The garage may be a foreboding, mysterious place where items inside haven’t seen the light of day in a decade or two. This is the area of the home that people don’t typically include on their spring-cleaning list. This makes the garage one of the most overwhelming and exhausting parts of the home to pack. However, this needs to be done as soon as your move has been guaranteed so you can get the hardest task over with first, ensuring you leave enough time and energy for the rest of your home. With proper planning, this task can be done quickly so you can move on to other tasks.
Planning and Gathering Materials to Pack up the Garage
The process begins by creating a plan. Choose a good time for the family to get together and work as a team. Doing it on a weekend when everybody is free and can work without interruptions can help you prevent leaving a giant mess sitting until you have the time to tackle it again. This should be a group effort and not put on one person to do. Start by taking stock of what’s in the garage to gauge how much material you need. When you have an idea of what’s hiding on shelves and in corners of the garage, start gathering the materials you will need to pack the items up. The packing materials can include things like:
- Sturdy cardboard boxes since items in garages tend to be heavy
- Duct tape or packing tape
- Blankets
- Towels or rags
- Colored markers or labels
- Zip lock bags
- Garbage bags
- Bubble wrap
- Scissors
- Zip ties
- Plastic totes
Decluttering and Sorting the Garage
To help clear up space and ease the workload later, declutter your garage of items that haven’t been touched in over a year. While you are going through things, make a mental map of the general areas or categories of items you have so when you start packing you can do one area at a time. Designate two spots in the garage, one for the stuff you’re keeping and one for the stuff you aren’t. Label which boxes are for what, and keep in mind this is the stage where things can get messy, so labeling your piles properly can help prevent confusion.
When you’ve created your donate pile, if you have time, you can do a moving sale and pocket some extra cash for the upcoming expenses. Whatever you can’t sell you can donate, give away, or throw away.
Getting Rid of Forbidden Items
Another way to help declutter is by disposing of stuff that you aren’t allowed to include on the moving truck. Moving companies have forbidden items that they won’t move due to safety reasons. Garages contain a lot of hazardous materials, so you can ask your moving company for a complete list of what items they don’t move. If you find something you aren’t sure about, you can always ask the movers. Some common items the moving company won’t take include:
- Fuel, motor oils, or car batteries
- Antifreeze
- Paint and paint thinners
- Charcoal
- Propane tanks
- Fertilizers or pesticides
- Cleaning supplies like bleach or peroxide
- Dangerous chemicals
- Ammunition
- Fireworks
- Pool chemicals
- Lighter fluid
- Anything considered flammable
To prevent these items from going to waste, you can use them up before you move and give whatever is left to your neighbors. If there’s anything left over you couldn’t get rid of, dispose of it properly since these items are considered toxic. Don’t waste your time packing items that you can’t take with you.
Packing Up Your Garage
Now that you’ve cleared up space and have some room to work, you can start the task of packing up your garage. Before you even start putting things away in boxes, make sure to secure the bottom with packing tape since many items found in garages are heavy or have sharp edges. Safety should always come first when packing your boxes, so be sure not to overload items in containers if you don’t have to. Label all your boxes but be specific and don’t just say “garage.” Pack similar items together to help keep things organized.
Put essential items aside like power tools that you need to put furniture back together in their own clearly labeled box. Keep this box handy and available so you can easily access it after you move. For anything that has small parts like screws and bolts, keep them in small baggies and put them with the main parts, or tape them directly on it. The following is a list of tips for packing particular but common items in garages:
- Hand tools – Hand tools can be difficult to pack since they are oddly shaped. Leave your small tools in your toolbox and seal it tight. Sharp items like knives should be taped and wrapped with bubble wrap or towels and secured with zip ties. Long-handled things like brooms or shovels can be grouped by size, bundled tightly, and wrapped in a blanket.
- Power tools – Remove detachable parts, like batteries, and wrap the power cord around the device so it doesn’t tangle. Gas-powered tools need to be emptied of all fuel, or the moving company will not allow then on the truck. You can use a hand pump to siphon items with a lot of fuel, but items that only have a little fuel left can be left running until it runs out.
- Lawn or patio furniture – Clean and dismantle all furniture for easier transportation. Wrap fragile parts like glass from tables or flowerpots in bubble wrap or blankets.
- Other random items – Bicycles have specific moving boxes that can be bought at a bicycle shop. Most likely it can just be put fully assembled onto the truck if there is space. Grills can be moved by the professionals as long as the propane tank is not included, and the charcoal is left behind.
Packing a garage is a tremendous task, however, it can be the perfect chance to minimize your life and get rid of some unused items that have been sitting around for too long. Keep in mind throughout the process, if you haven’t touched it in over a year, it may be a great time to get rid of it. Some other helpful tips are before taking apart items, take a picture of it fully assembled so you can refer to it later. Just remember, if you have a plan and stick to it, packing up the garage will be a breeze. If you have questions about items you are trying to pack in your garage, reach out to a reputable moving company for more details.
