I need advice on storing bedding (ramble)

[Team Chaos]

Hello! I'm attempting to get my family moved in to the house we've lived in for nine years:/ I realized that we never really made a place for anything, rather things just kind of ended up wherever they ended up and stayed that way... maddening! Anyway, I have a lot of comforters, sheets and blankets and I've pared them down as severely as I'm willing to. I feel like it's better fiscally for me to make a place to safely store the ones I have left rather than rush to donate them and find myself needing/wanting bedding in the next year or so.
I've tried storing them in tupperwares under the bed and it's a nightmare- it's a pain to get to them, to rotate them, to make sure they get put away etc. I do not have a linen closet in the house, in fact closets are few and far between. I've put them on the upper rack of closets, but they end up on the floor eventually. What I'd like to do- although I'm willing to be talked out of it- is make a linen closet in the basement. Now, our basement has had several floods so I couldn't put it up against the wall or flat on the floor. I don't want everything to smell like basement, so I'd need a clever way of ensuring they wouldn't... nor would I want any basement creepy crawlies to take up living in our sheets! I've used so many kinds of blanket bags over the years that I definitely know the kinds that I do NOT trust but luckily I've still got a few of the "good" ones around. I'm thinking that if I put the bedding in blanket bags on deep cedar shelves and not in a flood range, it should work... maybe?

How do you store your bedding? What works or doesn't work for you? Is it the kiss of death to have bedding in a basement that isn't 100% dry?

(disclosure: I think I've convinced myself that if I can do a really, really great job of solving my bedding storage problem, the rest of the pressing issues on my organizational list will be cake. :lay)

 

[Hinotori]

We've been talking about getting some of those space bags for ours. Everything gets musty in our closets if it's been sitting a while. They are airtight so they should keep out water as well. Maybe put a sachet or a dryer sheet in with it when storing.

 

[moolie]

We don't have a lot of bedding, we use a bottom fitted sheet, duvet cover, pillow cases and duvet--no flat sheet). We have a very small linen closet that works for the duvet covers, sheets, pillow cases, and 8 bath towels/hand towels 12 face cloths we have. But we also have a basement guest room for which we have the same bedding and towels, and we just keep it all stacked on the dresser in that room.

What we have done in the past when we've lived in places that didn't have a linen closet was to use those fabric garment "shelves" (see photo below) that hang from the bar in a clothing closet, or use a cubby tower of shelves in a clothing closet--would either of those work for you in an existing closet?

 

[animalfarm]

I have the same problem.

We are building shelving around one end of the basement; its not the kind of basement you can live in. I plan to vacuum pack the winter blankets/sheet/clothes in those reusable storage bags made for hooking up to a vacuum cleaner and place them in rubbermaids if on the floor which could get wet or stack on shelves if there is space. Like you, I don't beleive its wise to get rid of things that I already have, that can replace items which I know will wear out over time. I might not be in a position to go shopping in the future and they will never be as "cheap" again.

 

[moxies_chickennuggets]

I use my cedar chest for storing the down comforters, an old dresser for the linens, and an antique buffet in the master bedroom for storing the thick stuff in that bedroom, for that bed. As I have no basement or attic, those storage places are not options. We also have no closets in this house.
Years ago, I had read to store extra blankets on the tops of unused beds, already laid out. I do that sometimes also.

 

[baymule]

I definately would not put them in the basement. It sounds like mildew in the making. I love your name, maybe a re-organizing of the entire house is in order. Is there something else you could put in the basement in order to make room in the house for your linens?

 

[Beekissed]

The vacuum sealed bags sound great and would condense them to a manageable size for storage.

Some folks just store them flat between mattresses and box springs of the various beds in the home.

I usually just throw mine in trash bags and put them in the attic or in the back of closets.

 

[Team Chaos]

Thank you for all your replies! I am currently weighing the options you've so generously provided but I had to chime in and let you guys know my experience with the vacuum bags: I had quite a respectable collection of vintage table linens. They were all washed and starched and carefully stored in the expensive infomercial vacuum bags- some bags hung on hangers so that I could access them easily, the holiday bags were put into a drawer w/ mothballs. Imagine my surprise when I pulled the bags out of the drawer and off the hangers only to find that mice had eaten their way in to each one and had destroyed everything in them! I've used vacuum bags successfully in other rooms of the house, but do NOT trust them to keep your things safe if there's any chance a mouse will happen upon them.

 

[~gd]

If you feed your mice better [peanut butter on a victor snap trap] they won't eat your linens. They might tear them up for nesting material. Sounds like you have a serious mouse infestation,

 

[Justme]

If it's mice that you are worried about then you're going to need a vault at least. I've had them go through tupaware and rubbermaid boxes and wooden boxes. Into cabinets and onto shelves and even through walls. Yea we had problems, there was a lot of construction and deforestation going on around us and apparently our home was the best replacement home for them. Gave up taking a bath for a while cause I could feel/hear them running under the tub.
~gd has the only answer for them -feed them well, they really do love pnut butter and be selective about the 'plate' you server it on.
One thing I have learned about storing anything long term- you should still inspect it at least seasonaly just to be sure everything is still in order. It's amazing how no matter how well packed things change when left for long unobserved. At least in my house it's that way. But maybe not everyone has "notme,idunno,nobody, and other unnamed gremlins living with them like I do.