Tips for preparing goods that go into storage

Published on 11 July 2022

When moving to another home or even another country, you might want to put some of your possessions and furniture in storage. You naturally want your valuables to be stored as safely as possible. By making the right preparations, your household goods remain safe in storage.

Below please find some tips and guidelines, which may be useful for preparation of the possessions that you want to put in storage.

When packing

For items that will go into storage, we advise you to put these items aside and / or make separations in closets and rooms, so that they are easily recognizable. The movers work faster than you might expect, and you surely do not want the wrong items to be packed and removed. Upon request we will supply stickers, enabling you to mark the items for storage and/or shipment.

Make sure everything is clean

There’s nothing more annoying than taking your goods out of storage and discovering that they have mold in them, which means you can throw them away. Sin of course! That is why it is very important to check all goods carefully whether they are dry and clean before you take them away.

• Make sure that all items are dry and, above all, as clean as they can be.
• Woolen articles such as clothing, curtains, tapestries, etc. need to be thoroughly cleaned before being placed in storage. Please bear in mind that the risk of damage by moths can only be reduced (but not eliminated) by proper and preferably professional cleaning.
• Mildew is created by dirt and/or moisture. In order to prevent this, all appliances such as the fridge, freezer, (dish) washer, stove, microwave, toaster, kitchen machine need to be thoroughly cleaned on both the inside and outside. Do not forget the filters and treat the rubber parts and hoses with talcum powder against drying out.
• It is recommended to place moisture absorbing materials in the appliances, e.g. tights with kitty litter or grinded coffee.
• Do not forget to remove the dust bag from your vacuum cleaner and to empty and clean wastebaskets and trashcans.

All this should be done ultimately one day before the move, thus making sure all are dry. If you would like to have professional cleaners help take care of this, we can help arrange a cleaning service.

Remove batteries

A lot of storage facilities do not allow you to keep batteries in your electrical appliances. Since the goods will be stored for week, months or even years, it’s very dangerous to store batteries and chargers with them. Batteries contain chemicals that can leak, especially when they’re stored and not used for a long period of time. Single-use batteries can burst and when they leak there’s even the danger of explosion. That’s why you should remove batteries from your electrical appliances before storing them.