A.B. Richards is committed to helping you make your life easier and more organized. Our portable storage containers can help you do that and can be used for residential storage, commercial and industrial use or be placed on a construction site. You can store almost anything in one of our storage units. But you can’t store everything. There are certain items that you shouldn’t pack away because they can threaten your safety or health. So while we love being useful and seeing our portable storage containers filled up, A.B. Richards wants you to know what not to put in one of our units.
Don’t Store Flammable or Explosive Materials
There are several reasons why you might not be able to or shouldn’t put an item in a storage container. One big category to avoid is anything that’s flammable or explosive. You don’t want to pack gasoline, motor oil, diesel, or kerosene into your storage unit because they are obviously highly combustible. But there are other materials that are considered common household items that you should also be careful of storing.
The website Safe Bee warns that items such as nail polish remover, which contains acetone and rubbing alcohol which is often responsible for fires that should also be handled carefully. Fire officials told the website that flammable and combustible liquids don’t catch fire themselves but the vapors they give off do go up in flames.
Other common household items to watch out for include aerosol cans, cigarette lighter fluid, paint thinner, and turpentine, while certain cleaning products can also be dangerous.
Other Dangerous Items
Then there are items that have the potential to be explosive. Things like car batteries, oxygen tanks, fertilizers, fireworks and propane tanks shouldn’t be kept in portable storage containers. Another category of items you should avoid storing are hazardous materials like ammonia, dark room chemicals, swimming pool chemicals, bleach, and pesticides. If these chemicals were to leak and mix together, it could create a dangerous, toxic situation.
In addition to concerns about combustible, explosive and hazardous materials, another common sense category of things not to store are perishable materials. Foods, particularly frozen or refrigerated items, will spoil quickly, while any food coming from open containers will also turn. Even canned goods don’t have an infinite shelf life. It also goes without saying that living things don’t do well in storage so you shouldn’t use your unit to keep plants or animals. You also shouldn’t store firearms or other weapons, illegal items like drugs and drug paraphernalia and unregistered cars, trucks, trailers RV’s and boats. If a person enters a storage container, they do have to leave. Remember that A.B. Richards portable storage units are rentals and can’t be re-purposed into another structure like a garage or office space.
A.B. Richards Keeps the Items You Do Store Safe and Secure
As a renter, our customers have to make individual decisions about whether to keep important papers or valuables inside their portable storage units. They aren’t bank vaults, but at the same time, A.B. Richards containers are sturdy. They’re made out of 14-guage steel, the units have two large doors which are secure, weather resistant and lockable. They are big enough and tough enough to handle your storage needs as long as you use common sense.
If you have a need for extra storage at your home or work site, we can help. We’ll deliver your unit to where you need it and pick it up at no extra charge. Contact A.B. Richards today.