3 Items You Should Never Store in Your Custom Garage

Flammable Items

Some of the first things you’ll find on any list of things that don’t belong in the garage are items that could cause fire or easily catch fire. This includes propane tanks, oily rags, firewood, and stacks of paper products like old newspapers or magazines.

If you look at all of these items, it should be obvious why you shouldn’t store them all together in a garage or anywhere else. Putting wood, paper, oil, and gas all in the same area is essentially asking for a house fire. There are some other reasons to consider for some of these items.

First, the items that are flammable all on their own, such as propane tanks and oily rags. These are items that could combust with the smallest spark. Just starting your car in the garage could be enough of a trigger to start a blaze. It won’t happen every time, and you may even know someone who keeps these items or other flammable items in their garage all the time and has never had a problem. That doesn’t make it safe, though, and that doesn’t mean that it won’t happen to you. Keep your flammables out of the garage.

When it comes to things like paper and firewood, the reasoning is slightly different. Yes, if your garage did catch fire, these items would contribute to the burning, and it’s a good idea to keep them out for that reason – especially if it’s possible that you might keep something like a propane tank in your garage, even temporarily or accidentally. That’s not all, though. Even if they never catch fire, paper and wood products attract insects. It’s too easy to end up with an infestation of spiders, silverfish, or roaches when you store these things in your garage. Plus, firewood will absorb humidity, which can make it more difficult to burn in a fireplace. So even if you’re sure you’re not risking a fire, there are good reasons to keep these items out of the garage.

Store propane tanks outdoors in a shady area and make sure they’re upright. Get rid of oily rags – you can get new rags. Vital documents should be stored indoors (or digitally), and paper meant for recycling should be in a sealed container like other trash.

All Kinds of Food

There’s no good kind of food to store in a garage. Most fresh food will spoil quickly here. You may believe canned food is safe, but the truth is that storing it in a hot and humid environment will shorten its shelf life.

You may say to yourself, “what if I put a refrigerator in the garage?” Garage refrigerators or freezers aren’t uncommon, but they’re usually not a good idea. A fridge or freezer has to maintain a certain temperature to keep food fresh and safe to consume. Yours may be able to reach that temperature internally, but under garage conditions, it’s going to have to work a lot harder than the fridge in your kitchen to do so. That means a higher electric bill. A smaller, older, or less powerful refrigerator may struggle to reach a safe temperature, especially during summer; this could result in both higher electric bills and spoiled food.

Even pet food isn’t appropriate for the garage. Remember, heat can shorten the shelf life of canned foods, and that applies to pet food as well. As for bags of dry pet food, you’ll find that this attracts bugs and other pests, even if you think it’s sealed. Rodents and some insects can chew right through a cardboard or paper bag to get to the food they smell. Put it in a sealed plastic container inside the house instead. 

Anything Sensitive to Humidity

Humidity is unavoidable in a garage, so you need to know what’s going to be affected by the humidity. The garage is not the place to store all the old family photos that you need to sort through but haven’t gotten to yet. They can begin to stick together in a moist environment and you’ll be unable to separate them without damaging them. They can also fade. The environment can also damage old rolls of film if you still have any of that around.

You should also avoid storing electronics in the garage. Most people would never stick their laptop in a pool of water or run their phone under the tap – you already know that moisture is bad for your electronics. Remember that humidity is the measure of water vapor – moisture – in the air. When humidity is above 50%, your electronics are at risk. According to Industrial Physics, humidity can cause rust, corrosion, or even electrical shorts in your equipment. Don’t store your electronics in the garage or let your kids forget and leave their phones and tablets in the garage. 

Conclusion

Your custom garage is a useful storage space, but you still have to use it properly. By avoiding the kinds of items that don’t belong in the garage, you have more useful storage space for things that will be safe in a garage.

Source

• https://industrialphysics.com/knowledgebase/articles/how-high-humidity-affects-electronics/