Storing household goods in a garage

[dannigirl]

We are currently renovating and attempting to declutter our two bed flat to sell. We have quite a bit of stuff in a storage unit at the moment and currently rent a garage on-site on the grounds of our flat. We can park car elsewhere and want to store our household stuff from storage unit and clutter from flat in the rented garage. The garage is dry and the last guy used it solely for storing belongings in, but I just want to ensure nothing gets mouldy. Hopefully it will only be for a few months.

So, any tips on what to wrap stuff in to ensure it doesn't get mouldy or is it completely insane to store stuff in a garage over winter period?

Mostly it will be boxes of household items, books, CDs, old kids toys, kitchen stuff, maybe some clothes, picture frames, photo frames etc.

Any tips on wrapping or storage tips. Would bubble wrapped in boxes be sufficient?

You can get bags that are airtight from John Lewis and prob elsewhere if you google. But, I use these for storing clothes and fabric and duvets etc.
You suck out the air with a vacuum.

For books and other things that could get damaged from damp air I'd try to make it as airtight as possible.

We use plastic boxes with lids for books other stuff but also line the boxes and use bags for extra protection.
If you really don't want to lose/damage this stuff is there anywhere else you could put it?

I have had those vacum bags before, never had one that managed to keep the air sucked out iyswim. In fact I have two sitting on top of a wardrobe that are fully inflated, bloody taking up loads of space!

We could keep stuff in the storage unit but it is a drive away and a bit of a pain tbh.....the beauty of the garage is it's a short walk away but probably not worth destroying all of our stuff for.

Trying to declutter with two kids is quite hard!

You really have to make sure the top is closed properly and that there are no holes. Ours are fine, mostly!
Go for boxes with lids and fingers crossed?

Tell the children that many toys are going on a short holiday? . I got rid of a lot of ours and they didn't even notice most of it had gone. (only to attic though)

shouldn't large plastic boxes with lids on keep the damp out? I'm thinking of doing exactry the same, storing in garage, lots of clutter too - so keen for tips.
I'd definately advise against storing clothes there - they need heated dry rooms or will smell unfresh afterwards.Unless maybe in several plastic boxes one inside the other?
I was also thinking, maybe it's best to line the garage walls with some plastic, properly attached? but it might be a hard job to do.

WO crossed posts re boxes!

We stored loads of stuff in a garage for over a year. It was in boxes sellotaped up, but not air tight I expect.

However, we were careful to pick stuff that wouldn't rot - for example we put all our books and fabric items elsewhere. Kitchen stuff, CDs and ornaments were all fine though.

If you're going to put books or fabric in there, I'd put it in a vacuum pack bag (the kind you suck the air out of with a hoover) and also stick some anti moth stuff in there!

we did the same recently.

Unfortunately a mouse got in and had a field day. it was only for 3 months too.

it nibbled cushions and a spare sofa so they had to be dumped. Also a car seat, so that had to go as well.

plastic toys, kitchen stuff and picture frames were all ok.

i think if you are not too fussed about loosing it then stick it in the garage.

Oh, we had vacumn packed bags and the bloody things chewed through those too !

We have lots of stuff stored in the garage. We lined the floor of ours with the damp proof membrane stuff that you get at DIY stores to protect it slightly - something like this www.diy.com/nav/build/building-materials/damp-proof-courses-membranes/damp_proof_membranes/NDC-Damp-Proof-Membrane-Blue-1200-Gauge-4m-x-15m-9273078.

Everything has stayed dry but our garage is at the end of the garden (backing onto fields) and we have had a mouse in there - apparently made a home in the children's old cuddly toys (that were in a cardboard box). So yes, seal absolutely everything, and if you can, use the rigid plastic boxes / crates. We have stored clothes but agree that they can get a bit musty and you'll have to wash absolutely everything if you want to get it out at some point in the future.