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Preparing Belongings For Storage

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Preparing Your Belongings For Storage

Prepare your belongings for storage

Before you pack your belongings into storage, you need to get them ready. From cleaning to taking inventory, here’s how to best prepare.

Purge
If you haven’t used something in a while or no longer want an item don’t waste money storing it. Sell it or donate it to someone who will make better use of the item.

Clean everything that’s going into storage
Before you put things into storage make sure they are clean. Why is this important? If you store something while it’s dirty, it’s only going to be worse for wear when you unpack it two, four, or twelve months later. Over time things that are stored dirty can acquire a musty smell, and stains can damage fabrics. A thorough cleaning will ensure that items don’t deteriorate while in storage. Our friends at the Uptown Laundry will have more info to help you too. 

Pro tips:

  • Wash clothes and linens then store them in plastic bags to prevent mold and mildew.
  • Vacuum out the crevasses and wipe all furnishings then use an appropriate protective spray on leather and fabric upholstery. Wax wood furniture.
  • Wipe the inside and outside of appliances. If applicable, run a final wash cycle with vinegar. If you are storing a washer, make sure all tanks and hoses are drained. For fridges and freezers add a moisture absorbent substance like charcoal to help prevent odors.
  • Wipe all sporting goods and kids’ toys including plush toys. Store plush toys in plastic bags.

Inventory what you’re storing

Person taking inventory for self storage

Take inventory for self storage

While you are cleaning your belongings, write down what’s going to be stored. Why is this important? An inventory will help you determine what size storage unit you need and how to organize that storage unit.

Pro tips:

  • Our storage calculator web page allows you to enter an inventory of your belongings and calculates what size storage unit you need. You can also email this list to yourself right from our storage .
  • Add a brief description including the item’s brand, serial number, model number, and if there is any damage to your inventory list.
  • Email a copy of your inventory list to your property insurance agent and advise them that you are putting these items into storage. This will help ensure that you have coverage for these possession’s and speed up the claims process should disaster make this necessary.

Make sure you get the right size of storage unit
Our easy-to-use storage calculator does the math for you. Once you’ve entered an inventory of your possessions into the calculator the graph on the right side of this web page tells you what size storage unit you need. You can then go ahead and book your storage unit either by clicking on the button on our website, or if you need help you can call us and talk to someone in our office.

Pro tip:

  • Right now, we are experiencing high demand for storage units and have a waiting list for many sizes. Renting online allows you to quickly see and rent any size that is available. This is kind of like a gamer’s cheat code for self-storage. If the size you want isn’t available don’t give up. People come and go from self-storage units daily. So, call our office and get on the waitlist right away.
  • Self storage calculator

    Self storage calculator

Now you will need to pack your belongings. How you pack an item determines how well it survives a move, storage and then being unpacked. Watch for our next blog — How to pack your belongings like a pro so they are in good condition when you take them out of storage.

Earth Day

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Earth day is coming April 22 and amid all the chaos of the past few years we wanted to put the focus back on the future of our families and our community here at Drayton Valley Storage. After all the way we treat the environment now will affect future generations.

A planet that is growing warmer each year isn’t good for any living thing. We can’t become complacent to this threat to the world, so Drayton Valley Storage has focused on offering only moving boxes made from recycled material and going paperless in our office. Below are just a few positive effects this action has on our community and the world.

Protects trees (our shield against CO2)
Trees are considered carbon sinks. Trees lock away carbon dioxide in the wood, roots, and leaves. “This locking-up process ‘stores’ carbon as wood and not as an available ‘greenhouse’ gas. Trees are imperative to earths survival so it is beneficial to protect them as best we can.” Steve Nix forestry expert on 

Reduces paper waste
According to , in 2022, paper mills will produce about 500 million tons of paper and cardboard. Paper waste produces pollution which is toxic to air, water, and soil. Paper is produced by using chlorine-based bleaches so when paper rots in the landfill Methane gas gets released. This gas is worse than CO2. Using products made with recycled products and going paperless significantly reduces paper waste and in turn reduces the amount of toxic gasses entering our atmosphere.

Saves water
The amount of water used to produce one piece of paper is 10 litres. The less paper we use in our office, the less of the life-giving resource is wasted.

How is your family or business being environmentally conscious? We’d love to hear your ideas so that we all can do a little better to help our home — planet Earth.

Porch Pirates, Are they Real?

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Keep Your Packages Safe
Pirates have always been something that appear in story books. But lately piracy has become very real for a lot of online holiday shoppers. The name Porch Pirates sounds cute and maybe you’re thinking of all the kiddies showing up on your doorstep at Halloween, but these are not your neighbor’s children in costume. Porch Pirates steal packages from door steps and porches. Sometimes these thieves will even follow a delivery vehicle and scoop the package right after it’s been dropped on the doorstep.

As of Sept of this year, nearly one quarter of online shoppers have felt the sting of porch piracy. The average value a stolen package is about $113.

Some shoppers that have fallen victim to Porch Piracy before have taken it upon themselves to fight back. People are putting out boxes full of glitter, dog poo or the cat litter to “be taken.” While we admire people’s creativity why even give thieves a chance?

Between 2010 to 2017, there was a 581% rise in reports of packages stolen off doorsteps. With porch piracy on the rise, we’d like to offer a solution for keeping your packages safe.
Our office is insured to receive your online orders and we offer this service free of charge to everyone on our community. It’s our way of helping you have a happy holiday season. For more self storage hacks and ideas, follow along with our Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/DraytonValleyStorage/

How Do You Use This Free Service?

Step 1
When you are online shopping use our office address as the shipping address for your package: Drayton Valley Storage: 7315 Township Rd 490, Site 455 Box 1 Comp 1 RR 2, Drayton Valley, AB T7A 2A2

Step 2
Call our office and let us know your name, your phone number and when the package is expected. Drayton Valley: 780-542-7582

Step 3
When the package arrives, our office will text you a pic of the package, text back an day and time when you can pick it up. Need to keep the package away from prying eyes? No problem, we can hold the package until you need it. Just let us know how long you need us to hold it. (Please keep in mind our holiday hours). If you are looking for more Christmas hacks or ideas check out this blog: 

Christmas Storage Hacks

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It seems as though Christmas has only just arrived, but here we are thinking of ways to organize your decorations as you put them away.
Of course, our first answer would be to send it to us for safe keeping. But we know not everyone can do that, so we are happy to share some holiday storage hacks we use in our own homes. Read more

Ways You Can Support Your Local Businesses During A Pandeminc

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Everywhere we look big brands and big box stores are on display. While these large companies have the money to buy online ads or billboards it’s small businesses that most impact on our local community. And it’s small business that has been mostly impacted by the pandemic.
Small businesses color and enrich local shopping by providing unique products and services that make our local communities great places to live. No one wants to live in a neighborhood where unique local stores are replaced with For Lease signs. These small businesses also provide the lions share of employment and often employ people we know. These are our neighbors, friends, and family so it makes sense to support them, and during the pandemic, it’s more important than ever that these businesses survive for the health of our communities.
Here tips on how to support local businesses: Read more

Protect Yourself – Fraudster’s Tricks and How To Avoid Them.

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I just received a phone call from Ontario, saying it was Servus Credit Union calling and that my SIN has been compromised and not to hang up as I would end up in JAIL!
I hung up. . .
In this day of heightened cyber crime being aware of how to protect yourself has become critical. Here are some tips to avoid falling into a fraudster’s trap.

Protect yourself

Read more

Moving During A Pandemic

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Packing and moving can be difficult at the best of times, but moving during a pandemic creates a whole new set of challenges. If you have to move you and your moving company should put health and safety first. We suggest you call your moving company to discuss your options and they should help you plan as safe (and seamless) a move as possible. This may include: Read more

Camping During Covid-19

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Now that the weather is finally nice most of us have the itch to get our campers out, spruced up, and on the road to our favorite camping spot so we can enjoy our summer. Well this season it is looking very different thanks to Covid-19.
Provincial campsites will all remain closed until after a government assessment on June 21, 2020. However, the private camp grounds are under county discretion as long as they comply with rules set out by Alberta Health Services. Here’s what to prepare for this Covid camping season: Read more

Prepping Your Motorbike for the First Ride of Spring

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Author’s Note: In light of our current situation surrounding self-isolation and social-distancing, we ask that you ride responsibly – please ride alone, and avoid large groups.
Everyone knows January 1st is the beginning of the New Year, but for me the year really doesn’t get underway until the snow melts and the open road beckons. When I feel that urge to pull my motorbike from its winter slumber, here is my checklist to make that first run of the year a little more enjoyable: Read more

Seller’s Remorse

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Kids, grandma is moving in. It will be so great to have her living here.
Jill speaking to husband – John: What are we going to do with all of mom’s belongings? It won’t fit in the house and she has so much.
John speaking to Mother-in-law – Ethel: Why don’t we have a garage sale before you move. Jill and I can help, and of course Cathy and Cindy being teenagers can also help. This will teach them how to negotiate. Read more