Valuables Storage - How To Keep Your Valuables Safe

Whether you’re moving house, having a clear out or simply want to free up some space, it’s likely that you’re going to have to start storing some of your valuables. How you do it depends on whether you’re planning on short term or long term storage; luckily, we’ve covered both…

The Basics Of Packing Valuables

We’ll get this out of the way early; there are a few basic things you should do when storing valuables. There’s no point teaching you how to suck eggs so we’re going to give you some extra little packing tips you might not get anywhere else.

Safely Storage Valuable Furniture

Furniture is much easier to store when it’s disassembled. Things such as tables, dressers, beds (obviously) and sofas can all be taken apart to varying degrees. Just make sure you keep all the screws and fittings; usually in a little bag taped to the furniture itself. Number the screws and fittings if you think you’ll forget how to put them back together…Any blankets, towels, and of course bubble wrap can be used to keep things safe but what about things you might have lying around the house? Yoga/camping mats are great to wrap around things like table legs and we’ve even seen people use old poster tubes.
Make sure any furniture you plan to store is thoroughly cleaned and if realistic, treated. For wood, good furniture polish should be enough. Use appropriate cleaner for laminate and metal furniture. For upholstered items a vacuum cleaner and a shampoo may be enough to get them clean. However, a home carpet cleaner when used with the right attachments can make upholstered furniture look brand new.
For long term storage, the best option is to choose somewhere clean, dry, free from vermin and ideally not susceptible to significant changes in temperature or humidity. If this isn’t possible, it’s best to wrap your furniture in something soft to protect it and then cover with two layers of pallet wrap to keep it air and water tight. Store furniture off the ground wherever you can.

How To Store Breakables

This is roughly the same as storing furniture but with a few extra packing hacks to make things a bit easier. Fundamentally, you still need the same things; soft things to pad an item, and something harder to protect it further.

There are plenty of things around the house that can be reused as a tough and sturdy case to store something valuable in. Bottles of champagne and some spirits for example often come in a tough case that will be big enough for a vase or even a lamp without the shade. As long as the inside of the case is stuffed with something soft, the valuables inside will be fine.For smaller items, long time favourites like shoeboxes are always useful but what about the plastic boxes that washing capsules come in? These are often sturdy, fairly watertight and due to needing to be childproof, not easy to accidentally open. Tupperware containers are also excellent for this purpose.

How To Store Jewellery

Storing valuable jewellery is not only about keeping it safe, but also ensuring it doesn’t get lost. There’s plenty of ways you can stop this happening:

Empty pill containers are a great way or storing rings, earrings, cufflinks etc. in the same place so they won’t get lost. If the earrings are particularly fragile, poke them through a piece of cardboard or even a button hole to keep them safe. A case or drawer divider like those to separate screws in a toolbox is an excellent, larger alternative to a pill container.
Run necklaces through drinking straws and store them vertically to prevent them get tangled.
Hard cases normally used for glasses are the perfect places to keep watches, bracelets etc. (side note: they also work well for storing charging cables for phones when you travel)

Clothes Packing Hacks

Much like upholstered furniture, clothes need to be stored somewhere free from moisture, especially if it’s for any length of time. Like furniture, make sure they’re all clean and dry too. However, there are some packing tips that apply to both the long and the short term:

Vacuum bags are your friends. These can be used with a normal household vacuum cleaner and they considerably reduce the space that clothes take up. They also have the added bonus of keeping the air and moisture away from the fabric.
Roll, don’t fold. Clothes that are rolled, take up a lot less space than those that are folded. They’re also easier to pack into gaps (think Tetris) and finally are less likely to get creased.
Used acid free tissue paper for long term storage to help prevent clothes getting damaged or decaying. This is especially true for clothes that are valuable and may be stored longer term such as suits and wedding dresses etc.

To wrap it up… if you’re storing anything that has significant monetary or sentimental value to you, consider insuring it against loss or damage before you put it into storage. We hope these packing tips help you when it comes to using our self storage units. Don’t forget that we supply a range of packing boxes which can be used to hold multiple small packed items, such as tupperware and shoe boxes.

We’d love to hear more so comment below if you have some of your own.