Protecting Your Belongings From Storage Unit Pests

Miniscule and cunning, bugs are able to creep into all sorts of forbidden places. They crawl through cracks, scuttle through seams, and dart beneath locked doors. They don’t care about your padlocks and other security measures; they never need a key to sneak inside. So if you want to protect your belongings from storage unit pests, you need to put protective measures into place. Using our tips and tricks, you can ward off ants, moths, mice, silverfish, spiders, and other pests, and keep them away.

1. Check your belongings.

If you want to get rid of storage unit pests (or keep them from ever coming inside), you need to start by analyzing your belongings. First of all, you should not be storing food of any kind. Leaving food in a storage unit is like inviting pests inside. With that idea in mind, you should also clean all items you put inside the storage unit. Look for residue, stains, crumbs, and food remnants, and clean them thoroughly beforehand. You should also clean any items that might already contain bug life. If you bring bugs in with you, they might breed while you’re away. This is especially important for bed bugs, which should never be allowed into a storage unit. Finally, never store live plants. Their soil, leaves, and greenery will attract pests like a welcoming home.

2. Add preventative measures.

Next, consider how you store your belongings. Start by using sealable, plastic boxes in place of cardboard (pests love to nest in cardboard boxes). Then, raise these boxes up on pallets so that pests won’t make homes underneath. This is especially important if it’s hot or damp outside; ants and silverfish are known to burrow beneath boxes. If you’re storing clothes, blankets, or other fabrics, use moth balls and cedar blocks to ward off moths, but be sure not to let them make contact with one another. Mothballs and cedar blocks can damage fabric over time. Next, be sure to implement sprays or traps when you do spot pests. Concentrate sprays around the door frame, where pests are most likely to enter, and never use bait with your traps (no food allowed!). Finally, remember that if you leave traps, you must come back frequently to dispose of any caught pests.

3. Check in and stay vigilant.

Once you’ve checked your belongings and stored them properly, all that’s left is to regularly check in and clean your storage unit. While you don’t need to do a deep cleaning every time, you should take some time to dust things off and have a look around, keeping an eye out for any storage unit pests.

If you spend some time implementing these guidelines, your storage unit will remain clean and pest-free. But if you ever do find an infestation of pests, notify the manager immediately. He or she may have a specific plan of action for the emergency. Good luck!