If you’ve decided to use cheap self-storage to keep your items safe for a short or long period of time, you’ll want to know exactly how to keep them from harm while they are being moved between your home and the self storage facility.

Storing items away in a unit is different to wrapping them up for transit between locations, and you certainly don’t want to return to the unit in x amount of months to find breakages, staining or other preventable damage. You certainly don’t want them in pieces before they’ve even reached the facility, especially if you’ve just signed up to the unit contract.

 

Here are some basic tips for keeping your items safe during transit:

 

Strength

Many people think that the strength of a packing box relates only to it being able to keep the items secure inside without giving way when it is picked up. Of course this is important, after all, a box is not a box when it has fallen flat, but, it also needs to withstand the weight of anything placed around it or on top of it during transit. You’ll do everything you can to make sure super breakable items are protected, but it’s always worth making sure the box you use is extra strong so that it can handle anything heavy shifting into it or placed on top of it.

 

Labels

If you do have items that must be handled gently, you should label them as clearly as possible. Assume that the most ignorant, least caring person in the world will be handling your goods and label accordingly. Think large, clear labels stating ‘breakable’ or ‘delicate’ rather than tiny post it notes or scribbled biro scratchings. You should also think about labelling more than one side, as you need to account for the box being placed down or picked up the wrong way round and the clear label you stuck down being out of view.

 

Strong Tape

Use the tape on the weakest points of the box first; openings, corners and central points of pressure. If you have the means, wrapping the tape around the box both ways gives it extra strength. Remember to do this before you’ve labelled!

 

Small into big

If you have lots of smaller items, place them altogether well packaged in a larger box rather than in lots of small boxes. They will be less susceptible to damage this way.

 

What’s in the container?

If you have any flammable liquids or hazardous chemicals you may need to check the rules and regulations surrounding the transit and storage of these items. Make sure you follow the manufacturers directions for moving these items as some can become dangerous if they are bumped or knocked. Although you may not consider this an issue for you, remember everyday items like; diving equipment and camping equipment can be affected by damage in transit.

 

Packaging

You need to think very carefully about the packaging used on your item. You’ll mainly need to think about shock absorption when the items are travelling and how secure the items are inside the packaging. For smaller items within a large box consider really packing them in to make sure they don’t really move. For larger items like furniture, think about extra padding to avoid any scuffs or scratches.