The very first vacant staging contract my company was awarded also just happens to be the largest home we’ve staged to date. It won us two industry awards (unusual for a staging company’s first project), and got the sellers an offer in just 4 days for $94,000 over asking ($200,000 more than any of the comps that sold the same year in the same neighborhood).
In the end, we were all thrilled (my team as well as the sellers and their Realtor), but that project also took a pretty big toll on my health, causing me to lose several days of work afterward while I recovered. It also almost cost me two movers/assistants, who threatened to quit on me by the end of their first day on the job. Why? One word: HEAT.
We spent two and half days in late summer staging that house, which was three stories and had no air conditioning whatsoever. No central AC, no mini split units…. it didn’t even have ceiling fans in any of the rooms except for the breakfast nook on the bottom floor, where it was least needed. I required emergency medical care by the end of day three, and spent another three days on bed rest. In addition to the extreme fatigue and migraine headache the heat caused, my face broke out in a severe, ugly rash from wiping the sweat off of it so frequently with paper towels. It took days for the rash to heal, and several weeks for the redness to fade.
We were all literally dripping sweat all three days of that project. Not only does that make for a miserable crew and put all our health at risk, it puts my staging inventory at risk. For example, I don’t want anyone’s sweat dripping on my white upholstered furniture. Furthermore, one of the biggest issues we had was my movers inability to keep a firm grasp on the furniture while it was still covered in plastic and they were trying to unload and carry it into the house. We used four sofas for this house, and I’m pretty sure each one of them was dropped at least two or three times as the plastic they were covered in slipped through their sweaty palms and fingers.
Luckily, none of us and none of my inventory suffered any permanent damage, but I vowed to myself and to my crew that going forward I would reconsider taking on any projects in the summertime for a home that either a) isn’t equipped with air conditioning; or b) is owned or managed by someone who won’t allow us to use the air conditioning. Those times that I do agree to stage, I make sure we come well prepared, not just for the heat, but for other minor injuries and ailments that may arise.
Below are items we pack and take with us now. Most of these items come with us every time, but some of them only when the weather is warmer. The list includes items that help us stay cool, stay as comfortable as one can while laboring, prevent injuries, and treat minor injuries and ailments such as cuts, headaches, and muscle aches.
Cooling Aides
I’ll start with the items we bring with us to keep ourselves from overheating. If I’m asked to stage a house without air conditioning, and I feel the temperature will get so hot that these items won’t be enough, I simply decline to take the project.
Wireless, Rechargeable Neck Fans – These are amazing! I use them on job sites and when I’m working in the warehouse. They come with USB charging cords. I purchased one for each member of my team.
Cooling Neck Towels – The neck fans can get a little noisy, so some of my team members prefer these cooling towels instead. There have been days when I’ve used both at the same time.
Fans – Just keeping the air circulating in the house will help a lot. I purchased two of the model shown below and bring them with us on job sites if the outdoor temperature is expected to get over 70 degrees Fahrenheit. (It didn’t get above 85 degrees outside the three days that we were staging that 3-story house, but inside it felt like it was at least 100). These fans also come in handy in the warehouse on warmer days. They come with a mounting bracket if you want to keep one permanently at your warehouse, but I don’t use the bracket since I bring these to job sites with us. I just set them on the floor. Don’t forget to bring extension cords with you!
Water – We bring plenty of water with us no matter what the temperature will be. If you’re concerned about the environment, but you still want to provide filtered water, consider bringing jugs of filtered water instead of individual bottles. Then your team members can refill their own reusable bottles or insulated cups from the jugs. If you bring distilled water, which is drinkable, you can also use it to refill the water tanks on your fabric steamers. Distilled water is recommended for steamers to avoid the build-up of mineral deposits, which will shorten the life-span of the device.
Cooler – I prefer soft-sided coolers with wheels and handles.
Ice Packs – Not only can these be used to keep water and lunches cool, they might come in handy to treat an injury.
Or, instead of a cooler with ice packs, you could bring an insulated water dispenser like the Igloo model below. Or bring both and let each crew member decide if they want to bring the own refillable container or grab a plastic bottle from the cooler, which can also be used to keep lunches cool if anyone is bringing a packed lunch from home.
Electrolyte Powder – I purchase these in single-serving packets. The watermelon flavor is my personal favorite, but you can find these powders in many other flavors. Electrolytes can help stave off the headaches that come from being overheated and dehydrated.
I have yet to purchase a portable air conditioning unit like the one below, but it is something I’ve considered.
Aides to Make Moving Easier, More Efficient, & Safer
The following items are tools that not only make it easier for my crew to move things around, but some of these also make it possible for only one person to move an item rather than requiring two or more, increasing efficiency and saving me in payroll costs. These tools also help to prevent injuries and ensure my crew does not expend unnecessary energy, which keeps them cooler and helps them maintain the stamina needed to get through the day
Dollies – These can be used many ways. Sofas can be stored on them on end, making it easier to shuffle sofas around the warehouse. I also have some of my nightstands and cabinets on them for the same purpose. Stacks of bins can be placed on top of them and gently pushed from the packing area to the loading dock.
Hand Trucks – Be sure to get one that converts to a flat cart, which will make it even more versatile.
Laundry Carts – There are several different sizes of laundry carts that will make moving your inventory around the warehouse easier, and can be also be used to transport inventory like art, bedding, pillows, and more by simply rolling it on and off the truck. The extra large commercial sizes are very expensive and will take up a lot of space in your warehouse, but if you have the budget and room for them, they’re worth the investment, since you’ll be able to transport larger pieces of art. There are also smaller laundry carts available, like the one below, that are less expensive, take up less room, and are useful for transporting art up to 34″ wide.
Shoulder Straps – I purchased these at the request of my in-house movers. They like using these to load sofas on and off the truck or carry sofas up a staircase.
Gloves – These help to prevent plastic boxes and furniture wrapped in plastic from slipping through sweaty hands. Also, if they’re thick enough, they can help protect your crew from broken shards of glass if a glass tabletop breaks or shatters while they’re carrying it.
Back Braces – Encourage your team to use moving aids with wheels as much as possible to avoid heavy lifting, but also encourage them to wear back braces for when heavy lifting is unavoidable.
Steel Toe Shoes – These will help protect the toes from being crushed if someone drops a heavy piece of furniture on their foot.
More about shoes… What should you do if you’re ever asked to stage a house for a homeowner or Realtor who insists that your crew remove their shoes while your working in the house? For me, that’s a deal breaker, and I would decline to take the project. Not only do our feet need to be protected if we drop something on them, socks or disposable booties are too slippery and can cause falls. The booties/shoe covers are especially slippery when going up stairs, and even more so when going up stairs carrying heavy objects. So my recommendation is to explain the safety concerns to your prospective clients and see if they can be persuaded to let you and your team keep your shoes on. If they can’t be persuaded, decline the project. It’s not worth the risk of injuries.
First Aide Kit
Always bring a first aid kit to every staging installation and destage. Some of the items in this list could save a life, such as the tourniquets (again, consider the glass tabletops your crew might be required to carry around). Most of the items, however, are only included to treat minor injuries or ailments that aren’t life-threatening, but are still the types of things that will make us uncomfortable enough to slow us down. Not only am I concerned about how much the slower pace will add to my payroll costs, I genuinely don’t want any of my team members to be uncomfortable. Good employees are hard to find, so it’s important that we do what we can to keep them comfortable and happy. I will admit, though, that being an old lady in my late 50s, I need a lot of these things far more often than my younger crew members need them.
Adhesive Bandages in Assorted Sizes – We use these a lot more often than people who are not in this business might expect. Fingers sometimes get pinched when putting bed frames together, some of us get blisters… and I find myself bleeding from some random place and have no idea how I injured myself more often than I care to admit. I have one team member who has very dry chapped hands, which crack and bleed often. If I don’t have bandages readily available for the poor guy, he’ll bleed all over my bedding and white upholstered furniture. He feels terrible when this happens and avoids touching anything, which-again-slows down the whole process.
Wound Pads – For larger wounds when a band aide just isn’t enough. If a crew member gets a wound large enough to require these, you should probably send the home for the rest of the day, and maybe even encourage them to go to urgent care.
Tourniquets – If one of these is needed, it’s time to call an ambulance, but these will stop or slow down the bleeding until it arrives.
Sanitary Supplies
Last but not least, here are the sanitary necessities we always bring with us every time we stage or destage a house:
Toilet Paper – If the homeowner forbids us from using their toilets, or there isn’t any running water, that’s a deal breaker for me and I won’t take the job.
Liquid Hand Soap – Not just for washing our hands after we’ve used the toilet, but also before we touch any of the upholstered furniture after removing the plastic covers, which get really dirty in the warehouse and during transport. I buy a moisturizing formula because we wash our hands so frequently throughout the day, our hands start to get really dry.
Not necessarily a necessity, but convenient to have on hand: plastic cutlery for eating takeout during lunch breaks. I don’t purchase boxes of these just for this purpose. Instead, whenever my family orders takeout and we have extras of these that are individually wrapped, I toss them in the first aid kit that I bring to stages and destages.
If you have more suggestions for ways to keep yourself and your crew safe, cool, and comfortable while staging, let me know in the comments!