It’s important to find storage solutions that address your needs and help create more space in your life. Self storage units are a great opportunity to remove stress by offering a separate, convenient space to keep personal or professional belongings. With things like easy access to what you need, affordable prices, and protective measures for your belongings, you have more room to focus on what’s important. But just like your home or business, storage units can attract pests looking for shelter if the right precautions are not taken.
If you’ve noticed spiders spinning webs in your unit’s corners or you suspect a mouse is sniffing around, be proactive in preventing pests in your storage unit. We’ve gathered helpful pest control tips to help you maintain or regain peace of mind for your storage space.
At Saf Keep, we are committed to maintaining a clean, pest-free environment. Our teams work diligently, making consistent cleaning rounds to ensure that bathrooms, hallways, and other common areas of each facility are free of trash, food, and grime. Along with maintenance, we do have a pest control company visit all our locations on a regular basis. However, when it comes to individual units, there are some simple steps you can take to keep your unit clean and pest-free.
Potential Pest Issues for Storage
Pest issues in storage units aren’t as common as in homes or businesses, as they don’t have equipment like plumbing, heating, and air conditioning or potential food sources like refrigerators or trash cans. However, things like mold and mildew in your storage unit can bring unexpected pests and different types of bacteria.
Rats and Mice Nesting
Rodents like rats and mice prefer dark, undisturbed areas when building nests. Those spots in a house or apartment would be under cabinets or near heat sources like the wall by your oven. In a storage unit, a mouse or rat could easily set up shop in an uncovered box of winter clothes or nestle inside the cushions of your couch if left open and unprotected.
Signs of Possible Infestation
Termites can unwittingly be carried in with wooden furniture. Moisture and food crumbs can also attract bugs like ants, cockroaches, and fruit flies..
Make sure you swipe away any growing spider webs, clear out any dirt you may have tracked in while unpacking, and keep an eye out for any signs of pests like droppings, egg cases, or bad smells. These are common signs that you may have an intruder in your unit.
Spiders Building Webs or Hunting Insects
Where there are insects, you can expect spiders to be chasing after them. While spiders act as environmentally friendly pest control agents to catch unwelcome bugs like moths, they can also become issues. Despite the best cleaning, spiders can find their way into your storage unit, like the wolf spider and brown recluse—which may even deliver venom-filled bites requiring a trip to urgent care. Taking the following steps and checking your unit to make sure it is tidy, can help.
Preventative Measures
Using Hard Plastic Storage Containers
Rodents’ incisors don’t have roots, so they never stop growing. Rats and mice constantly gnaw on semihard materials like wood, seed shells, and tree bark to grind their teeth down, so chewing through cardboard boxes in a storage unit is a cakewalk. Shield your documents, clothes, and other stored belongings from any unexpected rodents by packing them in airtight, hard plastic containers or keeping cardboard boxes elevated off the floor.
Never Leaving Food or Plants in Your Unit
Rodents’ other superpower is their sense of smell. Some rodent species can even detect land mines and diseases by scent. When you’re potentially facing a pest with such a powerful sniffer, it’s vital to keep even the tiniest bit of food out of your storage unit. Never store any kind of food, seed packets, or live plants, as they can all attract rodents. And save snacking for outside your unit and storage facility.
Covering Furniture in Plastic
If you store furniture like couches or armchairs, wrap them entirely—including their bottoms—in hard plastic. In addition to discouraging rats and mice from nesting inside them, the plastic will shield your furniture from dust and dirt while in storage.
Pest Control Tips for Insects and Spiders
There’s always the chance a stray spider or beetle wanders into your home, business, or storage unit, but you can prevent their presence from becoming a larger issue with simple but effective pest control tips.
We recommend using shelves and pallets to keep your belongings off the floor and out of the paths of pests like beetles and spiders. If you store larger items like a mattress or upholstered couch, wrap them in plastic for extra protection.
Ongoing Maintenance Tips
You can discourage pests by applying strong scents like peppermint, eucalyptus, and lavender in your storage unit. Try using cedar blocks or potpourri sachets rather than essential oil sprays, which can dry up and fade quickly. As a bonus, your stored belongings will smell fresh whenever you pull them out of their boxes.
The occasional sweeping of your storage unit has multiple pest-prevention benefits. Look around for any gnaw marks, webs, or droppings left behind by pests. Inspecting your unit during a thorough cleaning session can help you maintain a pest free environment and catch any existing signs of pests residing in your unit.
Enjoy Peace of Mind While Storing with Saf Keep Storage
At Saf Keep Storage, our tenant insurance includes pest preventative measures to help protect your belongings. Tenant insurance accounts for any unexpected events your unit may face, like pest issues and extreme weather events.
When you rent a storage unit with Saf Keep Storage, you can provide proof of your own insurance policy or sign up for our tenant insurance program for only $12 to $16 a month! We offer three levels of coverage to shield your property in cases of damage or loss.
The best thing you can do for your peace of mind is select a clean, well-maintained facility at Saf Keep Storage. Regardless of what you plan to store or for how long, we want you to confidently enjoy more space without worrying about pests. If you have any questions about our tenant insurance, contact a Saf Keep Storage facility near you or explore our helpful FAQ page today!
