What Can’t Be Moved or Shipped
🚫 Prohibited items list
What Can’t Be Moved with Your Furniture or Shipped Internationally?
Not every item in your home can be loaded onto a truck or cross a border in a container. Some items we refuse to load because they endanger the whole shipment; some are banned by customs even if you legally own them at home; and a third group isn’t prohibited, but belongs in your own bag, not in a carton at the back of the truck.
This page separates the three categories clearly, so you know before moving day — not at the moment the crew is standing at your door — what will be loaded and what you need to deal with in advance.
🔥 Strictly prohibited
Flammable, explosive or leak-prone materials. They’re never loaded in a local move or an international shipment, however small the quantity.
📑 Restricted — permit required
Allowed, but only with an official document: a prescription, a device license, a health certificate or an invoice. Without the document, they become prohibited.
👜 Carry it yourself
Fully allowed, but its value or sensitivity means it belongs with you in your car, not inside the shipment.
Why does this list exist at all?
It isn’t red tape or a way to avoid work. Every item on the list has at least one of these three reasons behind it:
🛡️ Safety of the shipment and the crew
A single leaking container inside a closed truck under the midday sun can ruin the furniture of an entire home. And the heat inside a sealed container exceeds what many pressurized cans can withstand.
🛃 Customs regulations
In international shipping, your shipment passes through two systems: the export rules of the departure country and the import rules of the destination country. What’s allowed here may be banned there.
📄 The insurance policy
A prohibited item inside the shipment voids the insurance coverage for the entire shipment, not just that item. Whatever you gain by sneaking in one container isn’t worth losing compensation for a whole shipment.
⚠️ Important note: customs regulations are updated constantly and differ from country to country. This page sets out the practical framework we apply in the field, and we confirm the specific details for your destination during the survey before shipping — not after the shipment reaches the port.
First: what we don’t load onto a furniture moving truck
This category applies to local moves within or between cities, and applies all the more to international shipping. The crew will set these items aside during loading even if they’re packed inside a carton, so it’s best to deal with them at least two days before moving day.
| Category | Examples found in every home | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| 🔥 Compressed gases | Kitchen gas cylinder · camping gas · diving cylinders · aerosol sprays · fire extinguisher | They explode from the heat inside the truck or container, even if they seem empty |
| ⛽ Fuel and flammable liquids | Generator petrol · diesel · kerosene · barbecue fuel · engine oils | Their fumes alone are enough to ignite in an enclosed space |
| 🎨 Paints and solvents | Paints · thinner · acetone · industrial glue · nail polish remover in quantity | Flammable, and a leak permanently ruins wood and fabric |
| 🧪 Household chemicals | Concentrated bleach · drain acids · industrial cleaners · whiteners | They react with each other if they leak and give off toxic fumes |
| 🐜 Pesticides and fertilizers | Insecticides · rodent poison · agricultural fertilizers | Toxic, and some are oxidizers that can self-ignite |
| 🧨 Combustibles and fireworks | Fireworks · charcoal · firewood · matches · lighters · charcoal irons | Explicitly banned in commercial transport and at border crossings |
| 🔋 Damaged batteries | Swollen power banks · damaged lithium batteries · wet-cell car batteries | The most common cause of fires in shipping, especially air freight |
| 🍖 Perishable food | Freezer contents · meat · dairy · vegetables · opened packages | They spoil within hours, attract insects and contaminate the rest of the shipment |
| 🪴 Plants and soil | Potted ornamental plants · garden soil · seeds | They die in darkness and heat, and are banned internationally without a phytosanitary certificate |
| 🐈 Live animals | Pets · birds · aquarium fish | Never moved with household goods — they have dedicated transport channels |
🚫 Don’t count on “just a small amount”: the forgotten lighter in a table drawer, the aerosol can in the cleaning bag and the half bottle of thinner under the kitchen sink — these are exactly the three items we find most often during loading. A small size doesn’t change how a substance is classified.
So what should you do with them instead?
✅ Use them up
Start two weeks ahead by emptying the freezer and using up leftover cleaners and generator fuel instead of buying more.
🤝 Give them away
A neighbor or the maintenance worker can make use of the gas cylinder, cleaners and opened paints the same day.
♻️ Dispose of them properly
Pesticides, batteries and paints don’t go in the household waste bin — hand them in at designated collection points.
🚗 Move them in your own car
If the move is within the city and you insist on keeping the gas cylinder, it belongs in your private car and at your own responsibility — not in the shipment truck.
Second: items we recommend carrying yourself
These aren’t prohibited, and the crew won’t refuse to load them if you insist. But a shipment goes through loading, unloading and perhaps storage and clearance, and anything that money can’t replace shouldn’t enter that cycle at all.
📄 Official documents
Passports · IDs · title deeds and contracts · birth and graduation certificates · insurance files and registrations. Getting replacements is far harder than carrying them by hand.
💍 Gold and cash
Jewelry, valuable watches and cash aren’t listed on a bill of lading and usually aren’t covered by the insurance policy. Don’t put them in a box.
💊 Personal medicines
Especially those needing a daily dose or refrigeration. Carry them with you in their original packaging with the prescription — you’ll also need the prescription when crossing borders.
💻 Small devices and data
Laptop · camera · hard drives · chargers. Small and easy to lose, and what’s on them is often worth more than the devices themselves.
🔑 Keys and access devices
Keys to the new and old homes and gate remotes. The classic awkward moment: the key is inside a sealed box on the truck.
🎒 First-night bag
Clothes for a full day · toiletries · chargers · towels · children’s things. It makes your first night bearable before you open the boxes.
💡 Practical tip: set aside one carton marked in a different color as “With me in the car”, and fill it the day before the move. The things you remember at the last minute are exactly what end up in a random box.
Third: prohibited items in international shipping
When crossing borders, a second layer is added on top of safety considerations: customs regulations. Here items fall into just two categories — absolutely prohibited and restricted, permit required. Confusing the two is behind most shipment seizures.
🚫 Absolutely prohibited — never shipped under any circumstances
- Narcotics and intoxicants in all their forms and derivatives.
- Weapons and ammunition and their disassembled parts, including bladed weapons and heritage collectibles.
- Eavesdropping and hidden-camera devices — pens, glasses and watches fitted with cameras.
- Signal jammers and speed radar detectors, and high-power laser pointers.
- Counterfeit goods that infringe trademarks — confiscated immediately, even for personal use.
- Counterfeit currency and the tools used to forge it.
- Publications and materials that violate Islamic law, state regulations or public morals.
- Antiquities and historical artifacts — exporting them requires special official permission.
- Radioactive materials and hazardous waste, and unauthorized biological samples.
- Products from endangered species — ivory and rare skins without a CITES certificate.
📑 Restricted — shipped with a permit only
The absence of a document alone is what turns these items from “allowed” into “violation”. The table below shows what you need for each category:
| Item | Required document |
|---|---|
| Medicines and medical products | An original prescription and a personal-use quantity, with health authority approval for larger quantities |
| Wireless devices and drones | A license or clearance from the telecom regulator in the destination country |
| Books, printed matter and discs | Content subject to review by the competent media authority |
| Chemical and laboratory materials | A material safety data sheet (MSDS) stating the classification and hazard level |
| Food, plants and seeds | A certified health or agricultural certificate — better to leave them out |
| Gold and precious metals | Official purchase invoices and a customs declaration |
| Cash | An official declaration when exceeding the set limit in the departure and destination countries |
| Commercial electrical appliances | Conformity with standards and a detailed invoice at the real value |
| E-cigarettes and e-liquids | Restricted in several destinations and banned in some — checked per destination country |
⚠️ A vague description is as bad as a violation: writing “household items” on the shipping manifest is the fastest way to get the shipment opened by hand and delayed. An accurate description of the contents and their real value clears faster than a vague one, however simpler the latter may seem.
Restrictions differ by shipping method
The same item may pass on a land truck and be refused on a plane. Air freight is the strictest because its requirements are based on aviation safety standards; sea freight is more permissive but has the longest exposure to heat and humidity.
| Item | ✈️ Air | 🚢 Sea | 🛣️ Land |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lithium batteries | The most restricted — usually removed from the device | Restricted, with packing requirements | Accepted for personal devices |
| Perfumes and industrial alcohols | Heavily restricted due to flammability | In limited quantities with sealed packing | Accepted in personal quantities |
| Pressurized cans and aerosols | Prohibited | Prohibited | Prohibited |
| Liquids in general | Strict limits on type and quantity | Accepted with leak-proof sealing | Accepted with containers secured |
| Furniture and home appliances | Possible, but costly due to volumetric weight | The most suitable and cost-effective | Suitable for nearby destinations |
If you’re not sure which method suits your shipment, the International Shipping Guide explains the differences in detail, and you can compare them yourself with the Shipping Methods Comparison tool.
Special cases customers often ask about
🚗 Belongings inside a shipped car
Placing any personal belongings inside a car when it’s shipped is strictly prohibited. Port regulations and shipping lines forbid it, and it can lead to delays or a fine. Your belongings are shipped separately — see the procedures in the Car Shipping Guide.
❄️ Fridge and freezer
Empty and unplug them a full day before the move so the ice melts and the inside dries completely, then move them upright. Leftover water leaks onto the rest of the shipment and can damage nearby furniture.
🧺 Washing machine
Drain any remaining water from the drain hose, and secure the drum with the original transit bolts if available. Moving it unsecured damages the internal bearings.
❄️ Air conditioners
Removing an air conditioner and recovering the refrigerant requires a specialist technician and special tools, and isn’t left to a general moving crew. Arrange it before moving day, not on the day.
🔫 Power tools and equipment
Saws, generators and lawn mowers are accepted provided the fuel and oil are fully drained and the tank cleaned — it isn’t enough for the gauge to read “empty”.
🏬 For temporary storage
The prohibited list for storage is stricter than for moving: no food, liquids or flammable materials at all, because the duration is longer and the space is shared.
What happens if a prohibited item is found in the shipment?
Shipments go through X-ray scanning and random inspections at border points, and hiding a prohibited item inside a furniture carton doesn’t work. If it happens, the usual sequence is:
- The shipment is held at the inspection point and clearance is suspended.
- A technical review to determine the classification: is it absolutely prohibited, or restricted and missing a permit?
- The sender is notified, or the shipping company, of the violation, its reason and the manifest number.
- Correction or destruction: if what’s missing is a document that can be supplied, it’s corrected; if the item is prohibited, the choice is between returning it or destroying it at the sender’s expense.
- The financial impact: a fine depending on the item type, plus daily demurrage charges for the entire holding period — which often exceed the value of the item itself.
🛡️ Most importantly: a prohibited item voids the insurance coverage for the entire shipment. Any damage to the rest of your furniture on that trip falls outside compensation. Coverage details are on the Insurance & Liability page.
A checklist before sealing the cartons
Go through these points yourself before the crew arrives — five minutes that save you a whole day of complications:
- ☑️ Kitchen: gas cylinder disconnected, freezer empty, strong cleaners set aside.
- ☑️ Storeroom and roof: no fuel, paint, thinner, pesticides or charcoal.
- ☑️ Drawers: no lighters, matches or swollen batteries — and drawers are emptied, not moved full.
- ☑️ Bathroom: no aerosol cans, acetone or drain cleaners.
- ☑️ The “With me in the car” carton: papers, gold, medicines, keys and small devices.
- ☑️ For international shipping: prescriptions, invoices and device licenses ready and copied.
- ☑️ Contents manifest: an accurate description, not “miscellaneous items”.
If you prefer an interactive checklist you can tick item by item, use the Pre-Move Checklist, and see how to pack what will actually be moved in the Packing Guide.
🚫 Five mistakes that cost a shipment
- Hiding a prohibited container in a clothes carton — the X-ray scan detects it, and the result is the entire shipment being held, not just that carton.
- Assuming the cylinder is “empty” — an empty cylinder retains pressure and enough residual gas to ignite.
- Putting gold and documents in a packed box — they’re not listed on the bill of lading or covered by insurance, and proving their loss is nearly impossible.
- Leaving the fridge to be emptied on the morning of the move — the ice won’t melt in an hour, and the water drips onto other people’s furniture in the same truck.
- Assuming the destination’s rules match the origin’s — what passes smoothly to one destination may be confiscated at another, and the difference only shows up late, at the port.
Frequently asked questions
Will you move a gas cylinder if it’s empty?
No. An empty cylinder retains internal pressure and residual gas, and the heat of a closed truck is enough to make it a real hazard. We recommend giving it away or returning it to the gas distributor before the move.
What about my personal medicines in an international shipment?
It’s best to carry them with you in their original packaging with the prescription. Including them in the shipment requires an authenticated prescription and a clear personal-use quantity, and some destinations require the prescription to be certified.
Can perfumes be shipped?
Yes, in limited personal quantities with tight packing, especially by sea and land. By air the restrictions are stricter because perfumes are classified as flammable, and commercial quantities need special packing and permits.
I forgot a prohibited item inside the shipment — what should I do?
Tell us immediately, before the shipment departs or before the customs declaration is filed. Early correction is a simple procedure; discovering it at the border means a hold, demurrage charges and possibly a fine.
Does the list differ from one destination to another?
Yes. Hazardous materials are banned everywhere, but the requirements for restricted items vary: wireless devices need a license in one destination and pass freely in another, and products accepted here are restricted there. We review your specific destination’s list with you before shipping.
Who is responsible if a prohibited item is found?
The legal responsibility lies with the shipment’s owner as the party declaring its contents. Our role is to inspect, warn and set items aside during the survey and packing — that’s why we insist on a prior survey rather than loading straight away.
Not sure about a particular item? Ask us before packing
Send us a photo or the name of the item and the shipping destination, and we’ll answer clearly: it can be loaded, it needs a permit, or it stays with you. Asking before packing is cheaper than finding out at the port.
📚 Read before you move