Overwhelmed at the thought of cleaning out your garage?
Let’s face it… the garage becomes a catchall for anything and everything. This space can easily become cluttered and dirty from everyday use.
Giving your garage a deep clean once or twice a year can create a lot of additional storage space. Here’s our breakdown of how to do it step by step!
Clean, Donate, and Discard
It’s hard to clean and organize around a pile of bikes, old golf clubs, and that luggage you swore was long gone. Removing everything from your garage will give you a better idea of what needs to be pitched, but also what needs to be organized once the garage has been cleaned.
Consider making three piles: one for all those items that need to be thrown away, one for items that can be donated, and a final area for all items that will be kept and reorganized later. It may also be helpful to sort through the items you plan on keeping and sorting these into category piles themselves. For larger garage clean outs, renting a small dumpster may help with getting rid of unwanted items.
Sweep, Vacuum, and Rinse Out
There’s no doubt about it: the average garage takes a beating month after month, season after season. Dirt, mud, and road salt can collect and build up on your garage’s floor and walls. That is why clearing out and sorting all the items sitting in your garage is so important. Now that the garage is empty this gives you a clean slate to sweep, and vacuum up loose dirt, leaves, salt, and dead bugs.
If you’re feeling ambitious, it’s always a good idea to give your garage’s floor a rinse down with a hose or power washer. Add a bit of degreaser and use a scrubber broom to help remove stubborn bits of debris and stains.
If you plan to rinse out your garage this may also a good time to clean out your garbage and recycling bins.
Spray for Pests
Since you’ll need to wait for the floor to dry out a bit before moving items back into the garage, now would be a great time to take care of any pests or bugs that may like to make your garage their home.
This can be done with a simple insect spray around the perimeter and in corners and around thresholds. A handful of ant or spider traps in any of the dark corners could also be helpful in keeping creepy crawlers at bay.
Wipe Down Wall Stains and Clean Windows
It goes without saying that the floor isn’t the only place that gets dirty in a garage. If you notice any wall stains, this is the time to take care of them. A damp sponge will usually do the job, however for those more determined stains we love to use a Magic Eraser.
If your garage has windows, grab a rag and give them a quick wipe down with glass cleaner to make them sparkle again. For a more natural cleaner a diluted mix of white vinegar and water will do the trick.
Reset and Organize
The garage is clean, but now it needs to be reset and reorganized. The first step was used to sort unwanted or unneeded items that had piled up in the garage.
Your items should now be whittled down to the essentials. When moving storage racks and items back into your garage consider the frequency and category that each item belongs. This will help you decide where and how these items should be stored.
Use cabinets or closets for items use infrequently and open storage shelves for those items used more regularly. Hooks and pegboards are great for storing tools like rakes, shovels, and other yard tools.
Cleaning your garage can seem like an overwhelming proposition but tackling the project one step at a time with these simple tips you can reclaim valuable parking or storage space.
Do you have tips of your own? Want to show us before and after photos from your latest cleaning? Let us know in the comments or tag us on Instagram!
