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What Do You Need to Know About Storing Upholstered Furniture?

October 8, 2020

Do you have more upholstered furniture than you can comfortably fit inside your home? Before you donate or discard these pieces, take a look at everything you need to know about fabric-covered furniture and self storage.

Should You Clean Upholstered Furniture Before Storage?

Dirty, damp, or debris-covered upholstered couches, love seats, recliners, or any other item should never go directly into a self-storage unit as-is. Failure to properly clean your furniture before storage could:

Cause mold issues . Mold can grow on damp items within 24 to 48 hours, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Whether someone spilled juice on the couch or a water leak damaged your recliner, clean and dry all upholstery before storage.
Attract pests . Not only can juice (and other similar liquids) promote mold growth, these sticky or sugary stains can attract pests. The same is true of food-crusted upholstery and other types of debris.
Permanently damage furniture . The longer a stain sits on your upholstery, the less likely that it will completely come out with cleaning. When you eventually remove the item from storage, the stain will likely have set permanently.

If you're not sure how to properly clean your upholstered furniture for storage, consult a professional. An upholstery or specialty cleaner can remove stains, moisture, and debris to prep your items for weeks, months, or years in a self-storage unit.

Should You Cover or Contain Upholstered Furniture for Storage?

Now that your upholstered items are completely clean and dry, take the next step towards self-storage. How should you store these potentially delicate pieces? Unlike books, dishware, and other smaller for-storage items, you can't box or bin a sofa, recliner, or upholstered dining room chairs. Instead of complete containers (such as boxes), consider:

Moving quilts . This heavy-duty cover protects your upholstered furniture from dampness, damage, dust, and debris in storage. A moving quilt can also keep your items safe during the transportation process.
Cloth sheets . While a cotton bedsheet won't protect the upholstery to the same degree as a moving quilt, it will reduce dust, dirt, and debris risks in storage.
Drop cloths . While the paint-covered drop cloths in your basement won't work for upholstered furniture storage safety, clean cloths can. These inexpensive options can protect your delicate pieces from light, dust, and other types of debris.

Avoid plastic wrap or garbage bags. While plastic sheeting may seem like an easy, inexpensive option, this can trap moisture in the fabric. The resulting condensation can cause permanent damage or support mold growth.

How Should You Place Upholstered Furniture in Self-Storage?

With everything carefully wrapped in moving quilts, bedsheets, or a similar cloth covering, you can focus on your self-storage unit organization. To safely store upholstered items:

Don't stack furniture together . Are you tempted to turn upholstered chairs over and stack them on top of one another or put an ottoman on your sofa? The pressure from months or years in storage could cause permanent damage.
Don't stack boxes or bins on upholstered furniture. Along with other pieces of furniture, never stack boxes, bins, bags, or other items on your upholstered couch, love seat, or other item. The pressure could cause a fold, pit, or tear to form.
Do place items as you would in your home. Store your upholstered furniture as you would place the pieces in your living room, dining room, or other room at home. Vertical placement may save space. But this type of storage can easily damage one end of the upholstery.

Unlike boxes and bins, you don't need to label your couches, chairs, or other upholstered pieces. Sticky labels can leave adhesive on the fabric and damage the item.

Do you need a self-storage rental? Contact Brownsburg Self StorageLocker Inc . for more information.