Moving home can be a stressful time no matter how far you’re going, and putting some of your items into storage for a short time can help to alleviate that stress which means boxing up your possessions. Even if you aren’t planning to store your things you will still need to pack them up and using boxes can be one of the best ways to do this. Whether you’re planning to pack them yourself or get help from the storage facility itself, you might want to check out our top 5 tips for packing your boxes – even the most experienced self-storer might learn a few new tricks!
1. Get the right boxes
This first tip is such a simple one, but you’d be surprised how many people use old boxes to store their treasured possessions in, only to find the box splits or collapses under the weight, damaging the contents. You need sturdy and firm boxes to keep your things protected during transit and stacking once in storage, they must have a firm lid to take the weight of other boxes and, if you fear the box might fall at any point, seal it up to prevent losing or breaking the contents. The more secure your boxes are, the less you’ll have to worry about while they’re in storage.
2. Wrap up all breakables
Clearly, if you have a lot of China, glass or fragile items, they need to be wrapped and secured. You can do this on an individual item basis with bubble wrap, newspaper or tissue paper, depending on how likely you think they are to be roughed up on their way to, and once inside, a storage unit. By putting in layers of paper and soft padding, you prevent the heartbreak of opening the box when you retrieve them from storage to find smashed crockery. If you have plates to pack then you can insert a polystyrene plate between each one so they don’t knock against one another inside of the box.
3. Label each box
Depending on what is going into storage and how long for you will probably want to make your life easier for yourself; so grab a marker pen. By labelling each box by type or person, you will be able to keep track of what you have stored where. You could even go one step further and label them to reflect what individual items are inside, so should you decide in summer you want your garden tools and equipment you can find it easily. If you have kids, this can be helpful too, they probably won’t notice most toys being missing but if they do you can always retrieve them from self-storage easily.
4. Clean everything first
If you’re a naturally clean person this won’t matter to you quite as much, but you won’t want to be greeted with mucky and dusty items when your take things back out of storage. Clean up anything which has gathered dust or cobwebs in the shed or garage, and ensure that your clothes and linen are clean before packing. Whether your things have a lengthy or short stint in storage, you will open up your boxes to find everything clean and ready to use.
5. Keep an eye on your weight
The weight of your boxes is important during as you won’t want to over-fill a box and find you can’t carry it later. This is also a key aspect of box packing in terms of how you’re going to stack your boxes inside of the storage unit. At some point – whether it’s in the van or in your unit – you will want to make the most of the space by stacking some boxes, but if you put the heavy gym equipment box on top of the stuffed toys then you’re bound to have a box avalanche. This can cause injury to you and anyone helping you inside your unit, as well as causing damage to your possessions.
Here at Barnes of Lincoln we specialise in storage for both domestic and commercial customers and can provide you with you packing materials to ensure you’re things are safe and secure. Simply get in touch with us today to learn more about how our storage facilities, transportation and packing boxes can take some of the clutter out of your home or business premises.
