Photo Credit: frankieleon
Maybe your musical career is a thing of the past, but you can’t bear the thought of parting with your instruments or you have instruments lying around that you want to pass along to your children someday. Whatever your reason, renting a Springfield self-storage unit can help keep your instruments in good condition.
You have to take extra caution when packing and storing your musical instruments, because it’s easy for them to become damaged. Below you’ll find a series of steps that will help you ensure the safety of your precious musical instruments.
1. Be Wary Of Weather
Heat, cold, and moisture are all enemies of your musical instruments. No matter where you’re storing your items all three will pose a threat.
Moisture can potentially warp the wood and extreme fluctuations in heat or cold will cause the wooden instruments to expand or contract. You have to be aware of this, especially if you have any old instruments, as they’re more vulnerable.
The best way to protect against these temperature and humidity fluctuations is to rent a climate controlled storage unit, if available, or use a humidifier in order to maintain a consistent humidity level.
2. Know Thy Instrument
Wooden instruments require more care than electric or brass instruments. As we mentioned above, wood instruments are much more susceptible to hot and humid conditions, as well as cold and dry conditions. Know what your instrument is made out of and adjust accordingly.
Pianos are a very vulnerable instrument, as they are made of a blend wood, metal, and ceramic. So, these components could shrink or expand depending on temperature and end up leaving the instrument unusable.
3. Store And Unpack Correctly
If you have the original cases for your instruments this will help to keep them in the best condition possible. When placing them in the storage unit store them off the ground and away from any doors or drafty areas.
If you have any stringed instruments consider releasing the string tension, this will help to stop the strings from breaking or warping the instrument.
If you’re storing a piano for a prolonged period of time wrap every component in padded material. If you have a baby grand piano they stay in best condition when stored on their sides.
Of course, the longer you store your instrument the more careful you should be when unpacking and removing it from your storage unit. Take your time and be careful. If you already put a lot of time and effort into storing them, then being patient with the unpacking process will ensure you don’t accidentally damage them.
If you’re looking for a Springfield storage unit in the Alexandria, Woodbridge, Springfield, and Northern Virginia areas, consider Gateway Storage. We love serving our local customers, small business owners, and veterans.
I didn’t know that baby grands should be stored at their sides. I’m assuming that the legs should also be removed before putting into the storage. Although I’m a bit skeptical about putting my piano in a storage, I’m glad that I have a better idea of what to do.
I agree that it is important to store your instruments away from drafty areas. It seems like a good idea to store your instruments in a climate controlled area to prevent them from damage from being too hot or too cold. It could prolong the life of your instrument to make careful arrangements for storage.
Thank you both for your comments! Storing valuable and sentimental items is always a challenge. We try to be as knowledgeable on the subject as possible.