For families of all sizes, the garage is often the repository for forgotten relics and very rarely gets proper attention as far as cleaning goes. The inevitable cleanout of clutter in a garage can be time consuming and overwhelming. Fortunately, there is a lot of experience to draw on when you want to know the most effective way of dealing with your garage. A lot of managing the space in your garage comes down to two things, cleaning, and storage. Cleaning a garage is a lot different than cleaning other parts of a home. The floors and surfaces are usually much more resilient but also attract a different class of mess. Storage and proper setup will help reduce the overall cleaning load over time.
Cleaning
Cleaning the garage starts on a nice sunny day with lots of time of your hands. The first step is to take everything out of there while creating piles that have like items. The best way to handle the garage is to remove everything first and organize after. Sweep, and floor cleaning should be done from back to front utilizing the open the door to more easily get rid of dust and dirt. Sometimes vacuuming corners and cobwebs up top will also be necessary. The floor is going to be the primary focus of the garage most cleanings because for most people it’s the area getting the most action and neglect. The garage floor is often exposed to oils, dirt, grit, and grime. There are powerful stain removers and de-greasers available as commercial products for homeowners, but there are some tricks of the cleaning trade to consider as well. For instance with oil or car stains try using sand or sawdust to soak up as much as possible followed by a nice rigorous and rough sweeping and brushing. Once everything is up to your clean standard its time to carefully store the rest of your items.
Storage
Storage in the garage will make all the difference once it is cleaned out. Organizing clutter and most importantly throwing out old items is a quick path to peace of mind and a usable garage once again. A good rule to go by is time. If you have not used something in a whole year, you probably don’t need it. You can make different piles for different categories of things like trash, keep and sell, or kids, holiday, parents, and trash. Any way you slice it though, it’s important to maximize space in a garage. Utilization of hanging storage bins is one of the most preferred methods, and they don’t need to be cleaned or organized nearly as often. Consolidation is key when cleaning the garage. Use of bins, boxes, and cabinets will help organize and make things easier to move around for the next time you have a cleaning.
No matter the size or shape of your garage these simple overall plans of attack will help you manage it. Garage cleaning is certainly no picnic, but a solid plan of action will take some of that overwhelmed feeling away.
