or deconstruction services, saving you both money and effort.
Pro Tip
- For hazardous materials like solvents, strippers, paint thinners, and aerosol products, check whether your sanitation department does special pickups for hazardous waste, or ask for the address and hours of a household hazardous-waste drop-off center. As This Old House has reported, tossing these items in the regular trash is against the law. You can also drop off unbroken fluorescent bulbs—which contain toxic mercury—at Home Depot and Lowe’s rather than putting them in the trash.
Our Conclusion
Most moving companies can transport your essential belongings, such as your furniture, electronics, clothing, appliances, and more. However, they may refuse to move certain items that pose safety risks, such as pressurized canisters, flammable materials, corrosive liquids (including bleach and ammonia), plants, animals, and more.
The best way to know what your moving company won’t move is to ask before you book. That way, you’ll have ample time to arrange alternate transportation for these items, dispose of them, or donate them to local charities.
FAQ About Things Moving Companies Won’t Move
What items do movers not move?
Movers will not move any items that have the potential to catch fire or explode during the transportation process. For example, movers will not move aerosol cans because they can explode in an accident and harm a driver. Movers also won’t move highly valuable items and some living things, such as plants and pets.
What cannot be moved in a moving truck?
You cannot move aerosol cans, hazardous materials, electronic waste, cleaning supplies, pets, and plants in a moving truck. To avoid liability-related risks, some movers may refuse to move items like expensive jewelry, firearms, and liquor. Ask the company renting or issuing your moving truck about what items you can’t safely load before your moving date arrives.
Do movers move everything?
No, movers will not move everything. If an item could hurt the mover during loading or transportation, you’ll need to leave it behind when you move or move it on your own. You’ll also need to make arrangements for plants, animals, and valuable items you want to move with, as movers won’t accept these items.
Will movers move toiletries?
Moving companies can move items such as shampoo, eye creams, feminine hygiene pads, and other toiletries that are not used for cleaning. Some moving companies will not move items containing nitrogen, which is a common ingredient in household cleaning products. Flammable items, such as nail polish remover, and contents under pressure, such as hairspray, are commonly prohibited.
