Tips for Storing Furniture
When choosing a storage facility think about how often you will have to access your things. If you are strictly storing furniture, you may not have to visit as often to collect random necessities. Chose a unit that is smaller rather than pay for extra space, but make sure it is large enough to store your furniture with ample space. If you will need to get any furniture out of your unit in the mean time, you may opt for a location that is nearby.
When you are putting things in your storage facility, try to put items that you won’t need towards the back. Items that you may need to collect should be near the front. Always leave room for a walk way down the center of your unit should you need to find something.
If you are storing any furniture that has metal on it, spray it with a rust protector. Even if your unit is temperature controlled, if the system breaks or excess humidity enters, you may be left with rusted furniture.
Wooden furniture can run the risk of warping or mildewing from humidity. To prevent these conditions, make sure that all your furniture is moved toward the center of the unit with nothing touching the wall. Keeping items away from the wall will allow air to circulate. Another good idea is putting plastic or old bedsheets on the floor and stacking furniture on wooden pallets to prevent condensation. Cover your furniture with old bed sheets to prevent dust.
If you are storing appliances make sure they have been treated with a rust resistant substance. Clean any food that may have dripping into stoves or refrigerators thoroughly to prevent bugs. Keep your refrigerator and freezer’s door ajar to prevent mildew.
If you are storing any drapery try to find a wardrobe bag to hang them in. If you cannot hang it, store it in a cedar chest or dresser.
Some furniture can be dismantled. Remove table legs, sofa legs, knobs that screw on or mirrors. Make sure that you package these items in bubble wrap and keep them in a safe location. By reducing the amount of parts that may snap off or break you have a better chance of everything arriving in good condition.
Stack your sofas and mattresses on their ends, but avoid letting any fabric touch the floor. To help prevent dust, wrap your furniture in old bed clothes. A good idea, is to wrap your mattress in plastic since most sheets are not big enough to cover the whole area. To save space, you can choose to stack your chairs seat to seat with a cushion or cloth in between to prevent scratches.
If you have lamps that you will be storing with your furniture, take off the lamp shades. Remove any light bulbs and pack the lamp base in a box. Never use newspaper or any other material with ink to wrap a lamp shade because the ink may rub off.
If you are storing any mirrors or artwork, never lie these flat in a storage facility. You risk setting something on top, or something toppling over on top causing damage. Wrap mirrors and artwork in bubble wrap and put them in boxes so they fit snug.
By storing furniture intelligently, you will prevent rusting, mold and mildew, and any unnecessary scratching or battle scars from the move. If you have any questions, ask the person running the storage facility for assistance.
