# Be careful how you store things in totes



## angie_nrs (Jul 26, 2017)

I just wanted to share one of my experiences so that anyone else out there who has limited space and has to utilize many totes to store things in doesn't make the same mistake I did.

This week I had a lot of spare time so I decided to go through my totes, re-organize, and update as needed. A year or two ago, I was looking for something and noticed some mold on the inside of one of my stacked totes. I dug it out and opened it up. It was one of my medical boxes that I had hydrogen peroxide and alcohol stored in along with bandages, splints, gauze, and a myriad of other supplies. The brown hydrogen peroxide bottle failed in the corner and slowly leaked into the tote. In case your wondering......yes, it will turn to mold. Everything in the box reeked. I was able to save some things but had to toss a lot of what was in there. It was a painful lesson. 

Moral of the story......do not stock any liquids with dry goods in the same tote!

I just thought of this today b/c I thought I had taken care of all my other totes in not mixing liquids with dry goods. Nope, still found 2 boxes that had both. I had a lot of valuable stuff in one of them so I would have been so bummed if there had been a problem. Luckily the liquids I had stored were intact and everything was fine. But, since I know what can happen I have a tote specifically for medical liquids and try to store like liquids together in the same containers. It's tempting to store things in the logical order in which you think you would need to use them (like betadine, gauze, gloves, sutures, dressings, tape) but don't do it if you want to keep your dry goods dry.


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## Sentry18 (Aug 5, 2012)

Well, at least you found it now instead of some possible point down the road when the stuff could not be replaced. Now I have some totes to go inspect.


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## JayJay (Nov 23, 2010)

I use ziplok bags for liquid volumes like this. Especially in things like BOBs.
Better safe than sorry.


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## bugoutbob (Nov 11, 2012)

I think my liquids are all in Zip-Loc's but I think I will take a run through just to double check. Sorry about your loss but I appreciate you sharing about the loss with us, it keeps us thinking. We learn when others do things correctly and when they do them wrong. That is one of the beautiful things about this forum


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## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

I am doing a reorganization so this is good info to have


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## VoorTrekker (Oct 7, 2012)

The theory of strategic storage is that items are not stored according to logical order, but logistical order. Dry goods food, dry goods liquid, chemicals dry, chemicals liquid, soaps, hygiene items, etc. Just make sure that the items are not reactive to each other or there may be more than mold!!

Use a clinic shelf, lunch shelf, etc. for unloading from strategic storage into the pantry.


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## Wikkador (Oct 22, 2014)

you should expect liquids to leak... its not rocket science. Mitigate the issue with a freezer bag or something similar and be done with it. Check periodically


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## pissant (Dec 4, 2017)

Hydrogen peroxide has a limited shelf life. It turns to water.


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## FrankW (Mar 10, 2012)

pissant said:


> Hydrogen peroxide has a limited shelf life. It turns to water.


You are essentially correct.
However it can take a while and it helps to have it properly sealed. Same with Hypochlorite solutions


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## oldasrocks (Jun 30, 2012)

Just don't store your Clorox and Ajax in the same box. Nasty way to die if they mix by accident.


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