Purchase your new or used plastic crates to easily move and store your items from the number one online moving and storage crate store. With fast delivery within 48 hours anywhere in the UK, you can get packing your boxes in no time, helping you to keep your items safe and secure in transit and storage. Colours are subject to change depending on crate stock. You can also buy cardboard packing boxes by clicking "Buy Boxes" in the menu above.
Plastic Crates & Moving Boxes To Buy
At Crate Hire UK, we help business and home owners move and store their belongings and assets easily by renting plastic removal crates on a short term or a long term hire basis. However what happens when your plastic moving crate requirement needs to be more permanent and crate hire just will not do? Being the fastest growing crate hire service provider in the UK we have listened to you and have added a new service offering to all new and existing customers alike. We now have made it really easy for you to buy removal crates and purchase plastic moving boxes through our extremely easy to use online plastic crate and moving supplies shop. This means that if you have a need to transport on a regular basis or store your belongings for a long period it is now as easy to buy removal crates as it is to hire them.
Lidded Plastic Crates For Sale
We have a large comprehensive range of plastic crate sizes and have made five sizes available immediately to purchase. These include the LC1 personal removal crate which is ideal for personal belongings, high valuable goods, important documents and publications. Our extremely popular CH3 standard plastic moving crates are also available to buy and still remain the moving crate of choice for the removal industry as they are the perfect size for moving and storing a home or office. The LC6 metre long packing crate, ideal for transporting long awkward objects, books and files.
Computer Crates To Buy
If you have a specific need for IT computer crates to move and store your valuable and essential IT equipment we also have two types of plastic computer crates to purchase designed specifically for this in mind. The IT1 server computer crate is the largest plastic removal crate available to buy and is ideal for moving large IT computer servers safely and securely whilst the slightly smaller IT2 computer crate has been designed to transport and store a whole computer workstation including monitor, tower, keyboard and mouse.
Removal Crate Stocks
We always hold a good amount of stock and the crates come in various colours including, black, blue, green and red. If you have a specific requirement for having your logo and telephone number branded on the removal crates themselves or you are after a large quantity; please contact a member of our customer services team who are always happy to help with your specific requirements.
New & Used Plastic Removal Crates For Sale
We can also sell used removal crates and plastic box hire stock from our general working crate hire pool if we cannot meet your exact needs with the new plastic removal crates. This gives our customers a great opportunity over and above crate rental to own their own plastic moving boxes for a more permanent solution.
Industry Standard Removal Crates
All of our plastic crates on offer to either rent or buy are made using polypropylene which gives our crates the robust characteristics well known within the removal industry. You cannot find our heavy duty industrial removal crates to buy in any retail shops including large DIY stores as these are specific to the removal industry and crate rental.
The Ultimate Plastic Crate Hire and Buying Guide
With over 20 years or more of experience in buying, selling and renting plastic crates, we are more than qualified and have been tasked to write a comprehensive plastic crate guide for everybody who wants to find out more about plastic crates. We aim to answer your most frequently asked questions about buying and hiring plastic crates and help you understand which plastic crate is right for you and the benefits to expect from using plastic crates over other containers like cardboard boxes.
What is a plastic crate?
If you are reading this ultimate guide to plastic crates the chances are that you already have an understanding of what a plastic crate is; however, just in case you do not know what a plastic crate is or have not heard the word crate before and are curious to find out what is a crate made of plastic, we will start at the beginning.
A plastic crate is essentially a box or container that is made of plastic that helps the user store or move items and posessions.
The word “crate,” is derived from the Dutch word krat meaning basket. These were originally made from wood and plant materials that could be easily woven like, willow, reeds and roots. Baskets were used to move and store goods safely just like a crate.
What are crates made of?
Early crates were typically made from raw material such as wood. These wooden crates were being used to store, transport and ship products around the world. A good example of the wooden crate is the tea crate; a wooden container that was specifically built to store and ship tea leaves. The tea crates that transported the tea were built to a specific size that was easy to handle manually and were strengthened with metal banding along the edges. These lidded tea crates allowed the tea to be stored safely and damage free from the elements ensuring its freshness.
As time went by a more sustainable, reusable crate was demanded by industry to move and store goods. Plastic in the form of polypropylene (PP) was discovered in 1954 by Guilin Natta and by 1957 this specific type of plastic was being manufactured and used as a sustainable alternative to wood. In the present day the majority of plastic crates are made from polypropylene or high density polyethylene (HDPE); the relatively cheap material gives the plastic crates many benefits including high flexible strength and robustness, good impact resistance, high moisture protection, high resistance to electricity and completely recyclable at the end of its life.
The crates themselves are plastic injection moulded using large industrial presses. The plastic box is made in one piece and the attached lid which interlocks to allow for the crates to be stacked and nested on and inside each other are moulded separately. The plastic attached lids and boxes are then assembled manually ready to be used for storage crates.
What crate sizes are available?
Plastic crates come in many different sizes and all are designed initially for a specific role like removals and storage crate applications. The only limit on plastic box size is the size of the mould press used to manufacture the plastic crates themselves. We for example offer 8 different sizes of plastic crates (7 types of crates with lids). All of our plastic crates are manufactured to the highest standard in polypropylene plastic and available as hire crates or brand new and used crates to buy.
Our online shop showcases our large plastic crate range and booking crates for hire or buying crates has been made as easy a process as possible; you can also order by phone with a member of our customer services team.
Are there different types of crates?
Absolutely, every plastic crate was designed specifically for a purpose in mind, however, all crates and boxes are primarily to move and store products or possessions.
Crates are used to store, move and distribute many items in many industries and applications including food and retail, automotive, aviation, home and office moving, document storage, school refurbishments, shop fitting, interior design and removal and storage companies.
As a result there are many types of crates and boxes available in the UK. We have listed some of the more popular types of crates and boxes below:-
Plastic Crate Types
Storage crates made from plastic are really useful for storing home contents and other items in storage for short to long term periods. Storage crates have attached lids which interlock inside each other and can be made from clear transparent plastic enabling you to see the contents of the plastic storage crates without having to open them to see what is inside. They are much stronger than cardboard moving boxes ensuring maximum protection when in use.
Removal crates are ultimately used by the removals and storage industry to help them move homes or offices efficiently and easily. The removal crates can nest inside of each other when they are not being used to utilise space. Standard removal crates usually come nested 20 high and and a crate can be pulled from the stack easily when looking to pack into it. This means that unlike cardboard moving boxes they do not have to be built prior to use. Removal crates can also used for short to mid term storage applications.
Moving crates are used by home owners or office staff to help them move home or office independently from a moving company. The moving crate is fast becoming a popular way of saving money on a removals company and allows the end user to pack and move with the same efficiency as moving company using removal crates. Moving crate hire is a preferred method to obtain the crates to move but they can also be available to purchase from crate hire companies.
Plastic packing crates like the name suggests are used to help pack your home and office incredibly fast. In fact packing crates are up to 5 times faster for packing your belongings into them over cardboard moving boxes. Again like the moving crate the packing crates can nest inside of each other when empty and can stack on top of each other when fully packed. Usually up to 5 packing crates high when stacking.
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Distribution Plastic Totes
Plastic Totes are another name for plastic crates but the word totes are usually used in the retail, distribution and logistics sector. A distribution tote is usually part of a much larger dynamic rental pool that regularly moves clothes, products, parts etc through the supply chain from manufacturer to distribution centre to shop/ point of sale and back to manufacturer to start the journey once more. Made from polypropylene the totes are usually smaller than the standard moving and packing crate which helps the tote to be easy to handle and allows for the tote to move through an automatic packing system. You can hire totes for seasonal top up during peek periods i.e. Christmas, Easter and Summer periods.
Plastic crates with bail arms are used to pack extremely quickly and recycle fast when packing product and goods. Bail arms are metal or plastic arms that sit at both ends of the short sides of the internal wall of the crate until flipped into place when stacking is required. You can then stack the crates on top of each other. Bail arm crates are always unlidded which is why you can pack into them very fast indeed. The bale arm is used instead of a normal interlocking lidded crate.
The attached lidded crate is a plastic crate that has an integral interlocking clam shell lid attached to the top of its base. These particular crates have become extremely popular in recent years and the unlidded crates that used to be prominent within the plastic crate industry are slowly but surely being phased out. This is mostly due to the fact that you can securely close the attached lid using crate seals (numerical crate seals are also available for additional tamper proofing and security). The moving crate, storage crate and packing crate are all based on the attached lidded crate which allows for the crates to be nested inside each other when empty and stacked on top of each other when full when the lids are closed. You can rent different sizes of attached lidded plastic crates to help you move your home or office. Tote crates and tote boxes are also attached lidded crates used mostly in retail, logistics and distribution to better protect the items inside. The attached lidded crate also benefits from being weatherproof when the crate has its lid closed.
Plastic crates are also prevalent within the supermarket industry and are used to store, transport and display food. Food crates come in many sizes depending on the product being packed within them. Fruit and vegetables are usually packed into ventilated shallow food crates that are unlidded and use the bail arm system for nesting and stacking. Ventilated crates are used to ensure an even refrigeration or freezing process in transit. Half size, shallow and deep food crates are also utilised for processed meals and fresh meat like chicken, beef and pork. When the crates arrive at store they are either stored in the warehouse, decanted on to sale shelves for display (mostly meat and processed meals) or used to openly display the food products from the crates themselves (mostly fruit and vegetables). Food crates and supermarket crates are always nearly part of a larger plastic crate pool that serves the supply chain. Because of strict healthy and safety rules due the nature of the products being stored and moved the supply chain will have a hygiene wash process within it which will ensure each crate is washed to a high standard after every use.
Collapsible and folding crates are a space saving plastic crate designed to be used within a supply chain to reduce on the cost of transporting empty crates. The crates are unlidded and all 4 sides of the crate can be folded flat when not in use allowing for more crates to be transported back to the production or process plant. When the crates are delivered the box sides will then be folded back to its standard posession for packing. These are popular with food and retail customers and are used heavily in Europe. The only downside to the collapsible crate is that they are slightly more difficult to hygiene wash due to the moving interlocking parts of the crates. You can also buy and rent collapsible crates from crate rental companies.
What are the benefits of using plastic crates?
There are many benefits of using plastic crates over cardboard moving boxes for your move or storage needs; we have listed 10 of the main benefits of using plastic crates below:-
- Using plastic crates to pack is up to five times faster than using cardboard boxes.
- Plastic crates are environmentally friendly due to their lifetime usage and recycling properties.
- Crates are by far stronger and more robust than using cardboard moving boxes.
- Plastic crates are weatherproof and do not disintegrate when wet.
- Plastic crates have handles integrated into the base of the crate for easy handling.
- Plastic crates do not need to be built before using them to pack.
- Crates can be nested inside each other when empty to save space.
- Crates can be stacked on top of each other when full.
- Plastic crates keep your items well protected in both storage and transit.
- Crates have a high and low tolerance to heat and cold.
Can you rent plastic crates?
Absolutely, renting plastic crates for packing, moving and storage is a really affordable way of utilising plastic crates for your specific application. Crate hire companies including Crate Hire UK base their service offering on rental crates as well as giving the customer an option to buy crates. Using crates to move your office has always been the standard office relocation box but hiring plastic crates for moving house is fast becoming more popular due to the ease and speed in which you can pack your home. Packing crates are easily up to five times faster to use than cardboard moving boxes as there is no need to build your cardboard box before using it and collapsing the cardbaord box flat again when you have finished. Rental crates are also collected promptly on a day you request rather than having to dispose of the moving boxes yourself.
Retail crate hire and food crate rental are also dynamically used in peak periods of production when the existing crate pool is under strain from increased demand. This is a great way for supermarkets and retail stores to keep their main crate pool lean and efficient during the rest of the year.
Crate hire UK is the fastest growing crate hire company in the UK. One of the ways we have managed to grow our crate rental business so quickly is by offering unbiased and independant advice on which plastic crate would be most suitable for your specific application. Our customer services team are ready to help and can guide you on the number of crates you would need to pack, move or store your home or office.
What is the easiest way to move crates and boxes?
Plastic moving crates are much easier to manually handle than cardboard cartons and boxes due to the moulded carry handles positioned on the both short sides of the crate. Ergonomically designed and moulded as part of the crate base the handles allow for easy lifting of the crates when empty or full. Crates can also be handled easily by other moving equipment that you can hire like sack barrows, crate skates and dollies. Sack barrows are a metal 2 wheeled trolley designed for one person to lift up to 3 packing crates at a time when full or up to 20 plastic crates when nested. Crate dollies are strong rubber topped boards with heavy duty wheels allowing you to sit the crates on top of them and roll them around the office easily without having to lift the crates when they are full. Both the sack barrows and the crate skates are also avilable online to rent with your hire crates.
Can you buy crate accessories also?
Crate labels (Easy Peel), crate securtiy seals (plain and number sequentialed)
Are plastic crates environmentally friendly?
Plastic crates are super eco friendly as they have a huge life time of up to 15 years meaning that they can be used many more times to move and transport your goods over either one trip packaging or cardboard moving boxes.
For example, below we have shown a basic sum of an average moving crate using the data we have acquired over the last 7 years of renting moving crates.
Typical number of moves of a crate over a 12 month period = 15 moves per crate.
Multiply this number by the average life of a moving crate = 12 years
Total number of moves made by a palstic crate through its lifetime (15 x 12) = 180 moves on average
As you can see from the basic sum above the plastic crate is by far the most enviromentally friendly way to move and store your belongings over a typical carboard carton or box that can be used maybe a few times in its lifetime.
When the life of the plastic crate has come to an end it is recycled and used in the manufacture of other plastic products to go on and have another life. And so on and so on..... How amazing is that!
It was partly due to the great green benefits of using a plastic crate over other packaging products that Crate Hire UK came into existense. We heavily promote the benfits to the environment of using and recycling plastic crates in removal and storage applications.
