Making Space for the Car: 5 Life-Changing Garage Cleaning Tips 

“What is all this junk?”

You aren’t the only person to ask this question when looking over the unkempt garbage heap their garage has become. The thought of organizing such a mess is nightmare-worthy.

Fortunately, we’re here to end this nightmare and usher in a new era of clean. That’s right! With the 5 simple steps below, you will finally be able to fit a car in your garage, maybe even two!

It may seem too good to be true, but it’s simpler than you might think. To learn more, read on.

1. Empty the Garage

In order to thoroughly clean out your garage, you have to empty it out completely. This way, you can reach any hidden dust or messes that are hiding under all the junk.

Also, you can organize as you put things back so that they fit better than they did before. Or don’t put them back at all. But we’ll get to that later.

For now, all you must do is get the mass of mess out of your way so you can clean. Move every item in your garage to the driveway until the garage is completely empty.

2. Do a Deep(ish) Clean

Now is your chance to do some deep cleaning. In fact, it may be your only chance for a long time if most of the things in your driveway are going right back into the garage. But we digress.

The point is, use this chance to clean your garage as deeply as you like. This should at least include sweeping out all the bugs, trash, and dust. You should also sweep the walls and ceiling for cobwebs and spray bug/spider repellent if necessary.

Next, do a deeper cleaning if you so desire. For instance, cleaning up any oil spills or other stains will keep them from staining items you store in the garage. 

3. Repair

Again, you may not have another chance like this for a while. That being the case, look for any damaged spots in the floor or walls of your garage and repair them. 

Patch the cracked drywall. Fill in any cracks in the concrete floor. Replace those burnt-out lightbulbs.

4. To Keep or Not to Keep?

Now we the non-intuitive part: organizing your garage. The key is to sort your keepable items into a “keep” pile.

Once you’ve stockpiled the items you actually care about, show some care when putting them back. Get some shelves or bins—any sort of actual organization system. 

If you do box the items, pack boxes carefully/categorically and label them on every side. Stack them in a way so that they are accessible. Also, don’t block the circuit breaker/fuse box, water heater, lawnmower, or anything else that needs to remain accessible.

For everything else, in the non-keep pile, either donate it or call a same-day rubbish removal service to junk it.

5. Give Yourself at Least a Day

To give one final tip, be sure to give yourself enough time for the job. Garage cleaning will probably take a whole day, maybe more. If you have to break it up into two days, be ready to move everything back into the garage and park outside until you have time to organize it.

Happy Garage Cleaning

The task of garage cleaning may seem overwhelming. But if you follow this simple list, it won’t be. 

Bookmark or print out this list and use it to finally get your garage organized. If it helped, share it on social media so it will help others.