To store books in a storage unit without damaging them, you should:
- Pick a reliable storage unit.
- Clean and prepare books.
- Buy packing materials.
- Pack books with care.
- Protect antique books.
- Label boxes.
Pick a Reliable Storage Unit
The best place to store your books is in a dry and secure purpose-built storage unit. This will keep your books out of direct light and in the correct climate.
We’ve written a full guide on how to pick a storage unit, but our general advice is that you pick a storage space with excellent reviews. Google Reviews are a great indicator of how trustworthy storage facilities are.
We’ve included some of our 5* reviews on our website and below, if you need an idea of what your storage and removals team should offer.
Our years of delivering 5* service is reflected in our excellent reviews.
Clean and Prepare Books
First and foremost, inspect your books for food and liquid damage. If there are crumbs or residue left inside them it can cause long-term damage, so clean this out before you store.
When you’ve done this, give your other books a dust and a careful clean. The cleaner your books go into storage, the cleaner they’ll come out. If you’ve got books with dirty edges that you’re not sure how to clean, we found this video really helpful.
Hold off on cleaning antique books though: they might require a specialist clean depending on their value.
Buy Packing Materials
Purchase some good packing materials. A stable and strong triple board box sealed with sticky tape will make a sound structure for your books.
A strong plastic box will also do the trick, as long as it is clean and dried out. You can line it with a cloth if you’d like an extra protective layer.
Pack Books with Care
Before putting your books into storage, carefully wrap them in paper or cloth. This will help to protect your collection from any damage caused by dirt or dust. Never wrap books in plastic bags, plastic wrap or foil though, as this can damage the books over time.
If your books have dust jackets, keep them on. They help to protect the cover from any cracks or rips.
When packing the books, make sure the box is dry and only fill it 1/2 – 3/4 full. With the remaining space, we’d recommend packing something light on top. This could be a duvet or soft pillow – which doubles up as another layer of protection.
It is also a good idea to pack the heaviest books on the bottom, so smaller books don’t get squashed.
Protect Antique Books
As you’d expect, antique books (or otherwise sentimental and fragile books) require extra care when preparing them for storage.
You’ll want to wrap each individual book with paper or cloth and bubble wrap, and place them uniform in a secure box. You can also put a piece of card between each book, if you’re looking for extra protection.
As above, you’ll then need to put them in a box that is 1/2 – 3/4 full, and then pack the rest with light items. This should be something soft that doubles up as a protective barrier.
If you follow these steps, your books should keep in great condition and maintain their original shape. At Falconer Removals, we’ve been delivering an antiques removals service for over 100 years, so we understand the importance of your treasured antiques – and how to ensure no damage is done.
Label Boxes
You can never go wrong labelling your boxes. If you’re storing lots of books, we’d recommend arranging and labelling them in alphabetical order. This means that when you retrieve your books, you’ll know exactly which books and collections are where.
To find out more about our reliable storage and removals services, contact us here.
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Written by Holly Charman, for Falconer Removals and Storage.
