Garage Organization in Nashville
10 Things Not to Store in Your Hot and Humid Garage
Garage organization in Nashville requires special consideration due to the region’s hot and humid climate. Many common household items can be damaged or even become hazardous when stored in a garage. While we do get cold, and even freezing, weather here – this doesn’t impact items as much as the heat and humidity do!
We’ve been organizing in garages for over 20 years and there are many times we come across items that really shouldn’t have been stored in a garage that have become damaged or useless. Which is really sad because many times these are things that people either could really use or had an emotional attachment to and there’s not much we can do about it at that point.
Unless your garage is conditioned and clean, avoid storing these items in your garage!
Garage Organization in Nashville
Here are 16 items you should never store in your Nashville garage:
- Paper Products: Paper towels, tissues, and cardboard boxes attract pests and absorb moisture, leading to mildew and deterioration. Some paper products are fine if it’s a short term ‘Costco shelf’ situation but long term they won’t hold up.
- Electronics: Heat and humidity can cause irreversible damage to electronic components, leading to malfunctions or total failure
- Photographs: Your cherished memories can fade, stick together, or become warped due to high humidity levels.
- Books or important documents: books & papers can mold and deteriorate quickly in a humid garage environment.
- Paint: Extreme temperatures can cause paint to separate and become unusable, so store it in a climate-controlled area instead.
- Wine or liquor: a hot garage is the absolute worst place to store these – nothing deteriorates wine like heat.
- Vinyl Records: The heat can warp vinyl records, making them unplayable and damaging their value.
- Clothing: Fabrics can attract mold and pests in a damp garage, especially delicate items like wool and silk.
- Leather Goods: Humidity can cause leather to develop mold and mildew, ruining the material over time.
- Wooden Furniture or Artwork: The fluctuating temperatures can cause wood & canvas to warp, crack, or swell, leading to permanent damage.
- Candles: seems obvious but while they are designed to melt when being burnt, the heat will melt them beyond use!
- Vitamins/medications: heat degrades the active ingredients. This is a safety issue, not just a quality one.
- Musical instruments: especially anything with wood (guitars, violins) or with adhesive joints. Humidity swings will destroy them.
- Aerosol cans and propane: beyond just damage, this is a genuine safety/explosion risk in extreme heat.
- Rubber and latex items: think exercise bands, rubber-sealed containers, or hoses. They crack and degrade fast.
- Cosmetics and skincare: sunscreen, makeup, and serums break down and lose effectiveness (or separate and get gross).
