So, a few years back, before I ever got into the storage business, I was moving apartments. My new place was smaller, and I had to make a tough call. My favorite armchair—this big, plush, perfect-for-reading thing—had to go into storage for a while.
I rented a unit from a guy down the road. It looked fine. I was in a huge rush. The chair was clean enough, I thought. I mean, it had been in my living room. How dirty could it be?
I shoved it into the unit along with a bunch of other junk and forgot about it for eight months.
When I finally got a bigger place and went to retrieve my throne, I opened the door and got hit with a smell. It was that sour, damp smell of forgotten things. The chair was covered in a fine layer of fuzz. Not dust. Mold. A whole ecosystem had decided my reading chair was prime real estate. It was totaled. I had to throw it away.
I stood there, staring at my ruined chair, and I felt like an idiot. Because I knew better. My dad, a lifelong woodworker, had drilled into me: “You never store anything that isn’t clean and bone-dry.” I’d broken the cardinal rule.
I tell you this story not to impress you with my stupidity, but to make a point: cleaning stuff before you store it isn’t some corporate advice we’re supposed to give you. It’s the brutal, honest truth learned from messing up myself.
Why “Clean Enough” Isn’t Actually Clean Enough
A storage unit is a dormant state. Nothing gets better in there. If you seal in a problem, that problem will just marinate and get worse. Here’s what’s really happening:
- You’re not just storing your stuff; you’re storing the dirt on it. That dust? It’s not inert. It’s made of skin cells, pollen, and other organic junk that microbes think is delicious. Over time, with a little humidity, that dust can become a starter kit for mold.
- Crumbs are a banquet. You might not see the tiny cracker crumbs that fell between the couch cushions, but I promise you, an ant or a mouse will find them. They are incredible scouts. Cleaning is basically removing the “Free Buffet” sign from your furniture.
- Moisture is a traitor. That “little bit damp” towel you tossed in a box? Or the patio chair that hadn’t fully dried from the morning dew? They become tiny humidifiers inside your sealed boxes, damaging everything they touch.
A Realistic, No-BS Cleaning Guide (That You’ll Actually Do)
I’m not asking you to detail your stuff like a classic car. Just be smarter than I was. Here’s a down-to-earth approach.
For the stuff that touches food (Your Kitchen):
- Fridge/Freezer: Empty it. Unplug it. Scrub it out. But for the love of all that is holy, leave the doors open for at least two days in your garage to air out. If you feel any dampness at all, it’s not ready. A musty fridge is a nightmare.
- Pots, Pans, Dishes: Wash them. Then, and this is key, let them air dry completely. I mean, completely. Don’t stack them while they’re even slightly wet. Trapped moisture is what causes those weird, cloudy stains and mildew smells later.
For your big, comfy stuff (Furniture):
- Sofas and Mattresses: Get your vacuum and suck the life out of every crevice. Crumbs, hair, dust—get it all out. Flip the cushions. If you have a handheld attachment, use it. This is five minutes of work that saves you hundreds of dollars.
- Wooden Furniture: Just a quick wipe with a dry cloth to get the dust off. Dust can actually scratch finishes over time. If you want to be a hero, a tiny bit of furniture polish on a dry cloth gives it a protective layer.
For the garage junk:
- Lawnmower: Hose off the clippings from the underside. Let it dry. If you store it with grass on it, it will stink to high heaven and attract rust.
- Tools: Wipe them down with an old rag. A little bit of WD-40 on a cloth wiped over metal parts will keep them from seizing up.
The Golden Rule (I learned this the hard way):
- BONE DRY: Say it with me: BONE. DRY. However long you think it takes for something to dry, double it. Touch it. If it feels cool, it’s still damp. Walk away and let it be.
How We Fit Into This
After my chair disaster, I started B&D Self Storage with a different mindset. Yeah, we have clean, secure, and—importantly—dry units. Many are climate-controlled, which is a massive help in fighting the humidity that killed my chair. But the first and best line of defense is you. You’re taking those ten minutes to vacuum and wipe things down.
We provide a clean, safe garage. You just need to make sure the car you’re parking in it isn’t leaking oil.
Do the boring thing. Clean your stuff. Your future self, the one who happily retrieves their perfectly preserved belongings, will be so grateful you did unlike past-me, who had to drag a moldy chair to the dump.
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