A Guide for Organizing Car Maintenance Supplies in a Garage

If you are the type of person who likes to perform your car maintenance, having a clean, organized garage is crucial. An unorganized garage can have you scrambling to find the right tools for the job. Rather than wasting a half hour to find something as simple as a screwdriver, follow these tips to help you organize car maintenance supplies in your garage.

1. Start with a Clean Slate

The first step to organization is to start with a clean slate. That means setting aside the time to remove everything from your garage. Have bins handy that you can use to separate everything, such as clutter from essentials. Make sure you get rid of unused and unwanted items by either donating, selling, or throwing them away.

2. Create Zones

Before you put anything in the garage, you need to create specific zones for items. For instance, determine where you want to place tools, lubricants, and a workstation. Once you have an idea for a layout, you can begin organizing and placing storage bins in specific places.

3. Craft Your Organization

The key to organizing car maintenance supplies in your garage is to live by the old saying: “A place for everything and everything in its place.” Choose whether you want to purchase or build shelves and a workstation where you can store items like lubricants, wires, clamps, and other items. Use pegboards to help you store your tools for easy access. A tool bench is also useful if you have a lot of tools you like to use. You can also use labeled bins for different tools.

4. Keep the Garage Floor Free of Clutter

Make sure you create storage along the walls of your garage. Items kept on the floor of the garage reduce space and make it difficult to navigate around while working on your vehicle. Determine what items should not be stored in the garage, such as paint, paper goods, and propane. Extreme temperatures can ruin paint products. Because propane poses the risk of igniting, propane tanks should be placed outside. Paper goods attract bugs and other pests, so it is best to keep them safely stored inside your home.

5. Invest in Safe Storage

For high-end tools and hazardous chemicals, invest in lockboxes or cabinets. Safe storage reduces the likelihood of theft or the possibility of small children accessing anything that may prove harmful. Furthermore, locking storage options help you maintain better organization of your car maintenance supplies.

6. Install Vertical Open Shelving

Vertical open shelving is a great way to store car maintenance supplies. Although pegboards work great, they do not often hold up when it comes to storing heavier tools. Open shelving gives you a place to store heavy-duty tools while making it easy for them to find. Although cabinets work great also, open shelving means you can simply reach up and grab the tool you need quickly and easily.

By following the tips in this guide, you will be well on your way to enjoying an organized garage where you can work on your car with little to no stress involved.