Organizing My Storage Unit

If you have a sizable collection of pottery that you need to store in a self-storage facility, first prepare the pieces carefully to prevent damage. The exact preparation method depends on the type of pottery you have, but there are a few common ones. Here are the most important preparation measures that you shouldn't miss.

Clean Them Thoroughly

Most items need to be cleaned before storage, and pottery is no exception. Apart from being fragile, pottery is also delicate and can easily be damaged by foreign matter such as dust. The exact method of cleaning depends on the type of pottery you have.

For example, lukewarm, soapy water works well for glazed pottery while dusting is good enough for unglazed pottery. Avoid bleach; bleaching products contain acid, which damages pottery's finishes. Dry your pottery with a soft cloth; sun drying can cause damage by making the pottery more fragile or by discoloring them. Of course, you also have to be extremely gentle while handling the pottery.

 Wrap Them Up

Once your pottery is clean and dry, you need to wrap them up for storage. Ideally, you should have enough wrapping material to wrap up each piece individually to reduce the risk of different pieces knocking together and breaking. Again, stay clear of acid-containing wrapping materials such as newspaper. Suitable wrapping materials include soft cloth (such as linen). You can follow that up by wrapping the pieces again in bubble wrap; that should be enough to keep your pottery safe during transportation and storage.

Pack Them Up In Suitable Boxes

Once your pottery is property wrapped up, you can then pack them up in suitably sized boxes. Each large pottery piece should be placed in its own box, and the space left should just be enough to accommodate packing materials and nothing else. Here, again, you will need more bubble wrap; place a couple of layers of bubble wrap on the bottom of the box, place the pottery inside, and then fill any space left with foam peanuts. Smaller pieces of pottery can be stored more than one per box, just leave spaces between individual pieces within the box; use peanut form to fill up those spaces.

The above precautions will protect your pottery as long as it is stored where it cannot be disturbed by vibrations or any other kind of physical shock. Just look for a secure self-storage facility and your pottery will be safe for the duration of storage. For more information, check out websites like http://www.sentryministorage.com.