10 Items to Avoid Storing in Your Garage

Toys

Between your family, your in-laws, and your parents, your children have been completely spoiled, getting all the toys they could ask for. Although the kids couldn’t be happier, you’re not as thrilled. You don’t have the closet space for all these toys. You decided to take a few toys that aren’t played with as often and stash them in the garage. If you hope for your kids to use those toys again, they need to come back inside.

Once the temperatures begin ramping up after the cold front, several issues can ruin the stored toys. Electronic components can break, and dust mites can wreck soft fabrics and materials. The best storage option for old toys is in an airtight plastic container or tub. If you must keep the tub in your garage, at least the toys won’t be as susceptible to temperature changes, explains FamilyHandyman.com.

Electronics

Everyone is guilty of stashing electronics in the garage even though they probably shouldn’t. Maybe it’s the radio you use as entertainment while you lounge poolside. Perhaps you don’t have room for some old TVs or gaming consoles in the house, so you stored them in the garage.

Even if your electronics survived a freezing cold winter, they will not fare nearly as well in a burning hot climate either. Should you want your electronics for another year, you have to bring them indoors. 

Oily Rags

Do you use your garage to work on old cars? If so, then you probably have oily rags aplenty. Although they are kept out of sight, before the temperatures become even more scorching, plan to do something about them. Why? Although it’s not terribly likely, the oppressive heat that’s trapped within your garage could cause the rags to spontaneously combust. If that happens, the fire that can spread first in your garage and then elsewhere in your home would be absolutely devastating.

If you’d rather not keep the oily rags, then safely dispose of them in the trash. Maybe you think you’ll use them again. In that case, move the rags indoors, away from direct sunlight. 

Off-Season Clothing

Fabric and changing temperatures don’t mix. The conditions are ideal for creating mold, which can make a mess of your favorite sweaters and hoodies. Plus, if you store your off-season outfits in a large plastic bin and the lid isn’t fully closed, then mice can crawl their way inside and munch on your clothing.

Keeping your clothes in plastic bags is even worse. A hungry rat can easily nosh right through the plastic and get to the clothes within. Even if takes upgrading your closet space, you can’t keep off-season clothes in the garage, especially if you live in the heatwave that is California. 

Wine

You’re passionate about vino…maybe a little too passionate. You have such an overflow of wine that you’re out of places to store it except for the garage. A chilly wintertime garage can keep your vino on ice. Once the temps start creeping up, it’s time for your precious bottles to go.

The temperature change from warm to cold and back again can affect the delicate flavor balance of your wine. When humidity begins creeping in, that too can wreck the mouthfeel of a bottle of your finest vino.

You’ve let your wine mature for years until that one fine day when you could finally crack open a bottle. Don’t ruin your investment by storing wine in the garage when warmer days are afoot! 

Propane Tanks

Do you have a couple of spare propane tanks from your summer barbeques? You can’t leave the tanks attached to your weather-exposed grill, but don’t put the tanks in your hot garage either. All it takes is a small leak in the tank, a little bit of gas, and you have the ingredients for a major explosion. It wouldn’t just be your garage that goes up in flames, but your entire home. Regardless of the season, propane tanks shouldn’t go in your garage. It’s a recipe for disaster. 

Food

You wish you had more kitchen cabinet space, but you don’t. Since your garage and kitchen are close to one another, you store extra food in the garage. You can’t expect to leave that food to sit there all year and then come back to it intact.

For one, when canned food surpasses temperatures of 70 degrees Fahrenheit, it can spoil, says the University of Minnesota Extension. In an uninsulated garage, you can expect temps to go well beyond 70 degrees. Also, food in your garage is a goldmine for critters like mice and rats. Hungry critters can easily rip through paper, cardboard, and sometimes even plastic. Mice have been known to chew through aluminum and vinyl too, says Terminix.

This tip shouldn’t only apply to people food, by the way, but pet food as well. Bagged dog or cat kibble is also an easily accessible snack for rodents, so don’t keep pet food in your garage, period!

Paint

You have lots of painting projects on your to-do list. Until you have more time, you figure you’ll keep the paint in the garage where it’s not taking up valuable closet space. Not so fast! In very warm temperatures, the ingredients can separate. When you finally open that can, the color and consistency of your paint can be all wrong. 

Paper Products

How many of your paper products have inevitably ended up in the garage? Everything from albums of printed photographs to passports and maybe even a birth certificate is currently situated in there. Get those paper products out ASAP! Humidity is moisture in the air, and moisture can saturate your paperwork and photographs until they’re unrecognizable. Good luck getting on a plane with a soaked passport! It’s also such a shame to lose priceless family photos that are irreplaceable because of a poor storage choice. Don’t risk it!

Carpeting

Most garages aren’t carpeted, so you decided to lay down a few throw rugs to make the place feel comfier. You already know that rats and other critters are eager to beat the heat. Your throw rugs and carpets are wonderful nesting materials for unwanted critters. Even if your garage stays critter-free, the humidity and heat can leave carpet fabrics smelling musty and gross. 

Conclusion

The garage is a useful place for storing a multitude of everyday items, but not the ones on the above list. It’s for the longevity of your products as well as your safety that you move these items to a more temperature-controlled spot! 

Sources

• https://extension.umn.edu/preserving-and-preparing/storing-canned-food
• https://www.familyhandyman.com/list/10-things-you-should-never-store-in-your-garage/
• https://www.terminix.com/pest-control/mice/behavior/what-can-mice-chew-through/