What is and is not Safe to Store in the Attic

Whether you have a small crawl space or a large full size attic, it can be a space of extra storage for you. You must be careful of what you store in there, however, because the conditions may ruin certain things. It will be somewhat dependent on the weather conditions in your area. For instance, if you live in a very hot area where the temperatures soars then you may have to be more cautious than if you live in a more temperature area.
You can store items that are non-porous and do not biodegrade, according to Real Simple Home and Lifestyle Network. For instance, if you have glass items that you do not use, this can stay in the attic. Many metals will also do okay as will items that are made of ceramic. Cooking or serving items you do not use often may fall into this category. Many people use their attics in order to store seasonal items such as Christmas tree decorations.
It may be easiest to consider what you cannot store in an attic to decide what is safe. Wood items can form rot because of the humidity, thus you should try to keep these out of the attic if possible. Also, leather and fabric items can be affected by that and may end up being unusable when they come out.
It is very important to never put photographs in the attic. They are likely to deteriorate, and you will lose your precious memories. General papers can also succumb to the difficult conditions. Things with ivory, hair and other natural items may also far poorly.
No matter what you put into the attic, it is vital to pack everything correctly. You can use airtight bags that can be resealed to make them last longer. They make many plastic containers that can be stacked together and which stack on top of each other to give you the most room. Even something that is big and bulky like a Christmas tree should be covered. You can buy extremely large bags for large items.
One rule is that you might not want to store something in the attic that is extremely valuable to you, especially if it is old, suggests Allison Carter, a professional organizer from Atlanta. You can never say for sure how something will react to the difficult conditions and you may not want to take a chance. Remember that in addition to the weather, the items will be exposed to humidity and insects. Otherwise the above objects are usually acceptable to store there.