Talking About Placing Clothing In Storage

If you need to move the contents of your home into a self-storage unit while you temporarily relocate out-of-state for work, then for everyone's safety, it is important you know what items cannot be safely stored. While each storage unit complex will have their own restrictions on what you can and cannot store on their property, the below items are universally unsafe and should always be avoided:

Vehicles and Tires

While you can usually store a working, registered, and insured vehicle or boat inside of your storage unit, you cannot store vehicles that don't run, are unregistered, or that aren't insured. Additionally, the number of loose tires you can store will be limited to just a few. The reason for the restriction on tire storage is because they are expensive to dispose of if you fail to pay your fees and the storage unit complex sells your stuff to recoup their unpaid fees.

Flammable Substances

It is a good rule to follow that anything flammable should not be stored in a self-storage unit. Some examples of flammable substances include:

• gasoline
• kerosene
• propane tanks
• compressed gas
• lamp oil
• motor oil
• grease
• toxic chemicals
• acids
• corrosives

In addition to all of the above, you also should not store household cleaning products in your storage unit. Use as many of the cleaning products as you can while you clean out your old home and then either dispose of the rest or leave them behind for the next homeowner.

Asbestos or Asbestos-Containing Items

Since asbestos fibers are known to cause lung cancer, you cannot store asbestos or asbestos-containing materials in your storage unit. Asbestos can be found in some car parts and building materials.

Animals, Plants, or Perishable Items

If you have extra bags of dog food, taxidermy items, or live plants they cannot be stored in your storage unit. All perishable food, animal products, and plants can attract pests that your storage complex doesn't want in their units.

Toxic or Hazardous Waste

Items that are toxic to humans or the environment need to be properly disposed of and not stored in your storage unit. For example, if you have used motor oil, bags of unused fertilizer, or lots of containers of paint, then those should be safely disposed of rather than putting them in your storage unit. 

Illegal Items

Finally, while it should go without saying, you are not permitted to store illegal fireworks, narcotics, stolen items, or any other objects that are prohibited to own in your self-storage unit.

Contact a company like Pearl Street Self Storage for more information and assistance.