Safest (from damp etc) way to clean/store things in the attic.

[Cagliostro]

We currently have an empty attic (don't get too excited, it's only because all the crap is downstairs instead!) but we want to store a few things up there.

It's a tiny space rather than a proper boarded up thing and some of the things we had up there in cardboard boxes went nasty - books a little damp/mouldy etc. So I'm wary of putting stuff up there.

There's a few toys (some plastic, some wood) that we want to keep for DC3, and Christmas decorations. The toys need a damn good clean after years of use though. I have heard you can put stuff like duplo in a dishwasher but until we move next year we don't have access to one. Milton bath maybe? But that wouldn't work for the wood.

Then storage. What's the best way to keep them watertight? I was thinking plastic tubs and bin liners? I can also buy silica gel packets cheaply and stick some in, if that would make any difference.

Any advice would be appreciated :)

[wowfudge]

Plastic boxes with lids. But if stuff is going mouldy up there, you may have a issue with no air circulation or damp - are the eaves blocked? Is water getting in?

[wowfudge]

Plastic boxes with lids. But if stuff is going mouldy up there, you may have a issue with no air circulation or damp - are the eaves blocked? Is water getting in?

[Cagliostro]

Thank you :) there's no water getting in as far as we can see. It wasn't a severe problem thankfully, for example there were huge cardboard boxes left by previous people and they haven't disintegrated or anything but I wouldn't want to use them iyswim - still smell nasty and had little bits of mould on. It wasn't as awful as when my parents found all my old story books and they were really disgusting from their attic.

Maybe it's an air thing. Unfortunately we can't do anything with the structure of the place as we rent :(

I think we could almost get away with not putting anything up there but we are trying to have a massive declutter and anything we can get out the way even temporarily will help, even if it's then better to bring it down again. We are hoping to move in about a year

[SofaToad]

I wouldn't store things up there that you are fond of as they might well end up being mouldy and would never be the same again.

We have a conversion with cupboards in the eaves and I have so far only stored empty boxes in them although they seem dry, the heat from the roof makes plastic smell bad too.

[user1493202565]

I've stored a ton of things for the last 7 years in our basement which got regularly flooded from the rain. I used the big cheap plastic ikea boxes with lids (Samla series) and none of the stuff I stored ever had any trouble or even smell, including delicate electronics and clothes.

[Horopu]

I store stuff in big plastic boxes in a damp garage. I filled old socks with cat litter and tied the end. It seems to have kept everything dry.