Ayla P.R. Representative with Moving Made Smooth, Inc. Special care should always be given to items that may be sitting in storage for an extended period of time. Many hazards exist that can damage or destroy them. Moisture, dust, stains, rust, and insects, to name a few, can all be detrimental to your stored belongings. In this blog, I aim to reduce or possibly even eliminate the threat that these hazards pose to your possessions.
Items to Protect your Belongings The short list below will help you to protect anything from clothing to furniture to appliances. • Desiccant/silica gel- this absorbs moisture from the air. • Cedar chips or balls- these repel insects. • tarps, old (clean) bed sheets, or furniture covers- to protect from dust. • motor oil- inhibits rust formation • packing paper- to prevent damage/dust formation. How to Use These Items Desiccant: Any electronic device, cloth, or paper materials placed into long-term storage should be protected with desiccant. This can be easily done by placing silica gel packets inside a box or container that has these items stored inside. It is also a good idea to place a few larger desiccant containers around the walls of the storage unit. Desiccant can be easily purchased at Walmart, many hardware stores, or online. Cedar Chips or Balls: These are a great alternative to traditional moth balls. They smell nice and they will not damage materials, as moth balls sometimes can. I suggest putting these inside small cloth bags, similar to what you would see used for potpourri (an example of these bags is shown on the left). Then place the bags in your containers or set them near any stored upholstered furniture. Tarps, Old Sheets, Or Furniture Covers: It is very important to protect furniture from dust during long-term storage. Dust that is allowed to settle on your furniture can and will eventually stain it. I recommend purchasing slipcovers or covering furniture with tarps/old bedding. If you decide to use old bedding, be sure it is thoroughly washed because organic material (like your sweat or dead skin) will attract insects and other pests. Motor Oil: First and foremost, any kitchen appliance should be thoroughly cleaned before going into storage. Leaving any food residue will cause pests to infest the storage unit. To protect your precleaned appliances from rust, use a very small amount of motor oil applied to a cloth and wipe off the exposed surfaces of the appliance. This is also a nifty way to prevent rust on yard tools, bicycles, or any other metal item. Packing Paper: Fragile items should be wrapped in packing paper and put in boxes. Be sure to fill any empty spaces in the box with more crumpled paper to prevent items from shifting and the box from being crushed. Notice that I said packing paper and not newsprint. Newsprint's ink can often transfer to the surface of the item you are trying to pack over time. Remember to pack books flat to prevent damage to the spine. Records and plates should be packed on edge, wrapped in plenty of packing paper, and the box should also be lined with plenty of paper. Be sure to mark any fragile items as such on the outside of the box or container. Feel free to leave comments down below, but try to keep the posts relevant to the blog. For Instance, if you have any ideas for a blog you would like to see written (on the topic of moving/relocation) or you have a question about a topic the blog has covered, leave a comment. Thank you for reading!
21 Comments
7/28/2016 02:29:14 pm
These are some great tips, and I appreciate your advice to cover your furniture when in long-term storage. My husband and I just moved into a new house, and we don't have space for several pieces of furniture here, so we want to get a storage unit to keep them in. We plan on being her for many years, so we'll definitely make sure to cover everything to protect it from dust. Thanks for the great post!
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8/15/2016 07:57:14 pm
I hate moth balls. Cedar chips sound like a wonderful alternative. I'd avoided putting stuff into storage because I didn't want to use moth balls.
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11/14/2016 02:12:08 pm
thanks your article and information.
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12/16/2016 08:23:33 pm
I found it intriguing that one should use packing paper and not newsprint. We recently put porcelain sculptures, that we used for a Christmas nativity, into storage for the winter. We use the newsprint that was mentioned before. Looks like we are going to have to re-pack them then!
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7/24/2017 09:01:22 am
It was significance to me, thanks to the author for taking out some of your precious time and sharing your thoughts on this subject.
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3/21/2019 08:09:20 am
I had no idea that cedar chips would repel bugs! I had only used them to absorb smells in the passed. I'll definitely be adding some to my storage unit. Thanks for the tip!
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4/19/2019 07:42:54 pm
You got me when you said that you can use silica gels to protect electronic devices, clothes, and other materials that must be stored for a long time. My husband and I will make sure to shop for a bulk of silica gel that we can use for our belongings. Our friends showered us a lot of gifts when we got married. Clothes, shoes, bedsheets, and a lot more. We can't use them all the same time, so we want to keep them without damaging them.
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7/15/2019 05:11:08 pm
Thanks for pointing out that to protect your precleaned appliances from rust in storage you can use a very small amount of motor oil to wipe off the exposed surfaces of the appliance. My husband and I are thinking about renting a storage unit since we are going to downsize our house soon and we will need a place to store all of our extra stuff. I think that using motor oil as well as making sure that all our appliances are packed correctly would help make sure that they were going to stay in good condition and that we would be able to use them when we needed them again.
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9/10/2019 10:09:39 am
That's a good idea to cover furniture with tarps or sheets to prevent dust from staining your furniture. I need to put a few things in storage while I move in with my mom to take care of her for a while. I will keep these tips in mind to protect my furniture.
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12/18/2019 09:33:24 am
That's interesting that motor oil could be used to prevent rust from forming on an appliance. I might have my fridge and other appliances wait in storage after my family moves, for if we can't get into our new house right away. if that is necessary, I'll have to apply some oil to them after they movers put them in the storage unit.
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1/15/2020 01:46:31 pm
It's good to know that you can use motor oil to protect your kitchen appliances in self-storage. My wife is wanting to store our kitchen appliances and she was wondering how she can protect her items from wear and tear in the storage unit. I'll be sure to tell her to use motor oil to protect the appliances in self-storage.
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2/3/2020 01:18:51 pm
It's great to learn that any kitchen appliances should be cleaned before going into storage. My wife and I are wanting to store some of our belongings and we were wondering how we can prepare for storing our kitchen items. I'll be sure to tell her that we should clean the appliances before storing them.
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I love that you talked about using cedar chips to avoid the weird smells that come with using mothballs. My partner and I need to put a lot of things in storage this month because we are moving. We don't have our next house purchased yet, so we need to get a long-term storage unit to store our items.
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I have been considering getting a self-storage unit this May. I am planning on getting some new pieces of furniture and I need a place to keep my old stuff until I can sell it. Thanks for explaining that I will want to make sure that I wrap up the furniture in a tarp before putting it in storage. Also, it might be smart for me to get a climate-controlled unit.
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4/27/2020 10:17:32 am
Thank you for explaining how you should make sure your kitchen appliances are cleaned before your store them since food residue can attract bugs and pests. For the next year, my best friend is going to move back in with her parents. She needs to find a storage unit solution for some of her belongings, so I'll pass these tips over to her.
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4/29/2020 09:52:14 am
It's great to learn that any kitchen appliances should be cleaned thoroughly before they are put into storage. My wife and I are moving to a smaller house and we were wondering how we can store some of our kitchen appliances that won't fit in the new home. I'll be sure to tell her that we should have the kitchen appliances cleaned before they are put in a storage unit.
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6/9/2020 02:06:22 pm
Thank you for explaining why you should protect your electronics with desiccant when you leave them in long-term storage. I have to store a couple of old video game consoles in a unit this weekend. I'll look for a place that has climate-controlled units but I'll be sure to get some desiccant just in case.
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6/18/2020 02:27:39 pm
I love that you touched on not allowing the dust to settle on your furniture because that can cause some damages. My spouse and I are going to put some things in storage this year to free up space around our home. We need to find a storage unit that has pretty good security so we aren't worried about our things.
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AuthorAyla Urwin-Toll Archives
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