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A Guide to Summer Gear STorage

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Storing Summer Toys

Guide to summer gear storage

As the sun-soaked days of summer fade on the horizon, they leave behind the simple joy of outdoor pursuits, from pedaling along scenic trails, to setting up camp, or gliding gracefully atop shimmering waters—summer gifts us with a multitude of cherished experiences.

Whether you are a biker, camper, or paddler, summer gives us great pleasure. All these wonderful activities lead to an accumulation of outdoor gear. What is your plan for storing it during the off-season?

In this guide, we delve into preserving these cherished adventures—cleaning, organizing, and storing your summer gear. It’s a journey that involves not just safeguarding your possessions but also ensuring that the magic of summer continues for years to come.

Summer Gear Storage Tips:

  1. Clean Your Equipment

After every summer adventure, it’s essential to clean your equipment thoroughly. Use warm water and mild soap to cleanse your gear, including tents and sleeping bags. Removing any dirt and ensuring they’re completely dry before storage is vital, particularly for preventing mold and mildew.

  1. Choose the Right Storage Containers

Long-term storage of tents and sleeping bags should be in breathable mesh bags or cotton bags like old pillowcases. Loosely fold these items for long-term storage instead of tightly rolling them. This allows airflow, preventing mold and mildew growth. Remember, compressing a sleeping bag for extended periods can damage its fill.

  1. Organize Smaller Items

Store smaller items like flashlights, matches, eating utensils, plates, cookware, and more in clear storage containers. This way, you can easily identify and access them when needed.

  1. Organize Water Gear

Choose a large container to hold wetsuits, life jackets, water shoes, and other water gear. This ensures they’re kept together and protected during the off-season.

  1. Follow Manufacturer Recommendations for Watercraft Storage

Store paddle boards, canoes and kayaks indoors so the winter weather will not degrade fiberglass, plastic, fabric or specially-coated wood hulls.

 

Pro Tip: keep a checklist stored with your equipment so you don’t forget anything for your camping trips. Your list should include all items you will typically want to bring along.

Many of our clients store their summer gear in the garage or a spare closet so they can quickly pack up the car for a weekend getaway. But if these items are filling your halls and other living spaces self storage is an option that comes in many sizes to accommodate these items in the colder months.

Call us now at Drayton Valley Storage where we prioritize your storage needs — 1-877-514-7525

 

How To Store In Dusty Climates

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Storing in a Dusty Climate

How To Store In a Dusty Climate

In Alberta we live in one of the driest climates on earth and a dry climate means dust — it’s in our homes
and inevitably it finds its way into our storage units. This year is particularly bad because of ash in the air
from the forest fires. No matter how well sealed a home or storage unit may seem, air circulation means
ash and dust will find its way in.
But this doesn’t mean you can’t protect your belongings from this hazard. With some planning and
protection, furniture items like couches, chairs, and tables can safely be kept in a storage unit.
If it’s wood furnishings you are storing, think carefully — if the item is made of delicate tropical wood or
it’s an antique then it’s best to store it somewhere with climate control. Old wood and tropical woods
are highly susceptible to cracking, warping, splitting, and breaking in extreme temperatures. The rule of
thumb is if it would be challenging and expensive to repair, find someplace with a consistent
temperature to store them. Once you have your delicate wood furnishings in a climate-controlled
environment place dust covers over them to minimize the amount of cleaning these items will require
when brought out of storage.
What’s the best way to store upholstered items? While this type of furniture doesn’t need climate
control for storage it is particularly susceptible to damage from ash and dust. Proper furniture covers
like sofa and chair covers are preferable but plastic dust covers also work. These covers can be
purchased for little cost and provide good protection for your belongings. Place one dust cover on the
floor to protect furniture legs from moisture. Then, cover the furniture with another dust cover.
Depending on the size of your dust cover you may need more than one to cover all furnishings,
particularly larger pieces like sofas, tall shelving units, or entertainment units.
These simple steps give furnishings some protection from ash and dust in the air as well as any potential
moisture leaching up through flooring or coming in under a door.

As our climate are becoming more volatile it is best practice to follow your local town/city office and Environment Canada for update information.

 

Should You Store Jewelry and Other Valuables in Self Storage

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Keep valuables such as jewelry in a safe place

Should you store your jewelry in a storage unit

While self-storage facilities do have security, no security system is completely impervious to
professional thieves. Further your insurance and that of the self-storage operator may not cover valuable
jewelry left in a self-storage unit.
Also consider that jewelry and other collectables often require a special environment to help maintain
their condition. Jewelry, for example, is delicate and needs to be stored where the temperature does not
fluctuate. Temperature fluctuations can cause jewelry to become brittle and warp.
Self storage facilities are also not impervious to things like fires, flooding and tornadoes that can damage
irreplaceable valuables. Safety deposit boxes, however, are designed to withstand these natural disasters.
For these reasons, you are better off keeping jewelry and other collectables in a fire proof safe or safety
deposit box.

Bank safe and jewelry

Keeping your jewelry and other valuables safe

At the very least store your jewelry in a secure location that is climate-controlled and can
provide protection against theft, pests, moisture, and other environmental hazards.
Pro Tip for storing jewelry: pack your jewelry in its original boxes or other soft containers to protect
them from scratches so these valuable retain their value for years to come.

If you are looking for other platforms for self storage, check out our LinkedIn page

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

How Self Storage can help during a new build or a renovation

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Is it time to add a little sparkle to your home? Are you planning to renovate? Homeowners plan to do some sort of renovations in their life time.
Doesn’t everyone dream about getting a fresh new look.  When it comes to renovation, we don’t talk about the stress that goes with it. We don’t talk about – the mess, people coming and going and where are we going to put everything. Regardless of what is being redone we can make your renovations a breeze.  Nobody ever thinks about self storage or even our Portable Storage containers. Don’t we just throw it in the other room and figure it out later? Read more

How Self-Storage Can Help in an Emergency

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Flood, tornado, hail and other natural disasters can affect a home owner at any time and most often without warning.
Before disaster strikes, know what your options are. Knowing where you can go for quick secure storage is important. If you have roof damage from a tornado, or a fire or flood at home, your belongings can be kept safe and close by in portable storage containers. This convenient easy access helps minimize stress while repairs to your home are underway. Should you or the restoration companies need things completely removed from the site a portable containers can be safely moved back to our secure storage yard. Read more

Portable Storage: Make Construction & Renovations Easier

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Its feels like winter has been here forever, but spring is just around the corner! With the warm weather, we get the itch to start renovation projects. Sometimes it’s just a coat of paint, or you may have an entire room to renovate! Read more

Make Renovations Easier with Self-Storage

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Is it time to spruce up your home? Are you planning to renovate the kitchen or basement? If you are, you are not alone. Over 50% of Canadian homeowners plan to do some sort of renovations in the next couple of years.
Almost everyone dreams of a renewed living space. But, almost no one talks about the stress of renovating — the dust, the delays, the trades people coming and going, the spilled or splattered paint. . . .Don’t let these things stop you from improving your living space, but give serious thought to minimizing the hassles of remodeling. One underutilized tool that can ease the pain of renovating is self-storage. Whether it’s a quick paint job, a major kitchen update or an addition to the home, self-storage is a low cost way to solve some challenges home renovators face. Read more

Event Storage

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Spring heralds the season of outdoor weddings, family reunions, and festivals.  If you are planning an outdoor event you are well aware that the logistics are a little different than for indoor events. For outdoor events there is more to consider about how to get supplies to the site, keep them secure, and out of the elements. Because you can’t just lock them up in a storage room. This is where portable storage can be a real boon to event planners. Read more

How To Pack Portable Storage Containers

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moms portable storage
A portable storage unit provides you with the ability to pack your belongings yourself at your own pace. However, you will be responsible for how your things are packed. This means you’ll want to take every precaution to ensure that your boxes, furniture, and appliances are safely loaded. Here are a few tips to help you to load your storage container in the most effective and secure way possible.

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