How to Store a Dresser

When you need to put furniture in storage, one of the more confusing dilemmas is how to move and store your dresser. How do you get it onto the dolly and into your storage unit without the drawers opening? Once it’s in your unit, how do you keep it protected from gathering tons of dust or taking other damage?

Fortunately, there is a simple solution, and it does not involve taking out the drawers and moving them separately. Aside from the moving truck and dolly, you’ll need a 72x80 moving pad and some huge rubber bands. You’ll also want a couple of bungee cords to keep the dresser in place on the dolly and in the truck.

The Best Way to Protect Your Dresser

We believe the best way to protect your dresser is to wrap a moving pad around it. This has several advantages. First, it will keep the drawers from shifting while you load it onto the moving truck and into storage. Second, it will protect your dresser from dust and potential pests while in your storage unit.

Putting the moving pad into place can be a bit tricky. Basically, you’ll fold the pad over the top, front, and sizes of the dresser. Think of it like wrapping a present, but the wrapping paper will only cover the top, front, and sides of the box, not the back or bottom. With a standard-sized dresser, about 5 feet tall by 2 ½ feet wide, use large rubber bands to secure the moving pad in place.

When we say large rubber bands, we mean it. We’re not talking about the kind that go around newspapers. We’re talking about furniture bands, or rubber moving bands, which range from 26 to 42”. Put one around the top, one around the middle, and one around the bottom of the padded dresser.

And yes, while we’re likening putting the moving pad in place to wrapping a present, we want to discourage you from using packing tape. Rubber moving bands are safer for both your furniture and your moving pads.

In the Truck

With the dresser wrapped, wedge the base of the dolly under one of the dresser’s sides, carefully tip the dolly and dresser back and push it to the moving truck and up the ramp. You may want to use a bungee cord to secure the dresser to the dolly.

Inside the truck, put the back of the dresser against one of the walls and use the bungee cords to secure it to the wall.

At Storage

At your storage unit, unhook the dresser from the truck wall and use the dolly with it the same way you did at home. Here, of course, you’ll bring it carefully, backward, down the ramp and roll it into your unit.

Inside storage, we suggest you put the dresser on another moving pad to protect it from the cold floor.

Climate Control

When you sign up for a storage unit, you may wonder if climate control is necessary. That’s always up to you. However, unless you live in a temperate area where the weather stays between about 50 and 80 degrees year-round, and where it rarely if ever gets humid or dry, then your belongings will remain in much better shape if you get a climate-controlled unit.

This goes for dressers and other furniture as well. Cold, dry weather can cause the wood to crack, and hot, humid weather can cause it to get damp and soft or to grow mold.

Now you should have no trouble moving your dresser to storage and ensuring it stays in good shape while there. For tips on how to prepare other household items for storage, check out the many articles in our blog.