How Do You Store Fragile Items Without Damage?

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June 20th, 2025

Use Bubble Wrap and Other Protective Materials

Fragile items need to be carefully protected when put into self-storage. Different fragile belongings will require unique packaging solutions and should be handled with care. Utilizing packing materials like packing paper, bubble wrap, and stretch wrap will help secure your fragile items from shifting between other packing materials. Foam sheets and inserts, felt dividers, and packing peanuts all provide stability around the fragile belongings. Handling a fragile item with care is important to ensure it safely makes it to your storage unit.

Storing fragile items involves a great deal of care to properly protect them. The storage solutions you choose are completely up to you. Assess the durability of your fragile items to determine what packing supplies are appropriate and how well they need to be secured. Apply additional padding and bubble wrap around the items to ensure their safety during moving and storing. While it may seem excessive to wrap belongings with multiple types of packing materials, protecting the fragile belongings is your main concern, so do what you feel is right!

Wrap Fragile Items Carefully

A key component to protecting fragile items when packing them is bubble wrap. Layers are another important step when you want to store fragile belongings safely. Wrapping your items in both bubble wrap and stretch wrap keeps them secure from moving while also providing a layer of protection from other belongings in the box. Ask any professional who handles fragile items and does shipping or packing, and they will tell you that adding additional layers of packing wrap is a key component to protecting your belongings. By adding additional layers of bubble wrap or plastic wrap, you’re providing an additional layer of protection. When you’re hiring professional movers who will be handling your fragile items every layer of protection counts!

Package and Store Fragile Items Correctly

Belongings that are brittle or hard can be easily damaged if not secured in the box. If not wrapped sufficiently they can move around, bumping into each other and other items within the box. In order to prevent this add additional layers of bubble wrap.

For extremely sensitive, fragile, valuable items, we recommend using two boxes. This is especially helpful during the moving process when these fragile items are being moved around over and over again. By adding packing material around one box and putting it inside a larger box, you are creating an extremely protective barrier. Drops, bumps, and jostling will be significantly mitigated by this method, and protect your fragile items from damage. This technique does take more time, effort, and material, so use discretion on which fragile belongings deserve this level of care.

Don’t Leave Empty Gaps

When packing up fragile items leaving empty gaps can lead to items getting broken. Anything fragile should be completely secured inside of the box. You can use additional packing material to close up these gaps and further secure your belongings. If you don’t want to use more packing materials you can also use pillows, towels, or other soft materials to fill in the gaps.

Preventing Delicate Items from Breaking in Storage

Making conscious decisions about where you’re storing fragile items is just as important as packing them into boxes. Come up with a plan for how you plan to store your belongings before arriving at the storage unit so you’re not left resorting to less-than-ideal methods. If using any shelving, reserve the lower shelves for boxes with fragile items so they’re less likely to sustain damage if they fall. If you don’t have shelves or enough ground space, be sure to avoid putting boxes on top of other boxes with fragile items in them. Instead, place boxes with fragile items on top of furniture with flat surfaces or top of other sturdy boxes.

Label & Store Fragile Items Intentionally

When storing fragile items in storage units, take the time to store everything correctly. Whether you’re moving or are simply storing items for other reasons, label your boxes properly. By labeling a box as fragile you can avoid accidentally damaging fragile items during moving. If you’re hiring movers this also gives them a clear identifier that the box contains fragile items and should be handled with additional care.

Selecting the right size box can help protect your fragile items. When packing up fragile personal effects, don’t add them to a large box filled with other belongings. Even with bubble wrap, soft padding, and a careful packing technique, fragile items are at a greater risk of sustaining damage in a larger box. By packing your fragile items in appropriately sized boxes, you can move them more carefully, avoid placing the boxes in harm's way, and make sure they’re placed in a safe spot when storing.

Storing boxes in storage units can be tricky. In order to properly store fragile boxes avoid putting them on the bottom of piles. As you stack more boxes on top of each other fragile items in the lower boxes can be broken from the pressure coming from above. By being intentional about box selection and how boxes are carried and stored you can minimize the possibility of fragile items getting broken.

Climate-Controlled Storage for Fragile Items

Some fragile items are more susceptible to moisture and temperature, which should be considered when renting a storage unit. Avoid the risk of any damage occurring when storing fragile items by choosing a storage unit with temperature and humidity control.

When storing fragile belongings, keep in mind the temperature conditions. Certain materials, like plastics, can accrue damage in high temperatures. Wood can become warped and cracked when exposed to heat for a long time. Certain fragile items like books, records, electronics, leather belongings, and other natural materials are all susceptible to humidity and moisture. Items like this should always be stored in climate-controlled buildings to protect them.

Awesome Possum offers climate-controlled storage units that regulate temperature and humidity so even precious, fragile items can be protected from the outside climate. Even our indoor storage units are accessible to our customers throughout the day and night, so you don’t have to compromise quality for convenience. Climate control is particularly important in regions that experience very high temperatures and humidity. Even when the temperature is comfortable, rainstorms can increase humidity and harm furniture and other fragile items.

Renting an Awesome Possum Storage Unit

Awesome Possum is located in Columbus, Ohio, and provides self-storage options for anyone looking to store personal items in Central Ohio. We provide a range of different-sized storage units to accommodate your exact needs. Our storage units come in either outdoor or climate-controlled options, so if you’re storing fragile items we can provide a temperature-controlled space. We offer 24-hour access, a gated facility, video surveillance, and more. Our office can provide additional information on our amenities and rental terms. Feel free to reach out during our business hours to learn more or to begin the process of renting an Awesome Possum storage unit.