Keeping Your Belongings in Storage

Posted on: 26 March 2021

Keeping your recently-rented storage unit sanitary will make your visits to it more pleasant, and will help to keep the things you store in it safe. With this in mind, here are some sanitation tips you should heed after renting a storage unit.

Make sure every item you need to store is clean before it goes into the unit

The storage facility's staff will ensure that the unit you're given is cleaned before you need to start using it. However, it won't stay this way for very long if you're not careful. You should, for example, clean anything that isn't brand new before stowing it in this space.

For instance, if you have a used fridge-freezer or an old hob that you plan on reusing at some point, but need to keep in the unit for a while, you should wipe or scrape any dried-on drink or food off these appliances (and check that there are no old food items hidden in the fridge-freezer's small interior compartments) before putting them in the facility. If you don't do this, you might find that when you next pop into the unit, it smells foul and that there are lots of flies living in it.

Likewise, if you're going to store your dog's old chew toys, blankets and bed in the unit, you should disinfect the toys and wash the bed and blankets, as the bacteria-rich saliva, mud and dirty dog hair that is likely to be on all of these things could make the unit very unsanitary.

Behave in a hygienic way when you're in the unit

It's also important to behave hygienically when, for example, you're putting things away in the unit, taking them out or tidying its contents. For example, it's best not to eat or drink inside the unit, as if you inadvertently touch any stored items with your greasy or crumb-covered hands, you may end up making these stored items dirty. If you absolutely must consume something whilst inside this space, you should try to stick to one area when eating it (rather than, for example, wandering around and touching the stored items whilst munching on some crisps) and ensure that you clean up carefully when you're done.

Additionally, if you're storing gardening items in the unit and need to pick up something after you've begun gardening and are in your muddy outdoor clothes, you should throw on some clean garments before going into the unit so that you don't transfer mud onto any items when you're brushing past them to get to the tools you need.

For more information, contact a storage unit facility.