Garages often become dirty and cluttered. Beyond the fact that your vehicle tracks in dirt, the opening often acts as the perfect funnel for dirt, dust and leaves. This hybrid area between the outdoors and indoors can be a barrier to tracking that dirt inside your home -- if you take the time to keep it nice and tidy.
It can be hard to clean your garage when it is cluttered. Items from your vehicles, kids toys, sports gear and items that have no other place to go all get stored in garages. Once you've decluttered and organized your garage, cleaning becomes much easier. These 11 tips will help you clean and organize your garage.
1. Start with eliminating clutterEliminating clutter is the first step in cleaning your garage. This step doesn't require you to actually get rid of everything, but you will need to find organized homes for things in your garage. During the process, you may find that you have items you just don't need. Create four categories of items for decluttering your garage: Keep, Donate or Sell, Recycle and Trash.
2. Create organized storage solutionsYour garage is the perfect place to store things. Keeping tools, gardening supplies, sports equipment, toys and other items in your garage just makes sense. Creating organized garage storage solutions is easy when you follow the tutorial and hints at
The Family Handyman. Baskets, shelves and hooks are just some of the storage solutions available for your garage.
3. Look up for more storageKeeping everything on the floor-level of your garage gives dirt a place to hide and reduces the room you have for vehicles. All you need to do to find more storage space is look up. Use a garage ceiling storage rack to store things in an out-of-the-way space.
Bloglovin suggest this storage solution as an excellent place for you holiday decor, coolers and summer gear.
4. Make things kid-friendlyOutdoor toys seem to multiply. The best way to keep toys in good condition is to keep them out of the sun. Adding kid-friendly garage storage will help your children pick up after themselves
and give all those toys a nice, tidy home. The
tutorial from Place of My Taste will inspire you with creative storage solutions. Hanging dollar store buckets provides an excellent home for outdoor toys.
5. Make a car cleaning kitRound up like items in your garage and store them together. For example, take all car cleaning supplies and create
this handy kit. By storing all the items together, you can quickly get your car back to looking brand new. Consider placing a trash can in your garage, as well. You can easily throw away any trash as soon as you pull into the garage.
6. Repair cracks in floorNow that everything is out of the floor and neatly put away, you can clean the floor. Start with repairing any cracks or flaws in your concrete. This
guide to deep cleaning your garage recommends using a sealant on small cracks before they become major repairs.
7. Get rid of oilOil stains happen in garages and driveways. You don't have to live with them. This
tutorial takes you step-by-step through removing oil stains from concrete using Coca Cola. Extra tip: you can use Coca Cola to remove oil from clothing, too.
8. Miracle concrete cleaner If all else fails, this miracle concrete cleaner reportedly removes almost any stain from concrete. A combination of bleach and baking soda powers deep into concrete to remove even the oldest of stains. Kristi shows you how she cleaned her patio using this powerful cleaner
here.
9. General cleaning with TideYou trust Tide laundry detergent to remove grease and grime from your clothes. It also removes grease and grime from your garage floor. All Garage Floors recommends a mixture of Tide and hot water as an effective and gentle garage floor cleaner. Allow it to remain on the floor for up to 10 minutes, then power through the dirt with a good scrub brush. See how they do it
here.
10. Paint covers it upIf you simply cannot get the stains out of your floor, painting offers you a way to make the floor look better than new. Clean & Scentsible walks you step-by-step through the process in this
tutorial. You can even paint your walls for a fresh new look.
11. Maintain your garage doorUse this time to perform some routine maintenance on your garage door. This allows it to continue working safely and worry free. In general, a basic inspection is all that is needed. If you find you have a problem, this
tutorial takes you through some basic repairs.
Now that you have a well-organized, clean garage just basic sweeping now and then should keep it nice and neat. Share with your friends and family how you did it on Facebook!
