People need storage for a variety of different reasons, some will need storage while they are moving house. Whereas others might be renovating or decluttering, and need to keep their stuff in a safe and secure place.
We also have various businesses store with us, to keep their stock, their tools and equipment or some old archive documents they can’t get rid of yet.
We’ve put together our top 5 storage hacks to help you out during your time in storage.
We’d love to know what you think, tweet us once you’ve finished reading!
- Get your vacuum out
Bedding, clothing and other soft furnishings are always the bulkiest and most annoying items to store. They often take up more room than you would have hoped for.
This is where your vacuum can help.
If you are short on space in your storage unit, you should grab yourself some vacuum pack bags and your vacuum. Place your items in the vacuum bags and suck all the air out. This will keep the size down, and hopefully allow you to fit more of your belongings into storage.
If you are storing clothes, remember to separate them into seasons, it will save you the hassle of trying to find the clothes you are looking for.
- Snap some pictures
If you are renting your storage unit as a more permanent solution, taking photos will become a life saver. This will especially be the case if you don’t visit your storage unit on the regular.
The last thing anyone wants to be doing is opening up all their boxes to find that one specific item they are looking for. By taking photos of the items inside your boxes, along with where abouts in your unit they are located, it will save you a load of time and effort when you do come looking for some of your belongings.
Another tip for saving a bit of time is to try and pack similar items or items from the same room in the same boxes where possible.
- Grab the right boxes
Choosing the right box for all of your belongings that you are putting into storage is important.
By choosing the right boxes you will be able to store more belongings in your self storage space, or even be able to use a smaller storage unit.
You may find that you need to use different sizes of boxes for different items. Just make sure that they are the same style of boxes. By using the same style of boxes they will still stack together better, be more secure and less likely to topple when you are stacking your boxes at height.
One recommendation we do have is to use cardboard moving boxes, rather than plastic ones. The main reason for this is that plastic boxes can often sweat when left in storage for long periods of time, which can lead to mould, causing more harm than good.
- Use cling film for your jewellery
This is one tip you may not have heard before. Whether you are storing a necklace pendant, hanging crystal, or just some spares, this hack could save you a lot of stress in the long term.
Spread out some cling film on a clean and clear worktop. Lay your chained jewellery on the cling film. Once your jewellery is laid out, take another piece of cling film, the same size and place it on top, and wrap it up.
The great thing about doing this is it will prevent all of your chains from getting tangled, and you won’t have to spend time trying to untangle them.
- Grab the labels
Our final storage tip is something that we have seen help first hand.
Labelling your boxes really is an important thing when moving into storage.
If you are just moving house, simply writing the room on top of the box might just be enough, but if you’re keeping your items in storage, you might want to go one step further.
We recommend that you add some labels to your boxes that you are putting into storage, with the contents. This will be a major help and save you time whenever you come up to your storage unit in the future. You won’t have to waste time routing through all of your boxes to find that one thing you are looking for. You will be able to scan the labels and go straight into the right box.
To give yourself even more of a helping hand at your storage unit, you could draw up a map of your storage, with the location of every box you have. This will make it easier to find everything, as you won’t have to route through all your boxes.
