The Do’s and Don’ts of Storage for Your Warm-Weather Clothes

With winter on the horizon, you’re ready to stock your closet with wooly sweaters and puffy coats. But where does that leave your summer gear? If you’re not sure what to keep in easy reach and what to pack away for the season, take a look at the do’s and don’ts of warm-weather clothing storage.

Do Rent a Storage Unit

Do you need to declutter your closets, shelves, and drawers? A move from your bedroom to the basement is an easy way to store your warm-weather clothes. But that won’t truly help you to clear your home’s space. In the end, you’ll only trade one room’s clutter for another’s.

Instead of swapping one cluttered area for another, rent an off-site storage unit. This strategy gives you extra space at home and keeps your clothing safe for the months to come. With a storage rental, you won’t need to worry about potential water damage, pests, or other issues that can happen at home.

Don’t Store Everything

Are you tempted to pack every pair of shorts, tank top, swimsuit, or pair of sandals in a box and send them off to storage? While this can clear the clutter, it can also leave you without key clothing pieces you may need in the fall or winter.

Autumn isn’t always consistent when it comes to the weather. Even though your local area may have a bitterly cold Monday, a fall Tuesday could have temperatures that range from early spring to mid-summer highs. If every t-shirt you own is in storage, you’re stuck with a sweater or long-sleeved shirt when the weather suddenly warms.

Along with unexpected high temperatures, you may also need warm-weather clothing for a southern or tropical vacation. If you’ll head south for a fall or winter getaway, keep a week’s worth of summer clothing out of storage.

Do Choose a Nearby Facility

What happens if you packed more than you should have, or you need specific picks during the cooler months? A storage facility that’s too far means a long drive just to get a pair of sandals or a favorite sundress.

The closer the storage facility is to your home, the easier it is to bring items home. Likewise, it’s also easy to bring new or forgotten pieces to your storage unit for the rest of the season. This type of convenience can save you money on travel costs, time, and hassle.

Don’t Pack Dirty Clothes

Should you cinch your laundry bag and put it in your storage unit as-is? Even though this might seem like an easy way to move and store your summer clothing, it can lead to problems down the road.

Dirty or debris-covered clothing is attractive to pests — especially if the items have food stains or are sweaty. Failure to adequately clean your warm-weather clothes could result in unwelcome invaders that hitch a ride to your storage unit and breed over the winter months.

Not only can debris attract pests, but it can also permanently stain your clothes over the winter storage months. Along with dirt, moisture can also cause problems for your clothes in storage. Damp or sweaty clothes can grow mold. This can spread to other items in your storage facility. Avoid this issue entirely and make sure everything is completely dry before you box, bin, or bag it.

Do Organize Everything

An organized storage unit is easy to empty when needed. Whether you will take items in and out of storage over the winter or are certain you’ll wait until the spring to unpack, you need an organizational system.

There are a variety of options when it comes to organization — such as color-coding, creating inventories, using descriptive blurbs on labels, and more. Choose the one that works for you.

Do you need somewhere to store your summer clothing right now? Contact North Star Mini Storage for more information.