Storing items in the garage?
 

Hi all,

Just wondering - can you store some groceries in the garage vs. the home itself?

1. Paper goods like paper towels, napkins, tissues etc.
2. Cleaning goods (spic n span, liquid or dry detergents, fabric softeners, etc)
3. Dry grocery goods (pasta, rice, noodles)
4. Canned goods
5. Glass jar goods

Thanks!

If you're going to eat it, don't put it in the garage. Go ahead and try anything else. At least it won't kill you.

We did not have enough pantry space so bought a cabinet we use as a second pantry. Keeping food in garage is not a good idea can easily get to over 100.

Items 1 and 2 yes, the rest NO.

Aren't foods stored in non air conditioned warehouses and shipped in non air conditioned trailers?

Great question. :undecided:

We store Pop (sorry Soda here) and water in the garage until we ready to put it in the fridge. Those are both plastic bottles and cans. I would be interested in hearing why not canned goods. I'm always learning...

We built a small pantry in the utility closet which stays relatively cool in the summer.

IMHO, and my uneducated opinion on food safety, I will not store any food items in my garage. I have added additional storage inside the air conditioned house just for this.

When they started using on demand hot water heaters the air handler closets where the hot water tanks used to be installed were half empty and it makes for great storage. When the AC is on it's pretty cool inside that closet and although I don't at this time store canned goods in there I would not hesitate in doing so if I needed the space. If you have a home with a closet like that I would go for it.

I understand that, what I didn't mention is my garage is air conditioned..... It's my shop and I do a lot of painting...

Then go for it.

#1 should be no problem if stored in unopened package.
#2 I have done this for years. For liquid items I would try and keep the time period to a month or two.
#3,4,5 should be ok in the cooler months but not hot summer months, but again I would keep to short time periods. I would try and avoid the garage for these.

In that case nothing wrong with doing that

Be careful of the pasta. I had spaghetti stored in my pantry that ended up with bugs. It now lives in the fridge.

We store paper products, liquid cleaning supplies and dry cleaning products such as Swiffer dusting cloths with no problem at all. We don't store any food items in our garage.

That does sound reasonable to me but I don't know for sure.

That's a whole different ballgame if your garage is air conditioned.

What?????? I have always stored dry pasta in the pantry for too many years that I can count. I've never had bugs anywhere in my pantry. Yikes! Maybe your bugs in the pasta hitched a ride from the grocery store.

[QUOTE=kp11364;2109593]Hi all,

Just wondering - can you store some groceries in the garage vs. the home itself?

1. Paper goods like paper towels, napkins, tissues etc.
2. Cleaning goods (spic n span, liquid or dry detergents, fabric softeners, etc)
3. Dry grocery goods (pasta, rice, noodles)
4. Canned goods
5. Glass jar goods

I would not put pasta in garage because not really sealed container. The glued boxes allow space for animals to crawl through. If garage is air conditioned no problem for rest of goods. If space is not air conditioned then call toll free number on back of package for max heat temp. Warehouses have chiller vent systems in many cases.

garage storage
 

we store anything we don't eat in the garage I don't wanrt to chance food storage due to the high temps the garage gets to in the summer months

Asking about storage in Garage
 

I just want to make sure of the question. You're asking if you can store something or things in your garage. I just want to make sure that you are asking if people's store things in their garage. Think about that question you just ask

All but #3 are fine

Gracealleman I don’t get your sarcasm. You added nothing useful to the thread.
This was a legit question that sparked interesting comments.
My Moms favorite saying was, “If you can’t say something nice don’t say anything at all. “
For some people… silence is the way to go

1. I store paper goods in the garage.
2. I would store most cleaning products in the garage if I had enough to need to, but NOT opened boxes of dry detergent (too humid).
3. Dry grocery goods can be safely stored in the garage if they are sealed from humidity and bugs. (I don’t have bugs in my garage, but I might if I had open containers of dry groceries.
4. Canned goods, no trouble.
5. Glass jar goods, no trouble.

All of these things are in cupboards with doors in the garage. The garage seldom gets above 90°, except for a few hours after I park a hot car there. That’s not enough to raise the temperature in the cabinets very much.

I have a few well-sealed cans of shellac, paint, etc, and WD40 and wasp spray, etc. One strict rule is that I never apply shellac or varnish in the garage. I do it on the driveway. And I NEVER leave a cloth or paper towel with any of those products on them in the garage. If I apply shellac with a folded paper towel, for example, I then open it and leave it on the gravel in the garden until it has dried. Then I throw it away in the kitchen trash can.

Items like the tops of vises and drill presses will rust in garage humidity and need to be wiped occasionally with oil or sprayed with WD40.

I NEVER leave papers and photos in the garage. The humidity and heat can damage them. Same with CDs and LPs.

Paper goods yes, any food no. Your garage gets up over 90 in the summer.

Sure, as long as they they don’t melt, or attract small animals, rodents, insects or snakes. Not recommended.

If your garage is air-conditioned sealed cans, jars, bottles are probably ok. I would not store dry goods, pasta etc. in the garage. Lots of bugs here - all sizes. Paper products are fine with or without a/c.

If at all possible avoid storing soda/pop in your garage during high heat months. In some instances, it will break down into formaldehyde. Not good for your health.

We are having built in cabinets installed in our garage, which partially will be a pantry. I plan on moving all my bulky small appliances (mixer, ice cream maker, Vege steamer, large casserole pans, etc) into the garage cabinets. Thereby, opening space in my kitchen for added can goods, pastas, dry goods, storage.

I worked at UPS for 15 years as a supervisor. Everything that is shipped via UPS is in the heat -- from factory/supplier/seller to delivery. LTL (Less than Truck Load) are in the heat. Even most factory products are in hot truck trailers from start to finish.

I imagine that this is factored into the Use By date.

Having said all this, I would still store as much as I could in a cooler place -- longer shelf life, probably better taste from the can/jar.

Speciality products -- produce, dairy, some medicine, etc. -- is shipped cool. This same line of products would be ones we should be especially careful with when taking from store to home.

Everything but canned and glass jar foods. Both will deteriorate in quality in the summer heat. Put all paper goods in sealed containers as cockroaches are attracted to paper products. Water and soda can also be safely stored in your garage.

A little off subject here about what to store in your garage.

My wife cooks and bakes during the hot summer months.
I don't have room in our 1 1/2 stall garage, but I wish I had the room for another electric stove.
Think how much that would cut down on heat in the house on a 90-degree day.

The main reason we bought a Newport model was the HUGE walk-in pantry right off the kitchen. Rest of house layout is great as well for 3BR. I'm amazed at the majority of people who desire these other models with only a pantry cabinet as part of their kitchen cabinets.

I was in the neighborhood Walmart yesterday. Picked up a package of spaghetti and it had a good number > 6 that I could see of smaller black bugs. At first I thought it was dirt but they were walking around. I took the manager and they went to the shelf and removed every package. I imagine the heat of items during shipping or storing can promote bugs in pasta. After I open flour, sugar, pasta, cereal ... I put the item in a zip lock storage bag. I also wipe down countertops with soapy water. When I first moved down here I found out what a ghost ant is and I never want to see them again. I say them because I don't think there is ever just one. Also I used to store clothes that I did not wear often in the garage but you have to be careful with anything stored in the garage. Those large palmetto bugs burrow in there and you don't want to accidently bring one in the house. I have my garage sprayed for bugs every 4 months but I still find that they get in.

Do not keep or store battery operated equipment or batteries, even rechargeable, in the garage. Heat shortens battery life.

I have a wood armoire in our garage and I store paper goods, noodles, speghetti and other items. I did this also in our home (garage) in Lakeland and I've NEVER had a problem!

Very true, ran into storage problem for food a few weeks after moving in. Solved it with buying a cabinet via Amazon.

have stored paper goods, water, pop, cleaning supplies for 10 years. works fine.