If you need to make a little extra room in your house for a few months, or if you are moving into a smaller house for a little while, you don't need to sell your piano. Instead, you can put it in a storage unit until you have more room in your house for it again. A piano can withstand a short stint in a storage unit if you prepared the piano properly. 

Find A Climate Controlled Storage Unit

The first thing you need to do is find a climate controlled storage unit from a place like Santa Barbara Mini Storage. Pianos can actually withstand the cold quite well. What can and does ruin pianos is excessive heat and humidity.

Excessive heat and humidity can cause the wood in your piano to swell and shrink. It can also the leather and felt parts of your piano to change size, which will affect how your piano plays. Extended exposure to humidity can even cause the metal parts on your piano to rust. That is why it is important to find a storage unit where you can control the heat and humidity levels. 

Make Sure The Unit Is Large Enough

You will want to rent a unit that is at least 5' x 8' x 10' or at least 8' x 8' x 6'. This will give you enough storage space, even if you have a grand piano. 

Polish Your Piano

Before you move your piano into the storage unit you rented, you need to get it ready for its big move. Wipe down all the keys and then polish them with an appropriate polish. 

Clean all the wood parts of your piano with a wood cleaner. You should also polish the wood in order to seal it and prevent moisture from damaging your piano while it is in storage. Do not forget about the piano bench; be sure to clean and polish it as well. 

Wrap It Up With Blankets

Do not wrap your piano up with plastic; plastic tends to hold in moisture. Instead, take a few soft blankets and wrap them around your piano. Secure them to your piano so they will stay in place when your piano is being moved into storage. Wrap up your piano bench as well

Don't Forget About Your Piano Accessories

Purchase either a plastic storage bin or a sturdy cardboard box for your piano accessories. Pack up all of your music books and make sure that the container you pack them in is well sealed. Take the box with you and keep it in the storage unit with your piano. That way, when you take your piano out of storage later, everything will be together in one place. 

Hire Someone To Help You Move Your Piano

You should never attempt to move your piano on your own. Enlist the help of a few friends to move your piano, or hire movers who specialize in pianos to transport your piano to your storage unit. 

You can move your piano as is, or you can crate it. When you crate your piano, you remove all of the piano legs and place the body of the piano inside of a crate. 

Store It Upright

Do not cram your storage unit with too many items. You want to have enough room so that you can store your piano upright on its feet. Storing your piano on its side is not how your piano was made to be placed. The hammers will become misaligned and storing your piano on its side may even cause the actions to warp.

Tune It After It Has Time To Adjust To The Storage Unit

Do not spend a lot of time tuning your piano before you move it. If you want to tune your piano, wait till it has had a few weeks to adjust to being in its new home. 

With a little care, your piano will make it through a stint in a storage unit. If it is going to be in the storage unit for an extended period of time, be sure to check up on it, tune it and keep it polished and in good working order. 

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