Packing is never an easy task and you’re faced with a series of decisions that can be crucial to the safety of your packaged items. If you’re packing things, you’re going to need to consider the types of boxes that you might want to use as well as packaging material, tape and even your stacking method for saving space and being efficient when you need to get various items. When packaging items, it’s always a great idea to ensure that you pack them differently to suit the amount of time that they spend in storage. If you’re planning to fill out your storage area, it’s best to place the long-term items and boxes to the back and shorter stored items to the front so you can easily access them.
Short Term Storage
If you’ve never given much thought to time, short term storage can be anywhere from just a couple of days to roughly three months. This type of storage was actually designed to aid with flexibility if you needed something immediately. Short term storage is perfect for people who are in the process of moving, renovating or even for freeing up extra space to accommodate house guests. If you’re thinking about short term storage, the following will be useful:
- If you’re planning on storing items such as furniture, you don’t need to use dust covers because they won’t be staying in for too long. So, there’s no need to worry about dust or even dirt settling and, in this instance, you can simply use an old sheet to protect your precious large furniture.
- When you’re packing, it’s best that you leave some aisle space in the middle. This will facilitate the ins and outs of a short-term space. Hence, arranging your boxes against the walls and even properly stacking them is a great idea.
- If you’re interested in packing fragile items, you’re going to need some more supplies to ensure that they are properly protected. Since you’re working with short term storage, there’s a higher risk involved with frequent moving.
Long Term Storage
The name alone speaks volumes and if you’re interested in storing your items for more than three months, you’re working with long term storage. If you’re working with this storage type, you’re going to need to do the following:
- When packing, be sure to avoid plastic bags. Plastic is great for protecting your items and there is a common misconception that it is great for water. When your plastic bags are exposed to water, they actually trap moisture and they create the perfect environment for mildew and mould to grow and flourish.
- Be sure to invest in a series of strong, sturdy boxes. Most of the time, we want to gravitate to the idea of recycling our old moving boxes or even those that we may get from the grocery store; however, this is one of the worst things that you can actually do. These types of boxes aren’t as sturdy and strong as you might think and it’s a great idea to invest in corrugated cardboard linings as well as plastic boxes.
- We can’t stress enough how important it is to take care of your fragile items. If you’ve got a lot of them, you’re going to want to ensure that you pay extra attention to them. So, be sure to wrap them individually in either newspaper or bubble wrap and label their containers accordingly. Your fragile items should always be away from everything else that you store.
- If you’re planning on storing fabrics or even clothes, be sure to vacuum seal their bags in order to protect them against damages and even smaller insects that can fit into the smallest of spaces.Since you’ve got a space for long term storage, you can even store your appliances with ease. However, be sure to thoroughly clean them before taking them to your storage unit. To effectively clean them out, you can easily wipe them on the outside and inside with baking soda or even bleach to kill any and all bacteria that may be lurking. When you properly clean your appliances, you remove the risk of mould growing and migrating to various items that you’ve also stored.
When it comes to stacking, be sure to utilise pallets since they can be easily layered. You can plan and layer your space and then pack everything on them. Doing so ensures that air can flow easily and it also keeps your items a bit safer from other damages like that of water.
In both long term and short-term packing, don’t forget to properly label everything. Even if you’re leaving things for just a couple of days, it’s still a great idea to do so. For extra clarity and order, keeping an inventory list handy allows you to be effective at finding whatever you may need. You can get further help through a storage company in Maida Vale.