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Guide to Summer Gear Storage

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As the sun-soaked days of summer fade on the horizon, they leave behind the simple joy of outdoor pursuits, from pedalling along scenic trails, to setting up camp, or gliding gracefully atop shimmering waters—summer gifts us with a multitude of cherished experiences.

Whether you are a biker, camper, or paddler, summer gives us great pleasure. All these wonderful activities lead to an accumulation of outdoor gear. What is your plan for storing it during the off-season?

In this guide, we delve into preserving these cherished adventures—cleaning, organizing, and storing your summer gear. It’s a journey that involves not just safeguarding your possessions but also ensuring that the magic of summer continues for years to come.

Summer Gear Storage Tips:

  1. Clean Your Equipment

After every summer adventure, it’s essential to clean your equipment thoroughly. Use warm water and mild soap to cleanse your gear, including tents and sleeping bags. Removing any dirt and ensuring they’re completely dry before storage is vital, particularly for preventing mold and mildew.

  1. Choose the Right Storage Containers

Long-term storage of tents and sleeping bags should be in breathable mesh bags or cotton bags like old pillowcases. Loosely fold these items for long-term storage instead of tightly rolling them. This allows airflow, preventing mold and mildew growth. Remember, compressing a sleeping bag for extended periods can damage its fill.

  1. Organize Smaller Items

Store smaller items like flashlights, matches, eating utensils, plates, cookware, and more in clear storage containers. This way, you can easily identify and access them when needed.

  1. Organize Water Gear

Choose a large container to hold wetsuits, life jackets, water shoes, and other water gear. This ensures they’re kept together and protected during the off-season.

  1. Follow Manufacturer Recommendations for Watercraft Storage

Store paddle boards, canoes and kayaks indoors so the winter weather will not degrade fiberglass, plastic, fabric or specially-coated wood hulls.

 

Pro Tip: keep a checklist stored with your equipment so you don’t forget anything for your camping trips. Your list should include all items you will typically want to bring along.

Many of our clients store their summer gear in the garage or a spare closet so they can quickly pack up the car for a weekend getaway. But if these items are filling your halls and other living spaces self storage is an option that comes in many sizes to accommodate these items in the colder months.

Call us now at Medicine Hat Storage where we prioritize your storage needs — 1-877-415-6576

Should You Store Jewelry and Other Valuables in Self Storage?

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Where should you be keeping your jewelry

Should you leave valuables like jewelry in a storage unit?

Self-storage is great for household items and non-perishable business stock and equipment, but resist the
temptation to store valuables like jewelry in your unit. Self-storage isn’t a substitute for a vault of safety
deposit box. While self-storage facilities do have security, no security system is completely impervious to
professional thieves. Further your insurance and that of the self-storage operator may not cover valuable
jewelry left in a self-storage unit.
Also consider that jewelry and other collectables often require a special environment to help maintain
their condition. Jewelry, for example, is delicate and needs to be stored where the temperature does not
fluctuate. Temperature fluctuations can cause jewelry to become brittle and warp.
Self storage facilities are also not impervious to things like fires, flooding and tornadoes that can damage
irreplaceable valuables. Safety deposit boxes, however, are designed to withstand these natural disasters.
For these reasons, you are better off keeping jewelry and other collectables in a fire proof safe or safety
deposit box.

Safety deposit box and jewelry

Keeping jewelry in a bank deposit box

At the very least store your jewelry in a secure location that is climate-controlled and can
provide protection against theft, pests, moisture, and other environmental hazards.
Pro Tip for storing jewelry: pack your jewelry in its original boxes or other soft containers to protect
them from scratches so these valuable retain their value for years to come.

 

If you are looking for more updates and information about storage and SGA as a business, you should check out our Linkedin page

Pro Tips for Spring Cleaning

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Tips for Spring Cleaning

Pro Tips for Spring Cleaning

Spring Cleaning on Your Mind?

But Where to Start?

Experts say spring cleaning has several benefits — a clean home can improve your health and make you
happier. But were to start? Decluttering is the first step, but can be a daunting task. Here are a few
decluttering tricks from the staff at Medicine Hat Storage to help you get started.
1) Start by decluttering small spaces like a drawer or cabinet and as you gain confidence tackle
bigger spaces.
2) Set yourself up for success by tidying your home slowly in short, manageable spurts. For
example, aim to spend 20 minutes cleaning each day instead of doing it for an entire day or over
a weekend.
3) Honor your natural pace by cleaning as you go about your day. This can look like doing the
dishes immediately after cooking dinner or decluttering your closet while you put away your
laundry.
Do you have a sentimental attachment to items? As such, the thought of decluttering
your possessions may feel overwhelming. Here are some tricks to help you come to terms
with letting go of some belongings:
1) Try the one in, one out rule. This principle is simple yet surprisingly effective: For every new item
you bring into your home, something you already own must go.
2) Use the inverted decluttering technique coined by author Gretchen Rubin in her book “Outer
Order, Inner Calm.” Instead of focusing on items you want to keep, identify the worst or least
useful things you own. You’ll find clarity and satisfaction in singling out what no longer serves
you.

Lady in sunlight

Pro Tips for Spring Cleaning

3) Take a cue from author Emily Ley and ask yourself if an item is the best, favourite or necessary.
This will encourage you to ditch duplicates, hold on to the necessities, and appreciate the
fabulous stuff you already own.
4) Ask yourself if your possessions spark joy. Popularized by Japanese decluttering expert Marie
Kondo this strategy will help you evaluate whether to keep an item or get rid of it based on how
it makes you feel.
5) Use a cut-and-dry trick like the “90/90” rule. Coined by Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan
Nicodemus of The Minimalists, with this rule you to ask yourself two questions: Have you used it
in the past 90 days? If not, will you use it in the next 90 days? If you answer “no” to both
questions, it’s time to let it go – gift it, donate it, or through it out.
What tip works to get you started on a decluttering or cleaning spree? Share those tips on our Facebook page

Pro Tips for Moving and Storing

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The trailer or back of the truck typically isn’t the warmest place on a cold day and definitely not ideal for your fragile items or electronics. The transition from a warm to a cold environment can cause things to break. If you are going to move or store anything fragile or any electronics, be sure they are well wrapped in something that is going to keep them from breaking and offer some insulation.

Here are some other dos and don’t for moving in the cold:

Do Protect Items from the Cold

Extreme temperatures can make certain items more susceptible to damage. Make sure to use extra wrapping, bubble wrap, thick towels or blankets to protect breakable items and electronics. Remember that containers with liquids can freeze so avoid putting them in the back of the moving truck or into a storage unit. Things like electronics are fine being stored cold as long as you let them cool down and warm up gradually. Consider taking these items with you in the cab of the vehicle to ensure they arrive safely. We have a great video on YouTube on using packing supplies for your breakables.

Do Chose Cardboard Boxes Over Plastic Totes

Everyone loves plastic totes, but there are some drawbacks to using them especially during colder months. Plastic becomes slippery and brittle in the cold making it more susceptible to sliding and falling. And when it hits the ground, it breaks. Cardboard on the other hand has insulating properties for your breakables and its surface doesn’t change during cold weather. This makes it a safer choice for stacking and storing your belongings during the winter.

 

Do Seal Your Boxes with Packing Tape Instead of Masking Tape

Some adhesives get brittle and lose their stickiness in the cold and this is especially true of masking tape. Packing tape once applied to the box won’t release when it gets cold so you don’t have to worry about the box breaking open.

Don’t Pack at the Last Minute

Leaving packing and cleaning to the last minute can make the moving day more chaotic for everyone involved. The sooner you can get things organized, the easier and faster it will be on the moving day.  A great tip is to declutter well before a move if that’s possible. Our YouTube video of one of our SGA members decluttering a closet is a good one.

Do Make Sure Walkways are Clear of Ice and Snow

We make sure that our yards and the entry way to all storage units is free and clear of ice and snow for your safety. You should do the same at home before you start removing boxes from your home. It hurts to slip and fall, never mind having a box land on top of you.

Don’t Move in the Dark

Night comes early during the Canadian winter and moving in the dark can be unsafe for you and your belongings. Try to work out your schedule so you are moving earlier in the day while it’s still light outside. Please also keep in mind that while our yards are lit at night the insides of storage units are not.

Have a safe move and make sure to bring something warm to drink. If you need to warm up you are welcome to stop by the office. We have someone onsite during the day Monday to Saturday.

Storage Tetris – How to Pack A Storage Unit

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Tetris is great for storage

Tetris – How to Pack a Storage Unit

How do you play? you ask. Well, we’re going to try to explain the best we can.

First rule in this game: When you rent a storage unit remember to get the right size. Too small or too large will mean your belongings don’t fit or you will wind up paying for empty space. A quick tip hear is to use our storage calculator.

Pro tip: Once you have rented the right sized storage unit put a plastic drop sheet on the floor to protect your belongings from moisture that can come up through concrete floors or underneath the roll up door.

Now it’s time to start packing your unit: Placing items like furniture and appliances should be considered first. The best way to play Storage Tetris is to put appliances and large furniture like couches against the far back wall first. Take the backs off loveseats and chairs (if they are designed to do so). This makes it so these furnishings can be stacked.

Once you have those heavier items along the back wall of your storage unit it’s now time to place things like mattresses along the side walls.

Pro tip: put your mattress in mattress bags to protect them from damage during storage.

Place bigger heavier totes or boxes just inside where the mattresses are leaning against the wall. Next stack lighter weighted boxes onto of the larger ones. A nice blog we found explains more do’s and don’ts of Self Storage.

Pro tip: to keep everyone accessing the storage unit safe only stack things as high as the shortest person can safely reach.

Work toward the center of the unit flowing forward. Remember to put items you will not be needing toward the back and items you will frequently need toward the front of the storage unit. As in the game of Tetris, fill gaps with similar shaped items to create tight stacks that maximize the space. Shelving units can be used to store boxes.  This also helps free up the floor space for more awkward shaped items. We found a moving company named “You Move Me’ and found a great blog for you.

Pro tip: make sure to leave yourself a center isle.

Pro tip: Try not to place cardboard boxes near the front of the unit as rain and/or snow can leak in.  Once you’ve got the unit loaded cover as much as you can with a dust cover to keep it clean and ready to use.

Now you are ready to pack and store your belongings successfully. Remember heavy items at the back along with items you won’t need any time soon and lighter or frequently needed items at the front. Final step is to move in. We made it easy for you.

Earth Day

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Earth day is coming April 22 and amid all the chaos of the past few years we wanted to put the focus back on the future of our families and our community here at Medicine Hat Storage. After all the way we treat the environment now will affect future generations. 

 

A planet that is growing warmer each year isn’t good for any living thing. We can’t become complacent to this threat to the world, so Medicine Hat Storage has focused on offering only moving boxes made from recycled material and going paperless in our office. Below are just a few positive effects this action has on our community and the world.

 

Protects trees (our shield against CO2)

Trees are considered carbon sinks. Trees lock away carbon dioxide in the wood, roots, and leaves. “This locking-up process ‘stores’ carbon as wood and not as an available ‘greenhouse’ gas. Trees are imperative to earths survival so it is beneficial to protect them as best we can.” Steve Nix forestry expert on  .

 

Reduces paper waste

According to , in 2022, paper mills will produce about 500 million tons of paper and cardboard. Paper waste produces pollution which is toxic to air, water, and soil. Paper is produced by using chlorine-based bleaches so when paper rots in the landfill Methane gas gets released. This gas is worse than CO2. Using products made with recycled products and going paperless significantly reduces paper waste and in turn reduces the amount of toxic gasses entering our atmosphere.

 

Saves water

The amount of water used to produce one piece of paper is 10 litres. The less paper we use in our office, the less of the life-giving resource is wasted.

 

How is your family or business being environmentally conscious? We’d love to hear your ideas so that we all can do a little better to help our home — planet Earth.

Moving During A Pandemic

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Packing and moving can be difficult at the best of times, but moving during a pandemic creates a whole new set of challenges. If you have to move you and your moving company should put health and safety first. We suggest you call your moving company to discuss your options and they should help you plan as safe (and seamless) a move as possible. This may include: Read more

Seller’s Remorse

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Kids, grandma is moving in. It will be so great to have her living here.

Jill speaking to husband – John: What are we going to do with all of mom’s belongings? It won’t fit in the house and she has so much.

John speaking to Mother-in-law – Ethel: Why don’t we have a garage sale before you move. Jill and I can help, and of course Cathy and Cindy being teenagers can also help. This will teach them how to negotiate. Read more

Wrapping, Joyful Or Not

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With Christmas so close, the wrapping paper starts coming out. Who does the work making these boxes with ribbons and bows look so beautiful? We asked our management team who gets wrapping detail at their home.  Read more

What To Expect Your First Time

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What to Expect Your First Time
It’s your first time renting a storage unit and you want everything to go right. Problem is – you’ve never
done this before and you are not really sure what is involved. Here’s some advice from someone on the
inside…..
Before you arrive at the storage facility it’s a good idea to ask what methods of payment they accept.
Also ask if you are eligible for any discounts (senior, student, etc.) and be prepared to show id as proof
of eligibility. At the least you will have to pay for your first month’s rent and buy a lock for your unit. If
the facility you chose requires a damage deposit, admin fee, charges for a gate fob or supplies the lock
the amount will vary. Either way you have to pay for the use of the unit in advance.  Read more