7 Halloween Storage Tips

Year after year, we take out our Halloween decorations—or get new ones—and decorate our homes and yards. But after the trick-or-treaters have gone and it’s time to take down the decorations, what’s the best way to store them?

Here are seven tips that will help:

1. Pick Your Packing Order

There are two ways to pack up your Halloween decorations. The first is by room. This works great if you plan to decorate each room the same way next year. The second is by item type. That’s the way to do it if you want to mix it up when Halloween season rolls around again.

2. Clean Yard Items

Before packing up and storing your Halloween decorations, make sure they are clean. This is especially true of any outdoor decorations, such as tombstones or scary characters. If the item is plastic, you should be able to clean it with water, a touch of dish soap, and a cleaning cloth or brush.

3. Take Care With Paper Decorations

A variety of Halloween decorations are made of thin cardboard. Fold these gently together and seal them individually in plastic wrap.

4. Don’t Keep Everything

Check if there are items from last year that you didn’t use. Do you think you’ll use them next year? If not, throw out, donate, or recycle them. Items made of paper plates or cups can be recycled or dumped, as they’re likely to get smooshed in storage. Also, throw out things like dried leaves, acorns, and pinecones. These aren’t generally allowed in self storage, and won’t keep well, anyway. Finally, remove the batteries from decorations that use them, as these can leak acid.

5. Use Plastic Bins

Use plastic bins to store your Halloween decorations instead of cardboard boxes. These will do a much better job of protecting your stuff from the elements while they’re in your storage unit. Yes, hot, humid weather, as well as cold, dry weather, can damage your decorations and other belongings. To be doubly safe, get a storage unit with climate control, which will keep temperature and humidity in check.

Want to be able to grab your Halloween decorations quickly next time? Get bins in seasonal colors. You could use black and orange for Halloween, red and green for Christmas, and so on.

6. Label Your Bins

While your bins will be color-coded, you should still label them by room or by decoration type. This will make it much easier to put them where they belong when you get them home next year.

7. Remember Thanksgiving

Remember those acorns and pine cones we told you to throw out? Well, maybe you don’t have to do that just yet. After all, Thanksgiving comes just weeks after Halloween. Unlike the skeletons and ghouls, those are appropriate throughout the fall season, as are pumpkins and other gourds.

Now, you’ll be able to keep your Halloween decorations in good shape and use them every year.