Finally finding the right storage solution for your needs is a great feeling. You’ll have peace of mind that your possessions are safe and secure, and you won’t have to worry about them taking up space in your home or garage anymore. It’s the ideal answer to a potentially problematic question.
However, if you intend to use your storage space on a long-term basis, there are some additional things you’ll need to think about. Rather than simply locking the door behind you and leaving your items inside, you won’t want to come back to them to discover that they’re dusty and that there is a musty old smell in the air. With that in mind, it’s a good idea to visit your unit regularly to ensure that it’s clean and tidy and that everything inside is safe and sound. Although this might sound like a chore, it’s not as bad as you might think, and if it keeps everything in the best condition, it’s certainly worth the work. So here are five tips to keep your self storage clean; follow these tips, and you shouldn’t have any problems.
Invest In A Duster
Although the storage facility you’ve chosen is – hopefully – a reputable one and the self storage unit itself is dry and secure, the problem of dust is still something you’ll need to deal with. Even if everything else is spotless, dust can settle anywhere, and of course, self storage units are not air-tight, even if they are completely secure. Therefore dust will begin to coat everything, which is why you need to invest in a duster at the very least.
Even if you don’t do any other kind of cleaning in your storage unit, having a large duster that can reach the corners of the room and the tops of all the boxes and shelving, if you have it, is a good thing. Make it a rule to visit the unit once every three months to give everything a good dusting with a clean feather duster.
Why is this important? The fact is that although you might consider dust to be harmless if annoying, it can actually become poisonous. Research has shown that household dust, when left for a period of months, contains a number of different toxins, some of which have been linked to cancer. So by dusting regularly, you can prevent any health issues.
Use Plastic Boxes
Although you’ll still need to consider deep cleaning your storage unit, there is one thing you can do to make the job less onerous – you can store your items in plastic boxes. If you can also keep them off the ground using shelving or racking, this is even better. Everything will stay much cleaner in this way.
Plastic boxes are ideal as they offer a sealed place to store important items, plus they are strong enough to stack on top of one another, unlike cardboard which can crumple over time. The only thing you must remember is that everything that goes into the plastic box must be completely dry. If not, mold and mildew will form inside the box, thanks to the sealed lid.
Cover Furniture
If you have any furniture in your Storage Area unit – or any kind of soft fabric items – it’s a good idea to cover them to keep them clean while they are stored away. As we’ve seen, dust is inevitable no matter what protection you put in place, so if the dust can settle on the cover rather than the furniture itself, you’ll be keeping it much safer.
Of course, an important thing to remember is that you’ll be disturbing a lot of dust when you remove the cover. Therefore you need to be very careful and ensure that when you remove the dust sheets, you do so slowly and gently so as to kick up as little dust as possible.
Keep Cleaning Supplies In Your Unit
If the idea of lugging cleaning supplies back and forth every few months puts you off the idea of keeping your storage unit clean, there is a solution; you can simply keep your cleaning supplies in the unit itself. When you do that, all you’ll need to do is arrive, get to work, and leave again when everything is clean, and you’re happy with the result. This is even better when you’ve searched for and chosen self storage near me, as you’ll have less far to travel to ensure everything is safe and protected.
Not only will this make the chore easier, but you might also be more likely to do additional spot cleans whenever you visit the unit, ensuring that your items are even cleaner. In that way, the deep clean you may need to do when you finally empty the unit won’t be quite such a big task to tackle either.
Get Help
One of the reasons that people don’t like to clean their storage unit is that it’s a lonely job that can take a while, and we’re all so busy that there tends to be other important things to do instead. One way to get around this is to enlist the help of friends or family. If you go as a group, the cleaning will be done much more quickly, and you’ll have someone, or several people, to talk to, making it even better. In fact, it might even become something you quite enjoy, especially if you make it a regular thing that includes lunch afterward. You’re sure to find some willing volunteers if the cleaning can be done quickly, and the reward is a nice meal and time to chat once you’re done.
Alternatively, you might want to have your storage unit cleaned by professionals. You’ll need to check the terms and conditions of your lease to see whether your facility will allow a third party to come in and clean. However, in general, as long as you have given permission and they have keys and any other information they need, such as access codes, this should not be a problem.