High gloss lacquer work looks flawless in a project render and unforgiving on a site floor. The difference between those two outcomes is largely made or lost in transit, and packaging is the part the buyer can still control. Because our high gloss lacquer cabinets are made to measure for each project, with panels, dimensions and finishes specified room by room, packaging cannot follow a generic house standard. It has to be agreed at the same time as the drawings. Below is what to put in writing before production starts, and what to check when the container doors open.

Why a gloss finish is packaged differently from a matte one

A lacquered panel is a substrate carrying cured, polished coating layers. Two failure modes drive every packaging decision that follows.

The first is surface marking. A gloss face shows any contact that a matte face would hide: a corner pressing through an interlayer, a rough batten, a staple, a bundle shifting under braking. On a deep or saturated colour, light scuffs read as dull patches that cannot simply be wiped away, and on a pale colour they read as grey smears.

The second is edge and corner chipping. Lifted crates, dragged panels and dropped bundles put force exactly where the coating is thinnest. On dark lacquer a chipped edge exposes a lighter line; on pale lacquer a dark one. Neither is invisible once the doors are hung and lit.

That is why a mixed specification needs mixed protection. A kitchen combining gloss island and tall fronts with matte lacquer uppers, or a whole-apartment package that repeats the same gloss on high gloss lacquer wardrobes, should arrive with the gloss components protected to a higher standard than the rest of the shipment. Ask for that difference to appear on the packing list, not just in conversation.

Seven packaging items to confirm before production starts

1. What protects the faces, and how it comes off. Ask what sits on the gloss faces, such as foam sheet, interleaving or protective film, and ask for the removal method in writing. Film left on a lacquered face through a hot container, or peeled back at a sharp angle, can leave residue or pull an edge. The removal instruction belongs in the delivery pack for the site team, not only in the quotation.

2. How panels are separated and restrained inside each bundle. Gloss faces should not travel face to face without an interlayer, and panels should not sit loose against timber battens. Weight alone does the damage: a heavy door sliding a few centimetres across another face during lifting or braking is enough. Confirm separation and restraint, and confirm that bundles are strapped so panels cannot move.

3. Corner and edge protection on every gloss door. Corners take the load when a bundle is lifted and are the first thing to meet a doorway or a forklift. Confirm protectors on all gloss doors, including the smaller cupboard sizes, not only on full-height panels.

4. Crate or carton, and what each one demands on site. Timber crates suit long ocean legs and rough handling, but they need space to break down and a plan for timber waste. Cartons are lighter and easier to handle but need dry, level storage from the moment they land. Whichever is chosen, tell the site team in advance so storage is planned rather than improvised in the rain.

5. Labelling that matches the drawing set. Every bundle should carry the same reference used on your shop drawings, and name the room and elevation, not only a sequence number. Matching gloss units for a kitchen wall and a utility room look identical when they arrive unlabelled, and sorting them on site costs days. Confirm who writes the labels and against whose numbering.

6. Hardware, runners and lighting packed separately and labelled. Hinges, runners, handles, integrated lighting and trims should travel in labelled boxes, secured clear of gloss faces or fitted where they cannot shift. Loose metalwork in a crate of gloss panels finds the softest surface in it.

7. The damage route, agreed before dispatch. On made-to-measure work, a damaged panel is normally repaired on site or re-made to the same opening, with the install sequence reshuffled around it. Agree in advance what to photograph, how the item is identified from its label, and how quickly a claim must be raised. A crate broken down in the yard before inspection removes the evidence.

Loading plan and handover point

Packaging that is done properly can still fail if the load moves. Ask how the container will be packed and secured: panels packed consistently rather than partly upright and partly flat, carcases low and heavy, door bundles on edge with protection, everything strapped to dunnage. Our logistics and door-to-door delivery service covers container loading and packing lists as part of freight forwarding and customs paperwork, so the loading plan can be reviewed before the container is sealed rather than argued over after it lands.

Agree the delivery terms and handover point before production is booked, because they decide who carries transit risk and who inspects at which stage. That choice also decides who is standing at the container doors with a camera.

The inspection to run when the container doors open

Run this before any crate leaves the vehicle, and photograph each step:

• The container exterior and seals, then the floor and walls inside, before unloading starts.
• Any crate with a crushed corner, split board, shifted strapping or wet staining: photographed in place, before it is moved.
• Bundle labels checked against the room list on the packing list, counting bundles rather than panels.
• One gloss door opened at the top of a stack to confirm face protection is intact and no interlayer has slipped in transit.
• Hardware boxes confirmed present and matched to the labelled bundles.

Anything damaged gets marked on the delivery paperwork, left in the packaging as it arrived, and photographed the same day.

Where packaging is decided in a project order

Packaging is settled during specification, not at dispatch. In the workflow we run for project orders, starting with the project brief and design proposal, then quotation and detail confirmation, and then production, shipment and follow-up, protection, labelling and loading should be confirmed at the same meeting as dimensions, colours and hardware. For cabinetry produced under our custom and OEM service, marking, branding and packaging presentation can be handled in that same confirmation, so the packing list speaks your references rather than ours.

A checklist to paste into your next enquiry

• Face protection type, plus written removal instructions for the site team.
• Interleaving and restraint between gloss panels inside every bundle.
• Corner and edge protectors on all gloss doors, all sizes.
• Crate or carton stated, with the storage conditions it requires on site.
• Labels carrying drawing references, room and elevation.
• Hardware boxed, labelled and packed clear of gloss faces.
• Loading and lashing plan reviewed before the container is sealed.
• Damage reporting route: what to photograph, where to send it, by when.

Send us the drawing set for your kitchen or wardrobe package, and we will confirm protection, labelling and the loading plan against it before production is booked.