What You Can’t Put Into Storage

There are some restrictions when it comes to putting items in a storage unit for health and safety reasons – not just for yourself, but for the wider public too. Storing certain items would be deemed dangerous, so it’s important to be aware about what cannot go into storage for your own peace of mind. 

Why Do Public Storage Restrictions Exist?

Like any other health and safety rules, they’re put in place for your own protection and convenience. As an individual who is renting a storage unit, you might believe that you can put any and all items in there, but this is not the case – and knowing what cannot go into storage can be helpful to avoid landing yourself in hot water. 

To make it easier for you, Cubic has listed some of the most common items that cannot go into storage, including the following: 

Animals/Pets

This one speaks for itself, you cannot leave live animals or pets in a storage unit, it isn’t safe for them. To leave any pet without food, water or fresh air is cruel and not only is it something that we don’t allow at our storage sites, but it is also illegal. Storage companies will not permit keeping pets in the enclosed space and putting them at risk. 

Perishable Food

There are a couple of reasons why we don’t allow perishable food into the storage unit, one of which is that when you take it back out it’s likely to have started to rot or gone mouldy during the time it’s kept locked away. The rule against keeping food in storage units is one that is often forgotten, but it is perhaps one of the most important in terms of cleanliness and the upkeep of your other items in storage. Mould can spread and it’s certainly something you don’t want finding its way onto your other items. Finally, food attracts rodents and bugs, the last thing you want when you reopen your storage unit is to find that it has been infested with all kinds of creatures and is now unusable. 

Live Plants

If you leave live plants in a storage unit without light, water and fresh air, they will die. When you’re putting them in a storage unit, consider whether you want to keep them, and if you do, either leave them with a friend or take them with you. Alternatively, you can plant them. Not only will they be dead when you open the storage unit, but also a dead plant doesn’t smell good, so the odour will spread to your other items in the unit. 

Stolen/Illegal Items

It goes without saying that stolen items shouldn’t go in your storage unit because frankly, it’s illegal. If any members of the team believe you have something in your storage unit which is stolen, the police will be called immediately. Once the police arrive, if it turns out that you do have stolen items in your storage unit you can be arrested and questioned. 

Hazardous Materials

Any items that pose a risk to anyone on site and any other  items stored are not allowed. Hazardous materials can include the likes of petrol, oil, cleaning solvents, acids and any and all flammable/combustible items. 

If you do need to store items like this, there are a number of sites that are legally able to hold these materials, but your average storage unit is not one of them. 

When putting items into your storage unit, if you’re unsure if something can be stored, you can always ask our team and we will advise you as best as we can. 

Valuables

We have 24-hour CCTV access and storage unit owners are the only ones with keys to their individual units, but you can never be too cautious. When it comes to storage we recommend that you only store household items and furniture, nothing of high value either financially or sentimentally. While Cubic does have impeccable measures to ensure maximum security, we would rather our customers remain cautious when it comes to placing items within the unit.