Self storage can be a god send at many times in your life: when you need space during a house move, when you’ve inherited more items than you can fit in your house, or the seasons have changed and you don’t have the room to properly store your garden furniture. 

However, when choosing a storage unit it’s important to know that there are many things you won’t be able to store, and this will change slightly depending on your storage provider.

The full list of prohibited items can generally be found in the agreement you sign with your storage facility. However, there are some things that you can be confident you won’t be able to store, no matter which facility you choose to go with. 

Flammable Materials

Flammable materials pose an obvious risk to a self storage facility so you won’t be allowed to store them in your unit. 

In this case a flammable material doesn’t mean anything that can catch fire, as you can still store clothes in your storage unit. However, if it easily catches fire, or will explode when caught on fire, then 

Things included in the category of flammable materials are (not an exhaustive list): 

• Petrol
• Oil
• Camping gas
• Cleaning solvents
• Fireworks

Hazardous Products

There is a lot of overlap between hazardous products and flammable materials mentioned above, but much of it is just down to simple common sense. If the product could pose a risk to the site, especially if there is a fire, then it is not allowed. 

Hazardous products could include: 

• Asbestos
• Radioactive material
• Chemicals
• Waste products

Perishable Food Items

You can often store tinned food items (but you might want to check with your storage unit provider first). Anything else that will spoil is a big no-no, as this will attract pests. Given that no one wants to come back to their storage unit to find a pile of rotting food, this is unlikely something you would do on purpose. 

For this reason it’s important to make sure you haven’t accidentally left food in any of your boxes / bags. 

Anything Living

This includes plants, fungi, and animals. We wish it didn’t have to be said, but a storage unit is not a place for pets, and would be a cruel place to store any animal, even if your pet normally lives in the dark and can go days without eating. 

As for plants, these will often die if left in a storage unit, and will also attract pests. The soil in a plant can attract moisture as well, leading to mould and mildew. So even if you’re storing pots that used to hold a plant, it’s a good idea to make sure all the soil is out of the pot, and the pot has been washed. 

Illegal / Stolen Property

This is common sense, but you’ll still find it in the agreement of every storage facility. If you don’t legally own something, you can’t store it. 

This is the case for drugs, and smuggled items, but also anything you may have stolen no matter how valuable it is. 

This is not an exhaustive list of the things that you can’t store, but more of a general guideline. You can always find out the full list for your specific storage facility by checking the agreement you signed, or by getting in touch with the facility themselves. 

If you have any questions about whether you can store a particular item with Lock Stock then don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.