Yes for framed prints, posters and everyday pictures. Ask us first about originals, because our terms bar "items which are unique in nature" (clause 18(j)). To store framed pictures long term, tape the glass, cover the front, protect the corners, and stand them upright on edge, off the floor, never stacked flat or sealed airtight in plastic. Everything is stored at your own risk and must be insured for its replacement value; if a loss is our fault, our liability is capped at £100 in total.
Prints, originals and our rule on unique items
Clause 18(j) bars "items which are unique in nature and/or where the value to You cannot be assessed on a financial basis": an item that is unique, or whose value to you can't be put in money, or both. Our blog on what you can and can't store lists "books, pictures, mirrors" among ordinary household things you can store. How we read that together:
| What you have | Can it go in the unit? |
|---|---|
| Posters, reproductions and mass-produced framed prints | Yes. They have a shop price and could be replaced |
| Everyday mirrors, and framed photos you have copies of (including family photos) | Yes |
| Antique or gilt-framed mirrors | Ask us first, as for originals |
| Signed or limited-edition prints | Ask us first, with the edition details and what you paid |
| One-off originals: oils, acrylics, watercolours, drawings, whatever they cost | Ask us first (see the note below) |
| Pictures whose value to you "cannot be assessed on a financial basis": a painted family portrait, a child's drawing | Ask us first (see the note below) |
Our terms don't say whether an original, including an artist's own priced stock, counts as "unique in nature", and our Contents Protection page lists "High-value items requiring specialized storage" as not permitted without saying where high-value begins. So tell us how many works there are and their value, and we'll answer before you book. Our blog is also candid: "For museum-quality pieces or anything irreplaceable, specialist art storage is the right answer", and "We do not offer specialist art storage or climate-regulated facilities". If you're an executor with pictures of unknown value, our guide for executors suggests that for artwork, "a professional valuation for probate purposes is worth arranging before the contents move". Our page on storing valuables explains clause 18(j) in full.
Is it safe to store paintings in a storage unit?
Our units are clean, dry and secure, and a well-packed picture can be stored in one. Know what they aren't, though. They aren't heated or cooled, and our blog says plainly: "There is no climate control in a self-storage unit." The risks that matter are damp, knocks and weight.
Damp is the main one for paper. The National Archives' care leaflet says mould and the brown spots called foxing grow "when the humidity is high", and it advises against "damp cellars and uninsulated attics". So only store pictures that are completely dry, and don't wrap anything that's been rained on during the move. For condensation and container units, see whether units get cold in winter.
Oil or acrylic versus watercolour and works on paper
| Oils and acrylics on canvas | Watercolours, prints, drawings on paper | |
|---|---|---|
| Main risk | Dents or tears to the canvas; wrapping sticking to the paint | Damp, which brings mould and foxing |
| Front covering if unglazed | Glassine or silicone release paper (see step 2), nothing pressing on it, card between each painting and the next | Usually framed under glass; if unframed, acid-free folders |
| How to store | Upright on edge, nothing pressing on the back of the canvas | Framed: upright on edge. Unframed: flat in a box, off the floor |
The Canadian Conservation Institute's handling note warns against pressing on an unframed canvas. Golden Artist Colors, a paint maker, writing about acrylics, says it's "always best to avoid allowing anything to touch the paint surface", and that under weight or pressure, even better papers can stick to paint. So never stack anything against a painting's face. The Conservation Institute adds that glazing on a painting "will help buffer the painting against fluctuations in humidity".
For paper, unframed prints and drawings are the one thing to keep flat. The National Archives advises acid-free folders or a box resting "horizontally", and says "Plastic sleeves are not suitable". Raise that box off the floor too, on a pallet or blocks. Pastels and charcoal can smudge with the slightest pressure, and the leaflet suggests you "could consider keeping them permanently framed".
How to store framed pictures long term
Steps 1 to 4 follow the National Gallery Singapore's guide to packing a painting for the move.
- Glass first. Put glass tape across the glass, so that if it breaks, the shards are held together and kept off the picture. Then wrap the front in acid-free tissue. For acrylic glazing, skip the tape and use the tissue alone.
- Then the front. For an unglazed painting, oil or acrylic, lay glassine or silicone release paper over the front (acrylics only once fully cured, per Golden). You'll get glassine from an art supplier or framer. A sheet of card over the front adds a barrier.
- Then the corners. The Singapore guide uses cardboard corner protectors; our own suggestion is foam corners, which guard against knocks: our Box Shop's foam corner protectors (£3.49 a box) are sold for "furniture, picture frames, mirrors, and any items with vulnerable edges". When you carry a picture, the Conservation Institute says "Never carry a painting by its hanging wire, by the top of its frame or by any one side alone. Frames are most vulnerable at their corner joints."
- Wrap the frame in bubble wrap for the move (a 750mm by 25m roll is £14.99 in our Box Shop).
- Stand them upright on edge. Never stack framed pictures flat, where the weight rests on the glass and canvas below. The Conservation Institute says paintings "must be supported at least 7–10 cm (3–4 in.) above the floor", so stand them on padded blocks or a pallet. It calls leaning paintings against a wall "not recommended as a storage strategy", mainly because they get knocked and rub together, and treats it as a temporary method. In a unit, where you'll be leaning them, follow its advice: the largest at the back, a sheet of card slightly larger than the pictures between each one, and "No more than four to five paintings" together, with ornate frames facing outward. Our own advice: don't lean anything against the stack.
For months in the unit, don't leave a picture sealed airtight in plastic. Golden, writing about rolled canvases wrapped in plastic for shipping, says "this is for shipping only", because "moisture can be trapped in the plastic and if the painting isn't completely cured, it can retain the rolled shape". The Conservation Institute does describe sealing paintings in polyethylene for storage, but in collection stores it expects to be "environmentally controlled", which our units aren't. Once they're stood in the unit, open the bubble wrap so air can get in, keep the corner protectors and card on, and put a breathable cover such as a cotton sheet or our furniture blanket (£5.00) over the stack.
How big a unit you need depends on how many pictures you have and their sizes, so tell us both when you book and we'll suggest one. For a short stay, such as a refit, our FAQ on the minimum term says "2 weeks is our minimum term".
Insurance and the £100 cap
Clause 30 says your goods "are stored at Your sole risk and responsibility", and where a loss results from our negligence or breach of contract, "Our liability will be limited to the sum of £100 in total". That's £100 for everything in the unit, not per picture, so insurance is what protects your art. But not against everything: our climate control blog says "Atmospheric and climatic damage is excluded under the RSA Self Storage Customers’ Goods policy that customers can take out through us." So damp from the air comes down to how you pack. See whether contents protection covers damp and mould.
Clause 31 requires your goods to be insured "for their Replacement Value (as set out on the Cover Sheet)", and the total in the unit must not exceed the insured value. Our Contents Protection covers the value you state "as new" (clause 48), and we don't value your goods for you. A print has a new price; for an original, ask us how to state its value, and see how to calculate a full replacement value. Before relying on either our cover or your own policy for art, check for any single-item limit (ask us for the Summary of Insurance), and that your own policy covers goods at a storage site. Our guide to how much contents cover you need shows how to add it up.
If you're an artist, gallery or framer
Your stock is original work, so start with the note under the first table. The unit is for storage only (clause 22), not a studio or gallery address. Clause 18(f) bars "any item that emits fumes, or odours", so a painting still giving off paint or solvent smell can't go in until it no longer does; paint and solvents themselves are banned by clause 18(c) (see can I store paint). If the works belong to the artists, clause 1(c) lets you store them as someone "entitled at law to deal with them in accordance with all aspects of this Agreement as agent for the owner", and clause 31 still requires that "the Goods remain adequately insured by You at all times for their Replacement Value". Easels, stretchers, empty frames, plinths and display screens are ordinary goods. For rolled works kept for months, ask a paintings conservator, and keep them out of sealed plastic.
Ready to book? Find your nearest site, get a price online, or call 0800 2545585 and tell us about any originals. If your pictures are already in your unit, lift them off the floor and stand any flat-stacked ones on edge on your next visit.
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