Four Tips for Using Portable Self Storage

For most moves, storage isn’t necessary. You can just pack your stuff up, and then move it to your new home to unpack it. But when you’re in an unconventional moving situation, this may not be the case. You may need to store your household and personal items for a period of time before you can move them into your new home.

When this situation arises, many people will look to traditional self storage as a solution. But there’s actually a much more convenient option on the market – portable self storage.

What is portable self storage, and how can it help during your next move? Check out the answers below:

How does it work?

A portable self storage unit is basically like a large shipping crate. Some of the best Los Alamitos moving companies offer them as an additional service for their customers. The moving company will bring the storage unit to your home, where you can pack it up with your household items. Or, you can contract with the moving company to pack your items for you.

In between times, the movers will take your storage unit to a secure warehouse, where you can keep it indefinitely. When you’re ready, the moving company can bring the unit back to your own home, where you can unpack at your leisure.

As you can see, it works similarly to traditional self storage, but it’s actually much more convenient. Rather than having to load-unload-load-unload your stuff, you can just go through the loading and unloading process once.

When you’re ready to use this option, here are some tips to make the process easier:

1.Invest in good boxes

It’s easy to use cheaper boxes – or no boxes at all for larger items – if you’re just doing a quick hop of a move. But if you want to make the most of your portable self storage unit, you’ll invest in good quality boxes.

Why? Because these boxes will keep your stuff safe by adding additional padding. And they’ll also stack neatly, allowing you to make the best use of the space inside your portable storage unit. Good boxes will hold up well over long-term storage, if need be. And they’ll be strong enough to stack to the ceiling without crushing the boxes on the bottom of the stack.

2. Pack boxes thoughtfully

When you’re packing your boxes, the number one goal is to ensure that nothing moves. The more movement inside a box, the more likely one of your items will break while in transit. So take the time to use newspaper, bubble wrap, and other packing materials to pack each individual box well.

The true test of a well-packed box is a shake test. Shake the box gently. If you can hear or feel movement, you may need to add more packing material to ensure that everything in the box is tight and snug.

3. Pack the big stuff first

When packing in a portable storage unit, you want to make the most of your space. So start by fitting in the larger items – like furniture – that need to go into the unit. Then, you can pack smaller items around them. Pack all the way up to the ceiling, as well, or you’re wasting space.

Also, consider which items you’ll need first when unpacking. Since you may not unpack all at once, put these items close to the door of the unit, where they’ll be easier to access. And be sure to label all these boxes, so you can quickly and easily find exactly what you need.

4. Pack the unit tightly

It’s important to use all available space in your portable unit because that saves you money. But this is important for another reason, as well. The more stuff you pack in, the less your boxes and other items can move around. And just like packing boxes, when you don’t have lots of extra space for items to move around, they’re less likely to break while in transit.

The best Los Alamitos movers will do their best to keep your storage unit level during the moving process. But there will still be some bumps along the way. Be prepared by packing your storage unit as tightly and snugly as possible.

When they’re used properly, portable storage units can be a much more convenient option than traditional self storage. These tips will ensure that you make the absolute most of your portable storage unit.