How do you organize storage in a damp basement?

Hello everyone..

I also belong to those who have to deal with a damp basement.

My goal is not to get the moisture out of the basement, but rather to receive any practical tips on how to store various items in the damp basement despite the moisture.
I was thinking of airtight plastic bags for the clothes, or sealable boxes for larger items. What do you think? Does something like that work?

Thanks for your opinions.

pangio

Hello pangio,

in a damp cellar you can hardly store anything well, except for the types of fruits and vegetables that like it dark and damp and of course wine.

Storing clothes in sealed bags or containers/plastic boxes is practically hardly possible, as the moisture contained in the clothes will condense inside the container depending on the cellar temperature and leave a musty smell. We ourselves had such tightly closing plastic containers; it didn’t work in the cellar either. The books did not become unusable, but they visibly suffered; bed linen noticeably smelled like "cellar" (here too the condensation problem).

But the storage possibilities also depend on how damp the cellar is; if it is moisture diffusing from the walls and causing increased room humidity, water enters the cellar and evaporates...

With "usual" cellar dampness, you can influence the indoor climate by proper ventilation. In a cellar this means closing windows in summer so that the humid air does not come in, and ventilating now and then in winter because the then dry air carries away the room humidity of the cellar.

I cannot agree with my predecessor. I also live in an older house with a damp basement and can still store clothes and other items without any problem. The key is really to use tightly sealed plastic bags and to pack the textiles absolutely dry. It is best to lay them on the heater beforehand. Where no air exchange takes place, logically neither odor nor moisture can penetrate. All no problem. Otherwise, I would recommend ensuring ventilation all year round to reduce moisture.

Hello everyone, year-round ventilation would be of little help, as the climate, especially the room temperature, in the basement changes very slowly. If you ventilate in summer, the warm moist air will condense on the cool basement walls and stored items, causing dampness. Just try with which containers you can store which items; we ourselves only store clothing, shoes, and books in the attic, wine, beer, and sparkling wine in the basement.