Storage units provide convenient ways to safely store furniture and other belongings when you’re moving, cleaning your home, or cleaning out clutter. As safe as those storage units can be, however, you need to protect the items you place in them, especially furniture. Even in the best storage facilities, your furniture faces the risk of damage due to unfortunate luck and general climate issues.

A very helpful step to take is to find climate-controlled storage as that reduces the chances of environmental issues affecting the fabric and wood that make up so much furniture. You’ll still need to ensure there’s nothing in the furniture that could attract pests and no exposed areas that could be affected by anything happening in an adjacent unit. But with climate control, you get a head start on keeping your belongings in great shape.

Does Furniture Need to Be Stored in Climate-Controlled Self-Storage?

Furniture doesn’t have to be stored in a climate-controlled unit, but that climate control helps a lot – more than you might realize. With climate control, if you make a mistake in preparing the furniture for storage, your belongings won’t face nearly the risk of mildew, deterioration, or pests that they would in non-climate-controlled units.

Climate control in storage doesn’t keep everything at a nice, mild temperature, but it does keep the unit within a reasonable range of temperatures. The climate-control feature also controls humidity, which is a major cause of issues for storage. By storing furniture in a climate-controlled unit, you remove the excess humidity or aridity and control excessive heat and cold, that could damage furniture.

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How Do You Place Furniture in a Storage Unit?

You need to get a storage unit that is big enough to hold everything without packing the items into one big mass. You want good airflow around each item, so furniture needs to be placed with at least a little room around each piece. Don’t stack items on top of soft furniture as the weight of those items can depress the cushions they’re on, creating long-lasting impressions if the storage is long-term. You can place lighter items on top of hard furniture, like tables, but be careful not to overload those pieces.

How Do You Keep Furniture From Molding in Storage?

Mold is an enemy of anything stored. Excessive humidity that creates condensation and that makes furniture slightly damp can lead to mold issues that ruin your items. Climate control is the best way to stop furniture from molding as the humidity levels are kept low. You can also add de-humidifying packs that you can get at home improvement stores.

Should You Plastic Wrap Furniture in Storage?

Yes and no. You do want to wrap the furniture in a way that it will be protected from leaks from the ceiling, for example, or from leaks from adjacent units, if something were to spill in there. You don’t want to tightly wrap the furniture in plastic as that can create issues with trapping humidity. You might see movers cover boxes in shrinkwrap; that’s OK because that wrap is placed tightly against the surface of the box. With furniture, there will be pockets of air that can allow for condensation to form on the plastic’s interior side.

How Do You Stack Furniture in Storage?

As mentioned, you do not want to stack anything on top of soft furniture to avoid denting cushions. You can stack light items on hard furniture like tables, but don’t overload the furniture. The weight of light items adds up.

Cleaning Furniture Before Storing It

Clean each piece of furniture and make sure it is thoroughly dry before putting it away. Wipe down hard furniture and vacuum upholstered furniture. Use the crevice attachment on the vacuum to get in between cushions and pick up all crumbs. Those crumbs can attract pests into storage, which can damage your furniture.

Contact Olympic Storage in Sioux City, IA, for a free quote. Olympic offers climate-controlled units for reasonable prices. Protect your furniture while it waits for you in storage.