Many people use their garages for a lot of different uses. Whether you use your garage to host parties, watch football games, store your stuff, or actually park your vehicle – there are some things that you should never keep in your garage. While using your garage as a convenient “storage unit” may be easy, there are certain things that you should NOT store in your garage.

• Canned food. While it is popular these days to buy in bulk, many people simply do not have the room inside their homes to store all of their bulk items. Canned foods are one of the most popular types of items to buy in bulk, but they should never be stored in the garage. Canned items are pressure sealed, thus reacting to drastic temperature changes. Here in Georgia, our summers get h-o-t and humid, often making temperatures inside a closed garage reach upwards of 110 degrees. Canned foods should not be stored in such high temps as the food will spoil and the cans could burst.
• Fresh food. With high temperatures in the summer and cold temperatures in the winter, the garage is no place to store fresh food. Food will quickly spoil, attracting insects and making your food unsafe to eat. You should also NOT store pet food or bird seed in the garage as they will also spoil and be unsafe for animal consumption.
• Clothing and bedding. While it seems easy to put clothing and bedding in a garbage bag and throw it in the garage until next season, this is not safe. Insects are notorious for getting in bags, laying eggs, and creating an infestation. Clothing and bedding items need to be stored inside your home.
• Propane tanks. Propane tanks pose a risk no matter where they are stored because many people do not close the valve of the tank properly. A propane leak is incredibly dangerous and can pose an explosive and deadly scenario. Propane tanks should always be stored outside in a secure, enclosed space, away from your home.
• While it may seem convenient to have an extra fridge in the garage to store drinks and food, the splurge in your energy bill will not be appreciated. As your garage heats up in the warmer months, your refrigerator has to work extra hard to keep itself cool.
• Extreme temperatures damage electronics, so it is best to store DVD players, TVs, computers, and gaming devices inside.

Don’t forget to properly protect items you care about!