Storage in Ottawa: What to Put Away in Winter

It’s that time of the year when seasons change in Ottawa.

That also means it’s time to safely store your summer items for the winter.

While choosing a dry and clean Ottawa self-storage facility is one side of the coin, keeping your summer gear, toys and equipment protected during winter is the other.

The lack of use and freezing temperatures can severely damage your items if they aren’t stored properly and taken care of. To make sure your summer items are safely stored away during the coldest months, we’re going to share a couple of professional tips that should help you reinforce your item prepping techniques and make the most of the Ottawa storage space you have at your disposal.

Winter storage in Ottawa is meant to help you protect your precious items and treasured possessions by keeping them safe and in pristine condition.

The best way to make sure you’re on the right path is to start early with your storage planning to have plenty of time at your disposal to safeguard all items you plan to store during the winter.

Use Cotton or Wool Covers Before Storage

Ensuring some additional protection for your items is always a good idea.

Use cotton or wool covers, or both, to keep debris, dust, rust, moisture, pests, and bugs away, especially if you plan on storing your items for a longer period.

You should avoid using plastic or vinyl because these materials are prone to trapping moisture and can damage your possessions.

Cotton and wool provide all the natural insulation you need to keep your sensitive objects safe and dry.

Clean Your Items Ahead of Storing Them

It’s paramount you clean your items before storing them for winter. 

Cleaning items ahead of putting them into your storage unit is one of the best ways to keep the pests away from your precious items. This also helps keep your things clean and ready for use in the spring.

Give all items a thorough treatment by wiping, rinsing, and drying them, even more so if you’re about to store your BBQ equipment, cooking utensils or gardening tools.

Make sure your cooking gear is clean of any food residue, as smaller pests and rodents can smell the food residue and cause a lot of damage. Grime and dirt are no friends to the lifespan of your equipment, either.

That way, your items stay clean and your Ottawa storage unit stays clean.

Repair Everything Prior to Storage Time

Before you proceed with your Ottawa storage plans, make sure your items are all functional.

This is especially helpful if you’re about to store your seasonal equipment, utensils, garden tools, and other outdoor items.

The trick is to store your items in such a way to make them ready to use when you need them in springtime. Aside from ensuring an additional peace of mind all winter, you’ll also know that your equipment is safely stored and protected. It’s one of the best ways to save money by prolonging the lifespan of your tools and equipment.

Give Your Electronics a Lift by Keeping Them Off the Ground in Storage

Storing electronics requires double diligence and special treatment.

First of all, electronics don’t do well when introduced to any moisture or mould, so you’ll want to keep them off the ground.

The ground gets cold pretty quickly, and it loses heat rapidly, becoming the coldest part of the storage facility.

Since this coldness isn’t good for the inner workings, wiring, and batteries of sophisticated electronics, keeping your equipment off the ground is the best way to preserve its functionality.

You might also consider renting a climate-controlled storage unit if you plan on storing really sensitive electronic equipment.

Storing Your Summer Wardrobe

Preparing your clothing and items for winter storage is the best moment to create some extra space in your closet.

Keep your summer clothes safely stored away to make more room for your winter clothing.

Aside from freeing up space for a more appropriate wardrobe, you can also go through your summer clothes to decide what you want to keep or give away.

Beach toys, boogie boards, frisbees, surfboards, swimming suits, all these items can be either reused or repurposed.

Remember, the further ahead you plan for what you’ll put into storage, the less hassle and worry you’ll have later on.

Take Care of Your Lawn Equipment in Storage

Winter is a season where there is little you can do in your yard and garden.

In other words, a lot of outdoor chores, like mowing the lawn, won’t be possible during the winter.

Since you won’t be using your lawn equipment, you can put your lawnmower into storage along with other garden and yard maintenance tools to free up some space in your garage that you can use for other purposes.

Just like any other season, winter has its own winter-appropriate tools like snow blowers, salt units, shovels, etc.

By storing your lawn equipment, you’re freeing up space in your garage that you can use to keep the other winter-appropriate tools ready for everyday use.

Tips for Organizing Your Storage Ottawa Unit for Space Optimization and Better Access

Now that you know how to prepare your items for winter storing, let’s move to some tips to arrange your storage unit to make your things more accessible.

Prioritize items in your storage unit

You can get significantly more space by organizing your storage unit by priority.

Start by going over the items in your unit and picking those items you’ll need most often. If there are items that you need to access regularly, make sure they are stored at the front.

All the other items that you don’t need should go to the back corners of your storage unit.

Create a map

You can also make your stuff more accessible by creating a map of your storage unit to make it even more organized.

Simply write down all items by their current position or assign each item a place.

Maximize space

The easiest way to make the most out of your storage unit space is to start at the bottom and stack up.

The biggest, most robust, heaviest items should go on the bottom, and the lighter and smaller items should go on the top. You can maximize the space in your storage unit by installing shelving, but this depends on the type of items you plan to store.

Here for Your Ottawa Storage Needs

Got any questions about Ottawa storage?

Want to reserve your storage unit today? Or upgrade to a bigger storage unit, maybe a climate-controlled storage unit?

Talk to Acceptable Storage about how we can help with your Ottawa storage needs.