Whether you’re weighing up storage and want a straight answer before you commit, or you’re stood in the garage right now with something in your hands wondering if it can go in the van, here’s the actual list, plainly stated, from the people who enforce it.
Trying to store a car, caravan, motorhome, boat, trailer or tyres? No, no exceptions, skip to that section. Holding something with a battery or a tank of petrol in it? Jump to the prepare-first section before you load it. Got food, a pet, or something damp in the boot? Jump to the food or living-things sections. Just checking everyday household stuff is fine? It almost certainly is, jump to the confidence list.
The Short Answer: What You Can and Can’t Store With Wigwam
Items split into three groups. Never: vehicles and leisure transport, pets and animals, open fuel or gas, illegal or stolen goods, opened food, anything with a non-removable battery. Prepare first: petrol equipment drained, removable batteries taken out, damp goods fully dried. Store with confidence: furniture, clothing, bikes, seasonal items, books, boxed business stock, and most of what an ordinary household or small business actually needs to keep.
| Never | Prepare first | Store with confidence |
|---|---|---|
| Cars, caravans, motorhomes, boats, trailers, tyres, leisure transport | Petrol equipment, tank and carburettor run dry | Furniture, textiles, clothing |
| Pets, animals, plants | Removable lithium batteries, taken out | Clean, dry white goods |
| Open fuel, gas, fireworks, aerosols beyond household quantities | Damp goods, fully dried, not just mostly dry | Pedal bikes, seasonal items, fuel-free garden tools |
| Illegal, stolen or counterfeit goods | Sealed tins, discouraged, not formally banned | Sporting equipment, instruments, books, boxed business stock |
| Opened food, decaying items, household waste | ||
| Items with a non-removable lithium battery |
Vehicles, Caravans and Leisure Transport: Our One Absolute No
Wigwam units are for goods, not vehicles. We do not store cars, caravans, motorhomes, boats, trailers, tyres or any leisure transport. No exceptions.
Why we hold this line
Every unit is individually alarmed, and that policy exists to protect what’s stored around it as much as what’s inside it. A vehicle-sized exception undermines the whole reason the alarm and space allocation work the way they do. Units are also sized for household and business goods, not for the access routes, ventilation and drainage a vehicle bay actually needs.
What counts as leisure transport
Not just the obvious cars and caravans. Motorhomes, campervans, trailers of any kind, classic or project cars, motorbikes, quad bikes, jet skis and boats are all excluded, along with loose tyres stored on their own. If it’s registered, towed or ridden, it doesn’t come inside a unit.
What this means if you were hoping to store a vehicle
We don’t offer a vehicle storage product of any kind, at any of our 15 sites. If you have a genuine edge case, contact us directly rather than assuming from this list alone.
Living Things: No Pets, Animals or Plants
A storage unit isn’t a suitable environment for a living creature or a plant, and we won’t make an exception here. There’s no ventilation, light or temperature management built for anything living, and units are only checked when you visit, not daily. Fish, reptiles, houseplants and seedlings all fall under the same rule as pets, it’s about the environment, not the species.
Anything That Can Leak, Ignite or Give Off Fumes
Open or unsecured petrol, diesel and LPG, paint, solvents, pesticides, fireworks, and pressurised gas or aerosols beyond normal household quantities aren’t allowed.
Why this category exists
A locked, unmanned building full of individually alarmed units next to each other is not the place for anything that could leak or ignite unnoticed. This isn’t Wigwam being cautious for its own sake, it’s the same standard practice across UK self storage, because a fire or a chemical leak in one unit doesn’t stay contained to that unit.
Household products that are fine in normal quantities
Small, sealed, ordinary household chemicals aren’t the issue, it’s bulk or industrial quantities and anything unsecured that’s excluded.
Where petrol equipment fits
Petrol-powered tools aren’t banned outright, they’re prepare-first, provided the tank and carburettor are run dry. See the prepare-first section below for the exact steps.
Food, Perishables and Anything That Attracts Pests
Opened food, perishables, decaying items and household waste aren’t allowed. Food residue draws pests, and once they’re in one unit, they don’t stay in it.
Sealed tins and preserved food
Discouraged rather than formally banned, the same pest-attraction risk applies at a lower level, so it’s worth thinking twice rather than treated as a hard rule.
Illegal, Stolen or Counterfeit Goods
Illegal weapons, prohibited substances, counterfeit goods and stolen items aren’t allowed. This is standard, non-negotiable practice across UK self storage. Currency, deeds and other high-value documents that need bank-level security also don’t belong in a self storage unit, not because they’re prohibited outright, but because a storage unit isn’t built to be a safe.
What happens if something turns up that shouldn’t be there
If anything on this list is found during routine checks, Wigwam will contact you directly. Persistent or serious breaches, particularly illegal items, can end the storage agreement.
Prepare It First: Batteries, Petrol Equipment and Damp Goods
This is the genuinely useful middle category most lists skip, items that are allowed once one specific step is taken.
Lithium batteries: removable vs fixed
A lithium battery that can be removed from the item should be removed and kept elsewhere. If the battery can’t come out, the item can’t come in, a fixed, non-removable battery makes the item itself a fire risk. This covers the everyday items people don’t think of as battery-powered, cordless drills, laptops, power banks, e-readers, as well as the obvious ones like e-bikes and e-scooters. There’s also a cap on how many battery-containing devices you can store in one unit, more than five e-scooters or more than ten laptops needs to be discussed with the team first rather than assumed.
Petrol-powered equipment: run it dry first
Petrol-powered equipment must be run completely dry before storage. That means the tank emptied and the carburettor run clear.
Damp goods: fully dry, not just mostly dry
Recently cleaned furniture, camping gear and garden equipment need to be fully dried before packing, not just mostly dry. This is about your item being dry before it goes in, not a climate-controlled environment on our end, the real claim is clean, dry and secure.
If you’re not sure, ask before you load
Ask the team at Wigwam Self Storage Bath, or your nearest site, before you load anything borderline, rather than guessing.
Once everything on your list checks out, get a quote.
What You Can Store With Total Confidence, and Why You Can Trust This List
The everyday things that are always fine
Furniture, textiles and clothing. Clean, dry white goods. Pedal bikes, seasonal items, fuel-free garden tools. Sporting equipment, musical instruments, books, pictures, mirrors. Boxed business or retail stock and office equipment. Boxed documents and archives. This covers the vast majority of what a household move, a decluttering job or a small business’s overflow actually consists of. Most people checking this list are worrying unnecessarily about items that were always going to be fine.
Why the rules are this clear
Individually alarmed units mean the “no vehicles, no pets, no perishables” rules protect your neighbour’s belongings as much as your own. Unlimited access 6am to 10pm via smart entry means you can check, re-pack or remove a borderline item yourself at almost any hour, without booking an appointment. A deposit applies, with 14 days’ notice to end the agreement and a refund for any unused paid days, which is exactly why getting the prohibited-items check right before you book matters. Sites are unmanned, so the policy has to be clear enough for you to self-police confidently, if a delivery is involved, someone from your own side needs to be there.
See our contents protection page for what’s covered if something goes wrong.
Ready to book once your items check out? Get a price.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. We don’t store cars, caravans, motorhomes, boats, trailers, tyres or any leisure transport, no exceptions.
Only if the battery is removable, and it’s removed and stored separately. If it can’t come out, the item can’t come in.
Yes. The tank needs emptying and the carburettor run dry before it goes in.
No, opened or perishable food isn’t allowed. Sealed tins are discouraged rather than formally banned.
Contact us directly. It can also affect your contents protection, see our contents protection page for the detail.
It’s not formally banned, but a storage unit isn’t built as a safe. Bank-level security is a better fit for currency and irreplaceable documents.
Yes. More than five e-scooters or more than ten laptops in one unit needs a conversation with the team first, rather than being assumed fine.
