Tips For Safely Storing Your Family's Clothing In A Rented Storage Unit

If you need to downsize into a smaller space or if you are leaving town for an extended period of time, then you need to know how to safely store your family's clothing in your rented storage unit. If you take the time to correctly clean, package, and store your clothing, it will come out of storage just as fresh and clean as the day it went in.

Follow these tips while packing and storing your family's clothing items:

Tip: Wash or Dry Clean Every Item of Clothing Before Storing It

Every single clothing item that you store needs to be clean and freshly washed. Any food or drink stains left on clothing can cause rodents and insects to be attracted to your storage unit. 

Items of clothing that can be machine washed should be washed and dried during the week before you pack for storage. Allow the clothing to completely dry in the dryer and then in the open air for at least a day before packing it. This will ensure there is no moisture trapped in the clothing that can cause mold to grow in your storage containers. 

Items that cannot be safely washed in your washing machine should be professionally dry-cleaned before they are packed. 

Tip: Remove Dry Cleaning Bags

Before you box up any of your clean clothing, you first need to remove any dry cleaning bags and check to make sure there are no fabric softener sheets stuck to any of your clothing items. Both the plastic bags and dryer sheets can cause discoloration of fabric when stored over long periods of time. 

Tip: Hang Clothing in Wardrobe Boxes or Fold and Place in Plastic Storage Tubs

The best way to store the clothing currently hanging in your family's closets is to hang the items in wardrobe boxes. You can purchase these specialty moving and storage boxes at your storage unit's office or from a local moving company. 

All of your t-shirts, sweaters, and clothing that is not designed to hang for a long time without becoming misshapen should be carefully folded and placed into plastic storage tubs. Take care when you pack your clothing to place the heavier items on the bottom. This will keep your clothing from getting smashed down during its time in storage.

Tip: Use Cedar Inserts to Prevent Insect Attraction to Your Clothing Items

Finally, insects that typically attack fabrics do not like the smell of cedar wood. For this reason, you should get some cedar inserts from your local hardware store and place them in your clothing storage boxes and plastic tubs. The cedar will repel insects and will give your clothing a nice, fresh scent.