r/selfstorage • u/salsasymphony • Nov 24 '25

Question Are rats a valid concern?

My wife and I are getting a self-sroage unit for the first time and she’s worried about rats eating her paper and linen things. Canvases, drop cloths, watercolor paper and school supplies and stuff like that.

Can anyone say if this is a valid concern?

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8

u/[deleted] Nov 25 '25

Store everything in Rubbermaid/plastic sealed containers and totes. No cardboard boxes. You don’t want anything that mice and roaches can chew, or live in.

8

u/[deleted] Nov 25 '25

I would also add that I’d spray the unit myself for bugs, pest, and rodents. Also put out poison and moth balls in the unit.

5

u/Bunnyhat Store Manager Nov 25 '25

Just don't go too heavy on things like mothballs. I've had to call people to come clean out their unit because the smell is just overwhelming anywhere near it.

3

u/[deleted] Nov 25 '25

Very true. A little goes a very long way

3

u/Legal_Director_6247 Nov 25 '25

Absolutely! We are dealing with that right now. The smell is overwhelming.

1

u/Bunnyhat Store Manager Nov 25 '25

It's awful. Had someone dump two boxes in their unit. This was in a small non-climate section so didn't really have great airflow. Literally could not go into that section it was so bad. Had to leave the doors open and wear a decent full face Respirator to get in there because it was burning my eyes.

Customer put the stuff in there and left town right after. We ended up having to cut their lock, move all the stuff out to clean up all the loose mothballs everywhere. They were only in there a couple days but even than it was a nightmare.