Self Storage Tips - Protecting your goods

We have put together some storage tips to help you keep your goods safe during their storage.

Prior to storage

Where possible package your goods before transporting them to the storage containers to ensure that they are safe in transport.

Make sure you use appropriate storage containers to offer your goods the best protection. Plastic boxes that can be sealed properly are usually ideal storage containers.

If you have any fragile items make sure you separate them and wrap them individually in packaging materials like bubble wrap. It is also worth labelling your fragile items so that everyone is aware they should be handled with care.

When packing your boxes make sure you don’t overfill them as you don’t want the boxes to split and crack during transport potentially causing damage to your goods.

Take out insurance on the goods that you have put in storage so that they are covered in the event of any accident or damage taking place.

If you have enough time you might want to make a list of all the goods that you are putting into your storage container. This will be useful if you are looking for something and can’t remember where it has gone, if you have everything listed then you will be able to keep track of all of your belongings.

When you are storing goods make sure you retain some sort of organisation. Label your goods clearly on both the tops and sides of boxes so that you can easily locate what you are looking for should you need to take anything out of your storage containers.

If you are storing big and bulky items, where possible why not dissemble goods into smaller pieces so that they are easy to transport and more compact to store in the containers

How to protect your goods whilst they are in storage?

If you are planning on filling the entire storage space make sure you bear in mind that you might need to access something right at the other end of the storage unit. Therefore if possible create an aisle down the middle of your storage unit so that you are able to access all of your goods.

If you have a lot of heavier goods then you might want to consider packaging them separately in separate containers so that they are easier to handle and maneuver.

When stacking boxes if you have a number of heavy items make sure these are placed at the bottom of stacking piles to avoid causing any damage to any fragile goods.

Obviously if items are left in storage for a prolonged period of time then dust is likely to collect. Therefore you might want to occasionally dust your belongings or put out dust sheets when first installing your goods to offer them the best protection.

You might want to insert an air freshener into the container to keep things smelling fresh.

Some people might want to consider visiting their storage unit when possible and getting some fresh air circulating around it.