In addition to housing your vehicle, many of you would agree that garages serve a variety of other purposes.
It can also be used as a place to store items that you don't want taking up space in the main part of your home but don't use frequently either.
This is everything from trash to hand tools to broken appliances to old furniture.
Additionally, your garage door improves the aesthetic value of your home's exterior. When you pull into or out of your driveway, passersby and neighbours will get a glimpse of the contents of your garage.
Thus, it is only required that you clean and organise your home garage.
Maintaining order and freeing up valuable storage space requires regular garage cleaning.
With more open space and less clutter, a clean garage can reduce the risk of accidents and vehicle damage.
Cockroaches, mice, dust mites, and other household pests can all be kept at bay by keeping your garage neat and trash-free.
Tips for Cleaning and Organizing Your Garage With Ease
1. Declutter the Ground and Tables
Clear the clutter from the floor before you do anything else. It will be challenging to inspect every nook and cranny if there are many boxes and miscellaneous items lying around.
The first step is to get the boxes off the floor, regardless of whether or not they are permanent garage fixtures.
Later, when you have more time, you can go through and organise the items you truly wish to keep.
Putting up shelves in your garage is a great solution if you're constantly tripping over things because there's nowhere to put them.
This can help you make the most of the available vertical space and tuck away the mess.
Keep in mind that you'll want to clean your tables thoroughly before putting anything back on them, so you should do the same.
It is recommended to place all items on the driveway outside for later sorting.
2. Clean All Surfaces
After picking up all the loose items from the floor and clearing off the tables, it's time to clean the garage.
At first, you must sweep and vacuum the area. Ensure that you cover not only the floor and tables, but also the walls and ceiling. Cobwebs can be removed in this way.
The walls should be cleaned next. Prepare a solution of water and bleach, using the same ratio for both, and use it to scrub and disinfect the area.
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It's recommended to wipe the walls down with the solution, wait 30 minutes, and then scrub it clean for the best results.
As a mould treatment, this is top-notch. A table can be cleaned with this mixture as well.
Scrubbing the floor is the final step. In order to make a cleaning solution, combine hot water and laundry detergent.
In this way, even the most stubborn floor stains will be gone.
3. Sort Through Everything
Give the garage some time to air out now that you've finished cleaning it. Now is a good time to go through all of the things you have stored outside.
Separate the items into those to be kept, those to be sold, those to be donated, and those to be discarded.
You can further categorise the items you decide to keep after sorting them into the first four piles.
When it comes time to reorganise your garage, this will come in handy.
You can use trash cans or plastic storage containers for the remaining three heaps.
You could take pictures of the "sell" pile in the driveway while the lighting is good and put them online.
So you can add pictures to your listings without digging through a box or bag to find the item again.
4. Divide and Conquer
You should section off your clean garage into various areas before restocking it with necessary items.
You'll be able to keep it cleaner for longer and more easily find what you need.
This means you won't have to devote as much time to cleaning your garage as you once did.
Do you recall how you organised your stuff into various bins? It's up to you to decide where exactly they should go now.
Toys for children, for instance, will need to be stored at a low level so that kids can reach them.
Put the rest of your stuff in the garage in a way that makes it easy to get to and that also takes into account how often you use each item.
Put the power drill you use most often in the front and the hammer drill you use only occasionally in the back.
Perhaps it would be helpful to label these "zones" so that everyone in the household is on the same page with your approach to organisation.
After all, not everyone shares your exact viewpoint.
5. Put in Shelves, Hooks, and More
After determining where everything goes, it's time to make room for it. Useful tools for this purpose include shelves, boxes, hooks, and wall tracks.
This will not only help you make the most of your space, but it will also make things look much more organised.
Put in the necessary hardware, and then you can begin putting things back where they belong.
Having a clear picture in your head is not a guarantee of success, so be prepared to make some changes.
But with some experimentation, you'll find the best spot for every item, and your garage will be neat and orderly in no time.
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6. Clear Out the Clutter
Pick and choose what goes into the garage.
If it's separated from the rest of the house, it can become a dumping ground for things that don't have a specific place in the house.
Similar to how you would organise a closet, here is how to declutter your garage: Set up storage for everything that needs to stay in the garage after you've decided what you'll keep, what will be sold or donated, and what will be thrown away.
Things that we don't need but feel guilty getting rid of or are unmotivated to properly dispose of often find their way into the garage.
Get in touch with your neighborhood's rubbish removal service if you need help disposing of large items or have questions about recycling household chemicals.
7. Create Zones
After deciding what you'll be keeping in the garage, divide it up into zones based on the types of items you'll be storing there.
Car supplies, sports gear, holiday decorations, gardening tools, and home improvement materials are just some of the things that could have their own dedicated spaces.
You can avoid having to look all over the house for things like Christmas decorations and car soap.
8. Get Vertical
If you plan to use your garage for its intended purpose and store two cars inside, you'll need to maximise vertical space because most two-car garages aren't very deep or wide.
Put those tall walls to good use by installing shelves or hooks all the way up to the ceiling.
Garages can benefit greatly from a wall of pegboard that extends from floor to ceiling, as it allows for infinite customization of storage solutions via the placement of hooks and shelves.
Tools like brooms, rakes, shovels, and saws can all be stored on hooks.
9. Be Careful What You Store in Your Garage and How It’s Stored
Cleaning out your garage may reveal some items that have no business being there. Some are harmful, and some invite unwanted pests into your home. Here are some things that you definitely shouldn't keep in your garage:
- Animals may be drawn to a home if food or canned goods are stored inside. Additionally, it raises the possibility that the food will spoil.
- Having a second refrigerator is a waste of space and money because it consumes so much energy.
- Paint: it dries out and becomes useless.
- Explosion risk with propane or gas.
- In terms of electronics, the extremes of temperature can render them useless.
- The natural fibres of linens make ideal hiding places for insects and mites.
You should properly store the items that can be kept in your garage. If you leave your bike or tools lying around, someone is bound to trip over them or damage them in some other way.
Additionally, they are a waste of room.
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The point is to come up with clever solutions for stowing away items in the garage.
Try to find shelving and storage units that can be mounted on the walls.
Put your tools on the wall where they'll be out of the way and simple to access.
Consider using the roof for storage as well.
Storage solutions exist for securing items to the ceiling of a garage, effectively doubling the amount of storage space available.
10. Take Care of Your Garage Floor
The garage floor is vulnerable to a variety of hazards, such as oil leaks and cracks caused by the weight of your vehicle.
Since they connect the indoors to the outdoors, they are also prone to collecting a lot of dirt and dust. Here, we'll demonstrate how to thoroughly scrub your storage area's concrete floor.
To begin, sweep the floor to collect any loose debris. After you've taken everything out, give it a good washing with soap and water.
If you do this, your floor will shine like new.
If your floor is made of concrete, check for and repair any cracks. Assuming there are, you must address them immediately.
Similarly, oil can be absorbed by concrete, leaving a stain on your floor if there is a spill. You can learn more about how to get rid of oil stains on concrete by reading our dedicated article on the subject.
The garage floor doesn't have to be a concrete slab; there are a variety of low-maintenance options. In the case of epoxy, oil can easily be wiped away. It's incredibly simple to maintain and looks gorgeous while doing so.
Concrete can be disguised with floor mats, which are also useful in other situations.
There is a wide variety of forms, each with its own set of features and price point.
It's an excellent strategy for protecting the base of your garage from the elements. Furthermore, you can simply take them outside and rinse them off, making cleanup a breeze.
11. Paint Any Parts of the Walls That Need a Touch Up
To achieve this, you should take care of the garage's walls so that they look their best.
There's a good chance you're wondering what the best method is for cleaning the walls in your garage.
It's not as hard as you might imagine. Start by dusting and wiping them down.
After a good cleaning, the walls may reveal scuffs or paint chips that weren't visible before.
This means you'll have to repaint and possibly repair sections of your garage's walls.
Choose carefully; if you don't, the need to repaint will be glaring and the result will look terrible.
12. Use These Tips to Make Cleaning out the Garage Easier
Our garage cleaning advice will make clearing out the garage a lot less of a hassle.
To make it more manageable, you can avoid accumulating any unnecessary clutter.
The best option, however, is to hire a professional cleaning service to deal with this issue. That way, they'll be able to take care of everything and you won't have to.
Learning how to clean the inside and outside of your garage is simple. The exterior of your garage can boost your home's kerb appeal, while the interior can be used in a variety of ways to increase its utility.