Making the most of your self storage unit takes planning and preparation. This guide is intended to inform you about steps to take when preparing your goods for storage. After all, you want your furniture and other belongings intact and in the same condition they were in when you finally retrieve them.

Whether you intend to store your stuff for a few weeks, a few months, or even a few years, there are steps you can follow to be sure that it will survive self storage.

The first thing to do is to make sure that you choose a reputable self storage facility such as Stop & Store Fareham. Security of your belongings while they are being stored should be your first priority, so checking on the security measures taken by the facility, is important.

Other than that, it is vital that you take care of things on your side to ensure that your stuff is safe. Have you packed your goods properly using the right packaging materials? Have you made sure that there is nothing in your self storage unit that shouldn’t be there? Are you sure there is nothing that could attract pests to your storage unit?

Packaging Materials

Collect your packaging materials so that when you are ready to pack, you have everything at hand. Cardboard boxes, bubble wrap, paper for wrapping, and strong packaging tape are the basics. Packing peanuts are good for protecting your items, and foam padding probably offers the best protection, although it is expensive.

We advise against packing clothing into black bags as these are flimsy and tend to disintegrate and their contents scattered about. Use blankets, duvets, and sheets to wrap furniture items and pillows to cushion them from each other.

Furniture

  1. Disassemble furniture items if you can to make the most of your space. Keep the pieces together to avoid misplacing the legs of a table for example.
  2. Clean your furniture. The advice we give our clients is to make sure that anything you wish to store is clean and dry. Moisture leads to mould and mildew, both of which can cause irreparable damage to wooden or upholstered furniture.

Household Appliances

  1. Dishwashers and washing machines must be properly drained. Any water in the hoses will leak out and can cause damage in your self storage unit by making it easier for mould to develop.
  2. Secure the drum in your washing machine if you still have the brackets.
  3. Fridges and freezers must be defrosted before storage. Clean them thoroughly so that there is no trace of foodstuff. Not only will any food go rotten and smell awful, but it will also attract vermin and insects such as cockroaches, none of which you want near your storage unit.
  4. Small appliances such as microwaves and air fryers, should be cleaned, wrapped carefully, and stored in boxes for safekeeping.

Electronics

  1. The key to successfully storing your electronics such as TV’s, computers, monitors, printers, and laptops depends on how you pack them. Use the original boxes they came in if you still have those.
  2. Otherwise, wrap them carefully in bubble wrap and strap them up securely.
  3. Use cable ties to organise the wiring and tape the right cables and battery chargers to the device to avoid misplacing them.
  4. Take pictures of the back of your devices before you dismantle them to remind yourself when you need to set them up again, of which plug went where.
  5. Wrap your TV in bubble wrap and then in blankets. Store tv’s upright, not flat.
  6. Don’t stack any heavy cartons on your electronic equipment as this could lead to damage.

Labelling Boxes

  1. Professional removal experts will give you the advice that using specific, detailed labelling on your boxes will make unpacking a breeze.
  2. Number your boxes and make a detailed inventory of what is in each. Use different coloured markers or tape to distinguish the boxes that come from different rooms.

What Can’t be Kept in Your Self Storage Unit

  1. There are some items that cannot be kept in a storage unit. Included in these are anything living, including pot plants. Obviously pets may not be kept in your storage unit either.
  2. Other items include gas bottles, flammable liquids such as fuel and oils.
  3. Perishable food items are also not allowed. Other food items such as dried pulses should be stored in containers. This is to ensure there nothing to attract vermin.
  4. No illegal or stolen goods are allowed to be stored, and no firearms either.

Self Storage Units at Stop & Store Fareham

By choosing to keep your goods at our storage facility you are entrusting your goods to us. On our side, we offer a secure, clean, and easily accessible self storage unit in Fareham. Conveniently situated in the Fareham Shopping Centre, we can supply you with a trolley to make loading and offloading easier.

Our state of the art security system includes monitored CCTV surveillance, our facility is well lit and securely fenced.

It is easy and quick o hire a storage unit. Simply call us and we will set you up on our system, take payment and send you your individual PIN code, and you can start moving your goods in immediately.

Hiring a storage unit is a popular way to solve your space problem as its safe, and you can hire storage space on a short term or long-term basis, dependent on your needs.

Stop and Store Fareham is open 7 days a week from 8.00hrs to 20.00hrs.

Tel: 01329 556174

https://www.stopandstore.co.uk/