Furniture fails in storage for three reasons: it went in dirty, it went in wrapped in plastic, or it went in assembled when it should have come apart. All three are avoidable in an afternoon. Daymakers Moving & Storage has been moving and storing households since 2015, and moving services crews prep the same way whether a piece is going into a unit for three weeks or a season. Clean, dry, breathable, and off-the-floor covers most of what matters, and the rest depends on what the piece is made of.
Clean it before it goes anywhere
Anything left on a surface has time to work. Cooking residue on a dining table, body oils on the arms of a chair, dust in the seams of a dresser- all of it sits against the finish for the whole storage period, and some of it reacts with it. Food traces are worse again, because crumbs in upholstery are an open invitation to pests in any shared facility.
Then let everything dry completely. This is the step people skip, and it is the one that causes the most damage, since a piece wrapped while still slightly damp holds that moisture against itself for weeks. Wipe wood with a barely damp cloth rather than a wet one, give upholstery a thorough vacuum instead of a shampoo, and leave anything you have cleaned overnight before it gets covered. A humid July day in Bloomington, MN is not the afternoon to rush this.
Wood needs to breathe
Solid wood expands and contracts with humidity, and sealing it inside plastic traps moisture against the grain. That is how veneer lifts, joints loosen, and white bloom appears in a finish that was fine when it went in. Moving blankets, old sheets, or breathable furniture covers are the right answer, held on with stretch wrap around the blanket rather than against the wood itself.
A coat of paste wax or a quality furniture polish before wrapping gives the finish a light barrier, particularly on pieces with a lot of exposed surface such as tables and sideboards. Leave drawers empty and slightly open if the piece will be accessible, since a closed cabinet with nothing moving through it holds stale air. For anything antique or genuinely valuable, our advice on protecting belongings during a move covers which pieces deserve more than the standard treatment.
Upholstery and mattresses
Fabric holds whatever is in the air around it, which is why cleanliness and airflow matter more here than padding does. Vacuum thoroughly into the seams and under the cushions, then cover with breathable fabric rather than sealed plastic. Cushions travel better removed and stored flat on top of the piece instead of compressed underneath something heavy, and leather wants a conditioner before it goes away so it does not dry and crack.
Mattresses are the exception where a proper mattress bag earns its place, since the alternative is a surface that collects dust for the entire period. Store them flat if the unit allows it. A mattress stood on edge for weeks will take a set along the side it was leaning on, and a pillow top will do it faster. If it has to stand, rotate which edge it rests on when you check in.
Take apart what comes apart
Disassembly does two things at once. It reduces the footprint dramatically, and it removes stress from joints that were never designed to hold weight sideways for weeks. Table legs, bed frames, shelving units, modular sectionals, and desks all come down quickly, and a tabletop stored flat and padded is far safer than one balanced on legs with boxes stacked around it.
Keep the hardware with the piece it belongs to. Bag it, label it, and tape the bag to the underside of the item rather than dropping everything into one box you will not be able to interpret in two months. Photograph the piece before you start taking it apart, particularly anything with a mechanism or a specific assembly order. Climate-controlled storage units are easier to load well when the large items are broken down, which usually means a smaller unit and a lower cost.
Not sure how much unit space your furniture will actually need once it’s broken down? Give us a call at (651) 461-1951, and we’ll size the unit from what’s going in it.
Stack it so nothing carries weight it should not
Everything goes off the concrete. Pallets, boards, or even a layer of moving blankets separates furniture from a floor that will sweat when the temperature swings, and it costs nothing to do. Heaviest items go on the bottom against the back wall, with case goods upright rather than laid on their sides, and nothing structural should be holding up something heavier than itself.
Leave a walkway if the unit is big enough to allow one. A solid wall of furniture is efficient until you need the one box behind it, and in a longer storage period you will need something eventually. Air circulation is the other reason, since a unit packed tight to the walls and ceiling has nowhere for air to move. What full-service moving and storage actually includes explains how a crew usually handles the load in.
Glass, metal, and anything with a mechanism
Glass and stone travel vertically, never flat, and they need to be crated or heavily padded and secured against something solid so nothing can fall against them. A tabletop laid horizontally will eventually have something set on it, and that is how tops crack in storage rather than in transit. Mirrors go in mirror cartons and get labeled clearly on both sides.
Metal wants a light coat of oil or a rust inhibitor on any bare or chrome surface, since Minnesota’s seasonal humidity swings are hard on unprotected steel even indoors. Appliances get defrosted, drained, and dried with the doors propped open, which is the only way to avoid opening a refrigerator in six weeks and regretting it. Anything with a motor or a compressor should be stored upright.
Planning a gap between homes in Bloomington, MN? Call (651) 461-1951 to book a walkthrough with our team, and we’ll handle the prep, the load-in, and the unit together.
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