Whether you’re packing things up to store for a month or ten years, knowing how to pack your belongings and prized possessions is important. There are quite a few variables involved when storing your items. Here are six helpfull tips for packing storage from someone who has spent a lifetime with ‘something or other’ stored somewhere.
Tip One: Choose your storage space wisely for the type of items you’ll be keeping there. If you’re storing clothing in a friend’s garage, you’ll probably live to regret it. While a garage may be okay for storing hard goods such as wood furniture or metal appliances, the environment will often breed mold and mildew very quickly on soft items such as clothing, stuffed animals, upholstery, drapery and linens. Invest in a climate-controlled facility when planning to store soft goods.
Tip Two: Never store food or unclean items. Knowing what not to store is as important as knowing how to pack for it. Rodents, ants and moths will be attracted to any food items no matter how well they are boxed up. Granted, if you’re merely storing canned food items for a couple of months in a climate-controlled room, that probably won’t be a problem. But it is important to keep pests away from your stuff, so even before packing kitchen ware, be sure to put everything through a dishwasher cycle and dry completely before packing it for storage.
Tip 3: Proper packing techniques include using the appropriate vessel for different items. You may want to save money, but in the end, if your belongings become ruined with mold or mildew, then you’ve just wasted more money than it would have cost to do it right the first time. Try this trick! Take the time to pack all of your items so that when you open them up again, it will feel like you’re receiving a gift. Wrap everything carefully and even go so far and tying colorful ribbon around tissue papered treasures and you’ll feel great when you get your stuff out of storage and rediscover all the fun things you already own.
Know Your How: How to pack certain items that you’ll be storing in a basic rental unit is the critical first step of successful unpacking. Once you know where, why and what you’ll be packing, you’ll be able to plan accordingly. Invest in the appropriate boxes and vessels for various household and personal items. Unless you’re moving across town, you’ll want to plan ahead and whittle away at the groceries in your house. Food items should never be stored and if you’re moving across a continent, you’re better off giving away food items to neighbors and relatives rather than attempting to move them in a storage and moving van.
Tip 5: Plan ahead for the day when you’ll need to get something out of storage. Take the time to use a permanent marker to make at least one side and the top of every box with an accurate description of its contents. You can even go so far as to color code each box with a Post-It so that when you place the items in storage, you can organize the boxes by ‘type’ of item or by ‘room’. It’s well worth the effort and you’ll be glad you took a few extra minutes to plan ahead in the first place.
Check Out Your Who: Even the most trusted friend or relative could end up needing a space they lent you for storage. It is often better to rent a climate-controlled storage space in a secured facility. You’ll have to pay a monthly fee, but your belongings will be safe and protected. You can also take out an insurance policy on your possessions in a storage unit that you lock and unlock with your own pad locks. Be wary of storing with large moving companies. Often your possessions are mixed into other people’s belongings and stacked sky high in a large facility. Know who is going to be looking after your stuff and you’ll be able to sleep better at night.
Our expert has many more helpfull tips for packing storage. Stay tuned for six more great ideas when it comes to storing all of your stuff the right way.
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