The coldness and dampness in the attic can damage many different materials, and this means you might have a few things that, realistically, shouldn’t actually be there! If you have any of these items up in your attic right now, it’s time to find another place for them.
Leather Items
Heat, water damage, and even moths are enemies of leather, according to Southern Living. These three things are commonly found in attics and can cause havoc to any of your leather items. It’s best to move them out of your own attic before it’s too late… unless it is already!
Electronics
Electrical items, like computers and old game consoles, should not be kept in the attic. The temperature of the attic can exceed safe operating ranges for electronics, which can damage their internal components. Plus, humidity can lead to corrosion and short circuits.
Important Documents
Paper can often also be ruined by the heat and humidity (as well as the dampness) of your attic. So, any documents that you might need in the future will be best off in a filing cabinet elsewhere in your home.
Books
For the same reason as the important documents, books need to be kept elsewhere. You might find yourself being unable to read one of your favorite stories one day if you leave your books in an attic. What’s worse is that pages can stick together – a reader’s worst nightmare.
Wooden Furniture
Wood has been known to warp or crack when it’s subjected to fluctuating temperatures. Not only that, it can grow mold if it becomes damp from humidity, plus pests can infest the wood and damage it further. That’s a recipe for disaster for your old furniture.
Clothing
Heat and humidity in your attic are likely to cause the fabric of your clothing to fade and weaken. This means that it will lose its color and structure, and if you leave it for long enough, it may become completely unwearable.
Photographs
Real Living tells us that the fluctuating temperatures of your attic can cause film photographs to wear out and lose their color, often to the point that the image disappears altogether. It’s always best to keep them under the bed or in a closet somewhere instead.
Artwork
The paint and the canvas of your works of art are likely to get damaged by heat and humidity. As well as this, the wood behind the canvas (if that’s the style of art you have) can be damaged in any of the ways that we’ve already looked at.
Canned Goods
Believe it or not, high-temperature fluctuation can actually cause old cans to burst open if you leave them in the attic. Even if this doesn’t happen, heat will cause the food inside the cans to spoil more quickly. So, it’s best not to eat anything from cans that have been sitting in an attic.
Fire Extinguishers
It’s important to make sure that any fire extinguishers you own are looked after so that if and when you ever come to use them, they’re actually going to work. If impacted by attic conditions, that might not be so likely.
Medications
Apparently, the humid conditions of your attic and the variations in temperatures can reduce the effectiveness of your medications. Homes & Gardens says that, for these reasons, it’s best to keep them somewhere in the house where you know they’re going to stay effective.
Cosmetics
Heat can cause makeup products to melt and separate, making them useless and quite probably harmful to your skin over time. Humidity in an attic can also lead to mold growth in natural or preservative-free formulas. That’s not good news all around!
Art Supplies
If you consider yourself to be an artist (or if you did once upon a time but are taking a hiatus and leaving your art supplies in an attic), make sure to keep crayons, paints, and flues somewhere dry and temperature-regulated. All of these things can get damaged over time.
Batteries
Intercel Services describes how batteries’ capacity can decrease substantially when subjected to high levels of heat over a period of time. If you want your batteries to be as efficient as they were when you first purchased them, you’ll want to find another home for them.
Wool and Natural Fibers
Wool and natural fiber is a lovely home for pests such as moths and beetles. Both of these will be obsessed with the natural fibers, and you’ll find that they’ll quickly ruin them. Humidity can also cause wool to rot and mildew.
Cardboard Boxes
This one might seem obvious, but many of us still keep cardboard boxes in our attics despite the fact that they’re very prone to collecting moisture, which can cause them to collapse. If you have to keep them up there, it’s best to wrap them in plastic.
Delicate Fabrics
Any kind of delicate fabric like silk or satin can shrink or fade if you leave it in the intense temperature environment of your attic. And that’s not the only threat, as the humidity can also cause mold and mildew, which may ruin your fabric altogether.
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