How to protect furniture from humidity, heat and termites in storage

Pakistan is hard on furniture. Lahore bakes in June, the monsoon soaks Punjab and Islamabad from July into September, and Karachi's sea air carries salt and moisture all year round. Furniture sitting in a storage unit for months goes through all of it. Knowing how to protect furniture from humidity, heat and termites is the difference between a sofa that comes back fresh and one that comes back smelling of a damp basement.

The good news is that most of the protection happens before the unit door closes, and none of it is expensive.

Why humidity does the damage

Wood, fabric, leather and paper all take in moisture from the air and give it back out again. When the air is humid for weeks at a time, that moisture has nowhere to go. Wood swells and joints loosen, veneers lift, fabric and mattresses start to smell, and given a little warmth, mould follows.

The monsoon is the danger period. A unit that has been perfectly dry since March can see its worst conditions in August. If you're storing through the summer, plan for it. The Pakistan Meteorological Department publishes the seasonal outlook each year, and it's a useful nudge on when to check on a long stay.

How to protect furniture from humidity before it goes in

Make sure everything is completely dry

This matters more than anything else on this page. A damp rug, a mattress collected on a rainy day, a fridge switched off that morning: each one brings its own moisture into a closed space. If something is even slightly damp, dry it in the sun for a day first.

Let it breathe

Plastic stretch wrap protects furniture on the truck. Left on for months, it seals moisture against the surface. Swap it for breathable furniture covers, cotton sheets or blankets once things are in the unit. Fabric and wood need air.

Keep it off the floor

Floors are the coolest surface in a building and the place moisture collects first. Stand wooden furniture, mattresses and boxes of paper on pallets or boards so air moves underneath.

Leave a gap at the walls

A few centimetres between furniture and the wall lets air circulate and stops a damp patch forming where a sofa back presses against concrete.

Heat: what it harms and what it doesn't

Heat on its own does less damage than people fear. Solid wood furniture, metal, ceramics and most appliances cope with a Pakistani summer perfectly well. The things that suffer are the sensitive ones:

• Candles, wax and some plastics soften and deform.
• Old photographs and documents curl and fade. Store them flat in sealed boxes, in the middle of the unit rather than against a wall.
• Musical instruments, especially stringed ones, are sensitive to heat and humidity together. Keep them in their hard cases and think hard about whether a long stay in any storage is right for them.
• Batteries leak in heat. Take them out of everything.

Our units are dry and ventilated, but we don't offer climate controlled or cold storage, and we'd rather tell you that now than after a booking. If something truly needs a fixed temperature, it shouldn't be in standard storage anywhere.

Termites and other pests

Termites are the quiet threat to wooden furniture in Pakistan. They don't arrive in a clean, pest controlled building on their own. They arrive inside the furniture you bring in. So the job is to make sure you're not carrying them in.

1. Inspect wooden pieces before packing. Look for fine powder near joints, small holes, or mud tracks. If you see any, have the piece treated before it goes anywhere.
2. Don't store firewood, old cardboard or cane furniture you haven't checked. These are favourite homes for insects.
3. Clean everything. Crumbs in a sofa or a kitchen cupboard attract cockroaches and ants.
4. Use new boxes where you can. Old cartons from a damp store room can carry eggs.

Our buildings are pest controlled as a matter of routine, which is one reason a unit is a safer place for furniture than a closed up house or a ground floor store room through the monsoon.

A city by city note

Karachi

Humidity here is high most of the year, not just in the monsoon, and the air near the coast carries salt. Pay extra attention to metal: give steel furniture and appliance bodies a light wipe with a protective spray, and keep leather well conditioned.

Lahore

The extremes are the issue: very dry heat in early summer, then heavy humidity from July. Things that go in during the dry months may face their first damp spell weeks later. Moisture absorbers earn their place here.

Islamabad and Rawalpindi

Milder than Lahore in summer, but the monsoon is long and heavy. The same rules apply, and a mid season check on a long stay is a good habit.

Questions about damp and pests

Is a storage unit drier than leaving furniture at home?

Usually, yes. A closed house through the monsoon has no one opening windows, running fans or noticing a leak. A dry, ventilated, pest controlled building with cameras and a guard is a far better place for furniture than an empty house with the doors locked for six months.

Should I cover furniture with plastic sheets to keep moisture out?

No. This is the most common mistake. Plastic doesn't keep moisture out, it keeps it in. Air that gets under the sheet can't get away again, and that's exactly the condition mould likes. Use cotton covers or old bedsheets instead.

What about mothballs and insect sprays?

Naphthalene balls in clothing and linen boxes help against moths, but keep them in a small cloth bag rather than loose, because they can mark fabric. Don't spray insecticide directly onto upholstery. For wooden furniture with any sign of termites, have it treated properly before storage rather than hoping a spray will do.

My furniture smells musty when it comes out. What now?

Air it in the shade with the windows open for a day or two, then in direct sun for a few hours if the material allows. Sprinkle baking soda on fabric, leave it overnight and vacuum it off. Most mild smells go within a week.

Checking on a long stay

If you're storing for a year or more, a visit after the monsoon is worth the trip. Open the covers, check for any smell, look at the floor under the pallets, and empty the moisture traps. We ask for 48 hours notice before a visit, and each one includes an hour on site.

For the packing side of all this, our guide on how to pack furniture for storage goes through it piece by piece. You can see how our buildings are run on the how it works page, and if you'd like a price, tell us what you're storing.