When packing appliances for storage, drain any remaining liquid from the appliance, remove glass shelves or fragile pieces (to be packed separately), and do not plug the appliance in once it’s in your unit. To avoid odors, you can place baking soda inside the appliance and prop the door open once the appliance has been moved into the unit. The mechanical and electronic parts of your appliances are suspect to rust and fissures, so be aware that a non-climate controlled unit may not be the best choice for these items.
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Take extra care as you pack your furniture for storage. A good rule of thumb is to avoid plastic packing materials (unless you’re using bubble wrap for a lamp or picture frame) since it can suffocate the furniture and lead to mildew. Instead, drape furniture loosely with quilts, drop cloths, or old sheets. If you need to tape coverings over more fragile items, be careful not to tape directly onto furniture. This could cause accidental paint or fabric removal, ruining the furniture you’re trying to safely pack for your storage unit.
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Your belongings can easily be damaged if you don’t know how to appropriately pack and organize a storage unit. No matter what you decide to pack in your storage unit, the tips below will help you protect everything from your flat-screen TV to your winter coat.
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Clean everything that’s going into the storage unit.
If you store something while it’s dirty, it’s only going to be dirtier when you unpack it two, four, or twelve months later. Before you decide how to pack and organize your storage unit, don’t forget to scrub, wash, and dust your belongings. Here are a few tasks to keep in mind:
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Thoroughly clean your storage unit.
Before deciding how to pack your storage unit, make sure it’s clean and free of damage. Examine the unit’s walls and roof for cracks, sharp edges, and leaks. Then, sweep the floor. If you want to be extra cautious, scrub the walls and floor with soap or a disinfectant. If your unit is not climate controlled or is outdoors, you may want to lay a tarp or wooden pallets on the ground to help protect your belongings from weather and pests.
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Make sure you have enough space in your storage unit.
If you’ve already booked a storage unit, you need to double check that your belongings will fit before you start packing the storage unit. You don’t want to start packing and organizing your storage unit only to return home with half your belongings when they don’t fit.
Create a list of how much furniture you’ll be packing in your storage unit, plus a rough estimate of the number of boxes and other items that you’ll need to make fit. Consider how much space these items will take up, and then compare it to the space available. Will it all fit, or do you need to prioritize and get rid of some things? Remember, you can fit a lot in when packing and organizing a storage unit, you just have to plan well.
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Although there is historical evidence of publicly available storage in ancient China, modern self-storage facilities (in which the tenant has exclusive access to the storage space) did not begin to appear until the late 1960s. The first self-storage facility chains opened in Texas. This was often helped by the fact that most homes in Texas do not have basements, which are often used for storage.
The first self-storage facility in Europe was started in the United Kingdom by Doug Hampson, and opened in central London in 1979. Called Abbey Self Storage, it would become the first self-storage chain in Europe. "... it was Doug Hampson who gave Britain the modern self-storage industry, with its bright, clean corridors and endless rows of brightly-coloured doors. In the industry he is widely credited with the enviable title of the "father of UK self-storage".
Modern storage facilities grew slowly through the '90s, at which time demand outpaced supply and caused a rush of new self-storage developments. From 2000 to 2005, over 3,000 new facilities were built every year in America.
