How to pack my storage space more effectively
- Travelling or moving and needing storage space?
- If you are building and looking for a secure, dry and safe environment?
Why do people need to hire storage units?
- Moving but not able to move the furniture quite yet
- 2 Families joining living space, but now with double furniture
- On the road and needing to protect your property
- Building and renovations – prevent dirt and damage to your property
When hiring storage space, maximise your storage area by:
- Planning how to pack
- Planning what to pack
- Buy tape, string, and paper, kokis for labels
- Pack into good strong boxes
- Use the heavier boxes on the bottom
- Those boxes needing to be used again first, need to be in front
- Label boxes on the side and on the top
- Do seasonal packing, when you need the boxes, make sure you are able to easily find what you need, when you need it
- Use larger boxes for lighter items eg clothing, linen
- Use smaller boxes for heavier items eg books
- Books should be stored lying down to protect them
- Pack the type of boxes together, eg dont put heavy items onto lighter items
- If storing a piano, books clothing, make sure you have mothballs inside the piano where the strings and felt are. This will save you money in the long run protecting the items from moth damage. Moth balls get put into a small muslin bag (old stocking) and tapes inside the lid by the felt and strings.
- Use Bicarbonate of soda and rice packets to absorb moisture and smells
- Use moth balls to prevent moth damage
- For outdoor and garden equipment – make sure they are cleaned off first
Labelling your boxes
- When you label the box, number them as well and colour code
- Have a journal / notebook with each box’s items carefully added to the notebook according to number and area in the storage unit
Protecting your items
- If the storage unit is to be used regularly, make sure you can reach the boxes eg pack fewer boxes into a unit
- Use bubble wrap to protect glass and breakables
- For furniture, cover with plastic and blankets
- Tables that have been protected can also stored upside down, chairs can be packed into each other
- Make sure furniture is protected using thick plastic or bubble wrap
- Plastic protective sheets are available from most hardware stores and plastic outlets
- Any metal surfaces need to have rust removed and cleaned before storage
Securing your Unit
Use a strong lock to secure the unit.