Alright, let’s have a real chat. You know that feeling when you walk outside in August and it feels like you’re breathing through a wet sock? Yeah. That’s our special brand of Arkansas weather. It makes everything green and gorgeous, but I’ll tell you what, it’s pure misery on anything you’ve got tucked away in storage.

I’ve seen it a hundred times. Folks pull a perfectly good wicker chair out of their garage and it’s practically crumbling in their hands. Or they open a box of winter clothes that now smells like a locker room. It’s a gut punch. You work hard for your things, and to see them get wrecked by the air itself is just plain wrong.

But after years of running our storage units here, my team and I have learned a thing or twenty about fighting the damp. This isn’t from a manual. This is from hauling boxes, talking to customers, and seeing what works and what turns into a science project.

Know What You’re Up Against First

That humidity isn’t just uncomfortable. It’s water. Tiny, invisible droplets floating around, just waiting for a cool, quiet place to settle down and ruin your day. Your leather couch? Perfect. That cardboard box full of old letters? Even better.

This is what happens next:

• Mold and Mildew: The fuzzy, smelly stuff that shows up overnight. It loves fabric and paper.
• Rust: Your tools, your bike chain, the legs of your grill. That orange crust is a death sentence for metal.
• Warping: Wood soaks up that moisture and swells. Doors won’t shut, drawers get stuck, tables get wobbly.
• The Smell: Oh, that smell. That old, damp, basement smell. Once it’s in something, it’s almost impossible to get out.

So, how do you fight back? You get smart about it.

Your number one, most important job: Build a moat

Okay, not a real moat. A moisture moat. Those flimsy cardboard boxes you get for free from the grocery store? They’re useless here. They might as well be made of sponge. You gotta invest in some solid plastic totes—the kind with the lids that click shut all the way around. They’re your castle walls. If you absolutely have to use a cardboard box, for heaven’s sake, don’t let it touch the floor. Ever.

Your secret weapon: DampRid

You can get it at any hardware store. It’s just a bucket of crystals that suck the water right out of the air. It’s wild. You just pop the lid off and stick a few around your storage space. For inside your plastic bins, save those little “Do Not Eat” packets that come in new shoes and purses. Toss a bunch in with your photo albums or important papers. They’re tiny moisture magnets.

Don’t suffocate your stuff

When you’re packing your unit, don’t be a perfectionist. Don’t try to cram every single inch full. You need air to move. Stagnant air is wet air. Leave a little space between your stuff and the wall. If you can, make a little path to walk down the middle. This lets the air circulate and keeps things dry.

Get it up off the ground. All of it

I don’t care if you’re using our fancy units or your own shed. Concrete floors sweat. When the hot, wet air outside hits that cool concrete, it turns into water. That water will creep right into your boxes. It’s the easiest problem to fix. Use pallets. Use 2x4s. Use cinderblocks. Use anything. Just get a barrier between your stuff and the floor. This one tip will save you more than anything else.

A few quick things for specific stuff

• Wood furniture: Wipe it down with some Old English or a good furniture polish first. It gives it a little protective coating. If you can, take the legs off a table so it doesn’t get stressed and warp. Cover it with an old sheet, not a plastic tarp. Plastic traps condensation and makes it worse.
• Clothes: Get them out of those plastic dry-cleaning bags immediately. They’ll turn yellow and nasty. A plastic tote is way better, or even a old pillowcase.
• Tools: Give them a quick wipe with a rag that has a little bit of WD-40 or motor oil on it. It keeps the rust away.

Now, I’ll be straight with you. Doing all of this in a regular storage unit or your garage is work. And sometimes, even if you do everything right, our summer just wins.

That’s the whole reason we built climate-controlled units. It’s not just air conditioning. It’s a whole system that fights the humidity for you, 24/7. It keeps the air inside our units as dry and steady as a spring day, no matter what it’s doing outside.

Final Thought

It’s the easy button. You just load your stuff in and stop worrying. Your grandma’s quilt, your kid’s baby clothes, your good tools—they’re safe. We handle the rest.

But whether you use our place or your own, I hope this helps. Don’t let the swamp air win.

If you’ve got your own trick for fighting the damp, come tell me about it. I’m always at the office, and I love learning new stuff. We’re all in this together.