Avoid Storing These 6 Items in Your Garage

1. Hazardous Materials Don't Belong in the Garage

If it’s dangerous, prone to igniting or leaking, or flammable, keep the item out of your garage. Gasoline and paint, for example, are never safe to store in your garage. Even ignoring the clear and present fire hazard, you can also inhale toxic fumes if these items are not properly stored. The majority of garages don’t have the proper ventilation to safely store these items. In addition, uneven heating and cooling can lead to volatility of flammable liquids.

On top of all of that, it’s very easy to forget these items in your garage and not use them for years. At best, they can go stale and become useless, and at worst, they can ignite.

2. Keep Pests Out of the Garage

This goes without saying, but you’d be surprised by how easy it is to attract pests and vermin into your garage. Beyond the obvious lure of food, even storing wood, bedding, books, papers, and clothing can create a haven for pests. These critters look for any sort of hospitable environment, especially as temperatures go down or when storms rage outside. The last thing you want to do is provide a place for pests to take root.

3. Valuable or Fragile Items Shouldn't Go Here

As the seasons change, valuables and fragile items are at risk of cracking, warping, sustaining water damage from floods, and more. Beyond the weather concerns, you also have to think about the threat of burglars. Thieves target garages whenever possible to minimize the risk of detection, so you should be sure not to make yourself an easy target.

4. Toys Aren't a Good Choice

It’s common for parents to turn to the garage first when they’re running out of storage space for all their children's’ toys, but you should reconsider. To start with, shifting temperatures can warp and destroy toys in much the same way that they can wreak havoc on fragile and valuable items. With more and more toys using computer chips and other electronics, a cold snap could easily spell the end for your kids’ high-tech toys.

Beyond those issues, toys with fabric can be infested by dust mites, and pests might find their way into exposed parts. If you don’t have any room elsewhere, be sure to store the toys in an airtight container. You could also maximize space in your kids’ rooms by making a toy box, as outlined by Better Homes & Gardens.

5. Old and Oily Rags Are a No-no

While it’s common for people to use their garage as a sort of mechanic workstation and make repairs or modifications to their cars, it’s important to keep old and oily rags out of the garage. As the seasons change and the air gets hotter, you run the risk of one of these rags catching fire. All it takes is the right air and heat conditions and some exposure to sunlight, and these rags can combust. Since these rags are generally quite cheap, it’s best to throw them away when not in use and buy more the next time you work on your car.

6. Wine Should Be Stored Elsewhere

Beyond the safety concerns of storing something with any amount of alcohol in it, storing wine in your garage will only ruin its flavor and mouthfeel over time. If you don’t have a humidity-controlled room that you can convert for wine storage, it’s best to only purchase wine as you use it and keep it safe and secure within your home. As with all of the other items on this list, it is better to be safe than sorry.

Conclusion

It can be tricky to figure out storage space in and around your home, especially when you’re decluttering and you have a garage that seems perfect for extra storage. Storing appropriate items in the garage can be accomplished by taking advantage of your wall space. But when you take caution by following all of these tips on what not to store in your garage, you’ll be glad for the extra safety as well as the lack of clutter in the space.

Sources

• https://www.bhg.com/decorating/do-it-yourself/accents/how-to-make-a-toy-box/