With the start of the new year, there’s no better time to keep your garage organized and clean. During the holidays, the garage often becomes the catchall for everything from lawn and garden equipment to holiday decorations.

Despite homes having a garage, many garages don’t serve as storing vehicles. Instead, most homeowners find their garage as a drop off of old toys, donation, and kids stuff. Give your garage the attention it deserves, and you can easily reorganize the space back into a garage in only a day or weekend. Here are a few garage organization and garage door maintenance tips to get you started.

Keep Your Garage Organized and Clean

Decluttered

Start decluttering our garage by having a garage sale, reserving a pickup date for donations, or bringing all the items to the donation place. Depending on your garage’s size, choose a full day or weekend for you and your family to dedicate to this home project. You’ll want to remove everything to make it easier to give the garage a thorough cleaning. Then, you’ll also be able to assess which other items are worth keeping, donating, or discarding.

If you’re struggling to let go of items, ask yourself: Have I used this in the past year? If your answer is no, it’s time to eliminate it. Don’t just keep items you think you might use someday.

Sweep, Clean, and Degrease

Move any sorted items away from your garage entrance with the space cleared. Plenty of dirt, dust, and water will pass through that area as you scrub out your garage interior.

Start by sweeping the garage floor. Use a broom or leaf blower to clear cobwebs from the walls and rafters of the garage while it is empty.

Wipe down any shelving or flat surface with multipurpose spray.

Then your floors if they bother you!

Oil Stains

There are many everyday household products that you may already have that can help remove oil stains from your garage floor or driveway.

• You can use lemon juice, vinegar, and water to degrease your floor and remove stains.
• Let it sit for around 30 minutes to loosen up the sediment.
• Scrub the area thoroughly with a stiff nylon brush until the stain disappears.
• Rinse the area with a garden hose.

Concrete degreasers are specially made to clean oil stains on the floor.

Rust Marks

You may find rust marks when you move metal cabinets or work benches.

• Directly apply lemon juice or pure white vinegar to the stain.
• Let it settle for about five minutes.
• To remove the stain, clean and scour with a firm brush.

Garage Doors

Don’t forget your garage door. Make sure you are cleaning your door based on the material of your garage door. For many materials such as vinyl, steel, and fiberglass, simply rinse off the door with a hose and then wipe it down using a sponge, dish detergent, and water.

Don’t forget to attend to both sides of your garage door!