How to Prepare Household Items for Safe Storage

Updated: January 24th, 2024

The needs for short term storage solutions for household items have gone up many folds in recent days. Firstly, as it offers convenience of storing household things temporarily. And because of the continued work from home due to the recent Covid-19 pandemic, more and more people are opting for short term storage solutions. Temporary household storage solution offers the convenience of pacing and storing your goods from a couple of months to up to a year or more. If you are planning to get your items packed and stored for a few months while you’ll be away or working from your native place, then using such storage facilities can be the best option to try. And if you are wondering about how to prepare household items for storage, then continue reading.

We receive a number of calls from people who are relocating and wish to safely store their things in a storage facility. Using temporary household storage service to store domestic household things is not just cheaper, but it’s safer and convenient to use.

However, there are certain things that must be taken care of when moving your things to a storage unit for extra safety and convenience.

Here are the best and most essential tips to prepare household items for storage that you may like to consider.

General preparation for storing goods

In order to prepare household items for storage, you have to sort your inventory first. Irrespective of where you are going for short term or long term storage, you have to carefully pick items that you want to store. So, start by picking things you would like to store in a storage facility.

There will be many items which are not in good shape, and thus you would like to get rid of these items. In case you are left with many such items that are not in use and you don’t wish to send it to storage, you may like to sell, donate or just give it away to the needy for free. There is no point spending money on items that you don’t need. So do whatever it takes and get rid of all such not so important household things.

Whether you are relocating to a different home or moving your goods temporarily to a storage facility, you have to get the packing right. If the goods are not packed securely using the best quality packing materials, then it may get damaged in the transit or in the storage unit. So proper packing is absolutely important and it’s probably the most important task while you prepare household items for storage.

Packing materials to pack before storage

Arranging the right kind of packing materials is one of the keys to preparing for storage. So make a list of all the items you are storing. And then, try to figure out how much packing materials will be required to pack these items carefully. Since you already have a list of items, you can quickly figure out the stock of packing materials you would need.

Different household things should be packed differently and thus you will require all types of essential packing supplies. For instance, you need a few small, medium and large sizes of cardboard boxes, packing papers to pack crockery items, bubble wraps for wrapping and cushioning, packing tapes, and labels to identify the items inside the box.

Unless you are buying fresh packing supplies, you should carefully check the packing materials to ensure that they are good and sufficient. Because you would not want to run out of packing materials or end up packing your things in a damaged cardboard box. So, check everything and ensure that you have the best packing materials.

Use right kind of packing materials

Use good quality plastic boxes for extra safety, especially if you intend to store your things for longer periods of time. If you have plastic boxes, then well, otherwise you can rent it out from the storage companies. They often provide durable plastic bins which are good and durable, especially in case of long term storage.

Do not put or stack any of the items, especially glassware and electronic appliances without wrapping them properly with good quality wrapping papers. Sometimes we end up using old newspapers, but if you intend to store them for a longer period of time, you should avoid wrapping them with newspapers. Newspapers may leave stains long term and that’s why acid-free and non printed wrapping papers are recommended.

Cleaning before packing for storage

Now that packing supplies are bought and you have sorted items to store correctly, it’s time to prepare household items for storage. First of all do the basic dusting and cleaning to ensure all the items are well cleaned before being packed. So wipe and clean all your household items, especially the home and kitchen appliances, utensils, furniture etc.

While preparing items for short term or long term storage, you have to ensure that none of the items are wet and moist. So, when possible stop using such items like fridge, washing machine etc to ensure they get dry on time.

If it’s not dry, then you have to be extra careful and wipe it properly using soft clothes. Do whatever it takes, but avoid packing anything wet and moist. If you pack it wet and moist, it may attract mold and that may cause mild to severe damage to your things.

Preparing home appliances for storage

You have to disassemble other home appliances as well like the Music system, computer set, television etc. Identify each of these items, detach the power cable and then prepare it well before packing. Also while preparing home appliances for storage, always use soft packing paper. And all the accessories like wires and cables, screws etc should be packed together and in a separate bag or box. This will help you later at the time of re-assembling.

Preparing household furniture for storage

While you prepare household items for storage, you also have to think of disassembling some of the major furniture before packing. Major furniture like bed, cupboard, glass top dining table etc has to be disassembled before packing. Unless you dismantle this furniture, it will be very difficult to pack these items for storing. Also, unless you dismantle and pack these items properly, it will occupy plenty of storage spaces and that’ll cost a lot more.

To prepare furniture for storage, you have to pay special attention to them. More so, if there are glass elements attached to the furniture which can’t be detached. Although you are moving these furniture items to the storage facility, you should pack it as if you are moving. So pack tem really well using thick furniture packing blankets for it will be loaded, transported, unloaded and then stored. And again when you are back, the storage company will load it to a truck, transport, unload and deliver it to your house. So the packing has to be really well, or else the goods might get damaged in loading, unloading or in transit.

If you intend to pack and store leather sofa or other furniture with leather upholstery, then make sure to get the sofa cleaned using good quality leather conditioner. Not only it extends the longevity of such furniture, but it also helps you pack and store such

Preparing mattress for storage

If you intend to store mattresses and other such bedding materials, then make sure to double check that they are dry. This is crucial and you should not ignore this for obvious reasons. If the mattress is wet or moist it will attract mold and mildew and that’s the last thing you would want.

While preparing the mattress for storing in a storage facility, make sure to pack it in the protective bags for extra safety. If you don’t have the mattress packing protective bags, then use the waterproof plastic sheets for multi layer packing. For extra safety, you may like to put one layer of bubble wrap to keep it protected from any sort of moisture.

Preparing clothes for storage

Unless you are sending your goods to storage to just downsize your home, there will be many clothes that you may want to store. The best way to prepare clothes for storage is to get it washed, ironed and stacked into large moving boxes. You can also hang them in the cupboard or special cloth packing boxes. But, putting it properly in a safe and secured moving box should be fine for a few months.

If there are other such items like bed linen, curtains, blankets etc, then wrap them properly and stack them in the boxes to keep it protected for long. Once you have stacked the items, seal the box and then put water plastic wraps to protect it from moisture.

Final thoughts on preparing household things for storage

While short term storage and warehousing facilities can be very useful to store your goods safely, it requires proper planning, preparation and care. Before sending your goods to the warehouse, you should prepare these household things and pack them securely. I have already shared a few of the best tips to prepare household items for storage. By following these simple tips and hacks, you will be able to prepare your household things for safe and secured storage. What else do you think one needs to do and consider while preparing goods for safe and secured storage?