A Comprehensive Guide to Tidying Up Your Garage

Garage cleaning is something that is necessary but quite difficult to do on your own. While hiring a professional service is always a great idea, you can definitely save some money (and maybe get a tinge of nostalgia?) when you clean your garage on your own.

Garages can be much more than a storage unit for your vehicle. For many people, a garage is a place for whatever they do not need, but do not want to throw out due to the price, emotional attachment, or future need. It is possible that a simple garage cleaning could end up being a trip down memory lane for your entire family.

However, there is no doubt that the overall process of cleaning your garage is tedious. As such, here is a guide that will get you through the process quickly and efficiently.

Step 1: Prepare Yourself

Before you begin, it is best to remove everything. This way, the actual process of cleaning your garage will be hassle-free. Empty your garage out to the very last item (unless it is too heavy to move or not worth the hassle).

Do remember that it is important to check the weather forecast before you begin. Cleaning the garage is probably going to take you more than a day. As such, you are bound to leave some of your belongings outside. Make sure there is no rain for the next few days and then move ahead.

First, decide which of the items you want to keep. Chances are that a lot of stuff lying around your garage is nothing more than useless junk. Separate the items that you want to keep with the ones that you want to get rid of.

The stuff you do not want to keep, you can do one of the following:

• Throw it: Make sure you recycle as much as you can!
• Donate it: There is always someone less fortunate than you who might need some of those things.
• Sell it: Maybe it’s time to get your family together and have a fun garage sale?

Step 2: Clean

Now it’s time to get down and dirty so that your garage can be clean. Put on some nice music and start working.

The first part is the basics. Washing the floor is definitely a good idea. However, those who clean at regular intervals may only need to mop it properly. The walls can also be cleaned using a mop. Once the walls and the floors are clean, it is best to use a fan if you want them to dry quickly. However, this step is optional and mainly just a way to speed up the process.

Your garage may have accumulated oil stains from your vehicle. The best way to clean that is through the use of a wire scrub brush and an industrial-strength cleaner. However, dish soap will also work if you can’t get access to proper cleaning agents. You can read further about removing oil stains on AOL.

If you find mold in your garage, there are a lot of ways for you to clean that. Anything from baking soda and Hydrogen Peroxide to bleach and vinegar will work. Moldpedia is a website that is dedicated to mold removal and can help you with this.

This is also a perfect time for you to spray for pests to make sure that insects stay away. You should already be doing this periodically even when you are not cleaning your garage. A garage is a perfect place for pests to reside, so this is a precautionary measure that could avoid you a lot of headache later on.

Lastly, an additional tip here is to paint your floor. This will make your garage look like a room rather than an obscure space in your house that you only enter when you need your car. Of course, this is not compulsory but definitely something that you should try at least once.

Step 3: Organize

Once you are done with all the cleaning, it is time to put all your stuff back in. Organizing stuff efficiently can go a long way towards a better-looking garage that also allows you to find stuff easily. Not only that, but you will be able to clear out your garage much easier the next time you want to clean it.

It is best to use a system to categorize everything. You could also use your garage as a station from which you launch your hobbies. Here are 12 interesting storage ideas that will make your garage look aesthetic as well as organized.

Move things back in step by step. It is impossible to guide you on exactly what to do here since every garage is of a different size and shape and everybody has different stuff that they want to put in it. However, the process should be very intuitive, and you will only get better with each cleaning you do!

Conclusion

Cleaning your garage is a quintessential part of your home keep up. Doing it in a proper manner can reduce the tedious nature of the task and even make it somewhat enjoyable by helping you organize the garage in a way that allows you to take advantage of it for your hobbies or as a storage unit. The aforementioned guide should go a long way towards helping you get a spotless garage.