5 Tips to Store Your Furniture Safely and securely

Never Store Perishable Items

Whether you are storing furniture long-term or just for a few months, never leave anything perishable at a storage facility, which could attract bugs or unwanted rodents. Cleaning furniture prior to placing it into storage will keep your pieces looking their best. Cleaning furniture before it goes in storage helps to prevent potential wear and tear, which is why this is a crucial step if you are planning on keeping furniture items in storage longer than a couple months. Be sure to research the best method of cleaning the particular materials so that you do not harm your furniture. Make sure that all is cleaned and dried For wooden or plastic furniture, use mild soap and water.

Wrap Your items

Use old sheets, blankets, drop cloths, or plastic wrap to cover your furniture to keep it free of dust and moisture. We suggest that you avoid wrapping any wooden furniture with heavy plastic, because this will trap the moisture inside and cause condensation, causing the wood furniture to expand. Take care to not wrap your furniture with thick plastic covers which can seal in the moisture because this will create condensation and eventually swell your furniture.

Lay Tarps as a Barrier to Condensation

Carefully Wrap furniture, making sure you cover your floors with plastic sheets to keep humidity from permeating the furniture. In case of emergency weather issues, lay a plastic sheeting tarp or heavy duty plastic over your floor before placing anything into the storage space, so that any floor moisture does not soak through into the furniture.

Clean Furniture Before Storing

Take time to prepare furniture before moving it, and prepare your storage space, too. Make sure your furniture is as clean and sanitised as it will be when it goes in your unit. If everything looks good and you are OK with doing that part, be sure to put all of your parts into a plastic bag tied around a part of your furniture. Be mindful about where you put furniture relative to other items: For instance, it is a really bad idea to put gardening supplies near wooden furniture; allow some space between items:

Dont fill to the brim

Be sure to not stuff your storage units full–you could easily end up damaging pieces of your furniture if you pack them together too tightly. Taking this approach will make it a lot easier to move any furniture around, and you will find you are able to use the space within the storage unit a lot more efficiently. Not only will taking apart make your furniture a lot easier to pack up and move, it will reduce the risk of your furniture being damaged (smaller pieces are less likely to fall over and break, or bump into the walls or the doorframe and scrape or dent), and it will let you optimise your storage space (disassembled pieces are more compact, take up less room, and can be arranged strategically within the storage unit to conserve space). Breaking down larger pieces and breaking them down into smaller pieces will make it easier for you to move, store, and secure your furniture. You do not have to break down your furniture entirely, but doing things such as removing legs, taking drawers off, and even taking off the bedposts will make it easier and safer to store furniture.

Raise your beloved Items off the Ground

Furniture storage requires taking some additional steps to ensure that your items will look as good when you get out as when they went in. Use wood pallets or cinder blocks to create a protective base on top of which your furniture will stay secure and dry, no matter how long it stays in storage; Position items properly: You might feel the temptation to put couches or other long-standing furniture items on their ends to save a little space, but you should avoid doing this. The best way to keep furniture legs damage-free is to raise furniture, rather than placing it directly on the ground. Put all your screws, bolts, Allen wrenches, and other small items into a labelled baggie that you store next to the furniture item that has all of your screws.

Let Your Furniture Breathe

Avoid packing items tightly together, because that will let air circulate freely between your furniture, helping protect your items from being damaged, and you will lessen the risk of accidentally damaging your pieces if you need to take them out of the storage unit at any time. You can save on space by keeping smaller items in the drawers of a table, which will give these smaller items added protection — although this is best done once inside the storage unit, so that larger items are easier and lighter to move. For longer-term storage, or if you have lots of furniture to store, you might want to consider a second self storage unit at Dolphin Storage. Please ask us what else we have available.

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