Are you finding that you are running out of storage space at home for not only your clothes, but also sports equipment, gardening tools, and other gear that you do not need to access very often? Self-storage is a great way to free up space in your home and garage, so consider hiring one of our units at Stop & Store in Fareham. It is a cost-effective alternative to solving your clutter problem without selling your belongings off and then regretting it when you discover you actually need something again.
Storing your seasonal clothing and equipment in a self-storage unit is something worth considering. Your belongings will be safe, and you will be able to access them any time you need to. When you want them again at the beginning of the new season, just swop them around with belongings from the off-season. It is a great solution to avoiding overcrowded spaces in your home.
The Christmas season is almost upon us. Winter has arrived, we need our warm clothes, but also we need to get our decorations and Christmas ornaments out to decorate our homes and prepare for the festivities happening at this time. These items have been packed away, out of sight, out of mind, for many months, and there is always a chance that they may have been damaged by being stored incorrectly.
If we are taking a winter holiday we also need to find our skiing equipment and clothing that we put away at the end of our last winter holiday. These items are bulky, and expensive, so need to be stored safely without getting damaged whilst they are not being used.
This is the time we pack away our summer stuff and need to find space for all these items. We may find we have run out of space in our homes or garages. It is a no-brainer that a self-storage unit could be the obvious cost-effective answer to your storage problems.
Storing Summer Goods and Equipment
There are some items that you will not need for the next few months until Spring arrives.
- Gardening equipment and tools, including hoses, lawnmowers, and gardening tools. If you are lucky enough to have a shed to keep these items safe, that will be the place for them, but consider a self-storage unit if you do not. After a clean, take them to your storage unit for safekeeping as you will not be needing them for the next few months. A tip to maximise space: Place long gardening tools upright in a bucket or drum to keep them all together.
- Items used on your summer holidays such as camping equipment, scuba diving equipment, surf boards, paddle ski’s, and bikes if you only ride those in summer. These are bulky items to store, expensive to replace, and are easily damaged. Store them in self-storage to ensure they are kept safely and remain clean, ready for your next summer holiday.
Storing Winter Goods and Equipment
This is a list of items to place in your storage unit until the days begin to get longer and warmer.
- Any winter equipment such as skiing equipment, skates, and sleds if you are a family who take full advantage of snow.
- All your Christmas decorations, fake trees, lights, and wreaths. Pack these away in plastic boxes to keep them safe and organised. Make sure you label your containers with what is in each one so nothing gets misplaced.
Storing Clothes, Summer or Winter
Here are some guidelines for you to follow so that your clothes are still in a good condition by the time you need them again.
- Only store clothes that are clean. It is important to wash your clothes and dry them thoroughly before you store them. Unwashed clothes or clothes that are damp will become mouldy, smelly, and could possibly attract pests and rodents.
- Clean your shoes before putting them into storage to avoid them becoming mouldy and smelling bad.
- It is advisable not to vacuum seal clothes before storage as the natural materials our clothes are made of need circulation of air to stop them from deteriorating. Vacuum sealing will wrinkle your clothes badly if they are to be stored for long periods of time.
- Purchase some plastic bins, preferably the clear ones, for storing clothes so you can identify your belongings at a glance for easy access. Some storage units will stock these bins for your convenience. The bins will keep your clothes safely, and they stack neatly on top of each other, making it a breeze to keep your storage unit ordered and tidy. Your clothes will also be kept dry and protected from moisture whilst in storage.
Whatever you do, don’t store clothes in plastic bags. These will eventually become jumbled and messy, and you will find it difficult to find anything. Plastic also degenerates over time, and your clothes will fall out as the bag disintegrates.
- It is important to label your boxes accurately and keep a detailed inventory so that you can keep track of your belongings and know where your items are kept.
- Pack the clothes for each person in your family separately. Fold the items properly to ensure that they do not get damaged whilst in storage.
- Purchase a clothing rail on wheels to store your clothes that can hang up, such as dresses, coats, jackets, and suits. This will ensure that your clothes are wrinkle-free when you need them again, no matter how long you need to store them. Protect them further by using a garment bag to hang these clothes. Place some cedarwood balls or pheromone adhesive strips amongst your clothing to prevent damage from any moths or other insects.
At Stop & Store Fareham we offer a solution to the storage of your seasonal items that will keep them secure and safe. It is so much more convenient than trying to find an extra corner of storage space at home.
Our units vary in size from 12 sq ft to 200 sq ft, they are safe, dry, pest controlled and ideal for the purpose of storing your clothing, sporting goods, gardening tools, or Christmas decorations in the off-season. No contract needs to be signed and you can hire storage space from 1 month to as long as you need.
Conveniently located in the Fareham Shopping Centre, in the heart of the town, with easy access to load and unload your goods, Stop and Store is open 7 days a week from 8am to 8pm.
Tel: 01329 556174