Follow this guide to prepare your shed, or workshop, for the upcoming spring season. You can create a new look, a better organized environment, repairing or replacing of old tools and gathering of the latest items that best fits your spring gardening and other workshop needs. You will be amazed at the results once you have completed your thorough spring cleaning of your shed or workshop.
There are some preparation plans that should be in place before beginning any spring cleaning. You should wear gloves to assure that you do not cut or harm your hands in any way. Wearing a face mask is smart thinking since trapped stagnant air and stored chemicals in weak containers can be unhealthy if inhaled during the cleaning process. Wearing old clothes helps since you may become filthy dirty from the dust and soils. A pair of good tennis shoes helps keep your feet from blistering since this preparation process may take much walking and reaching.
Gathering many small boxes and larger ones from your local grocery store would be a plus since you will need them in the process of storage and organizing the smaller items and tools when spring cleaning your shed or workshop. Make sure that you also have a big old sheet that you do not mind throwing away for it will be useful during the spring cleaning process. Having a box of trash bags handy helps with clean up. A wheel barrow can be of assistance while spring cleaning your shed or workshop since many items may be too heavy to truly lift and carry. The proper way to use a wheel barrow would be to tip the wheel barrow to the side and slide the heavy item into the cup of the wheel barrow. Once this is completed then tip the wheel barrow into the proper upstanding position so that you can wheel the heavy item to another location.
Keep a safe cleaning solution handy as well as many rags or old shirts that you are prepared to throw away after using to clean your shed or workshop with. Make sure that someone is watching the children for this type of spring cleaning is not advised for children by all means. It can be dangerous for a child to 'treasure hunt' in a dirty or dusty shed due to any hidden chemicals. Children also may be bitten by any insect, hidden reptile or animal seeking shelter within your shed or workshop. Safety should be first priority for both you and your family when spring cleaning a shed or workshop.
Just as Rome was not built in one day, spring cleaning a shed or workshop can take a couple days to complete. First thing to remember would be to complete this task when the weather seems to have no rain, what so ever, in the forecast for that week. You would hate the rain to fall upon the items that you have transported outside while working inside of your shed or workshop. We begin with the inside of your shed or workshop.
You have to plan an outside area to set all of your larger supplies that are kept in the shed or workshop. We begin with the transport of larger items and tools such as large buckets, bags of soil, large instruments, hoses and large packaged boxed items that take up much space in your shed or workshop. You would want to start from the area closest to the door and work your way back as far as you can until you have removed any items that you can reach to. Using the wheel barrow, as described above, take out these items and place them outside of your shed or workshop. Try to keep them together so that you can return them in a formation of organization. Once you have completed this, continue to the next phase.
Take out the medium items such as paint cans, potting containers as well as all medium sized items and objects within your shed or workshop. Place these items away from the larger items to better organize when returning them. You may notice a big blob of junk laying on the ground outside of your shed or workshop yet when you are completed, you will see that it was well worth it in the end.
The little items are the last things left within your shed or workshop. This is the perfect time to gather the boxes that you have gotten from the grocery store. You also need a marker or pen to label what is inside each box. Beginning at the location closest to the door, line up the boxes in a row to toss your small items or tools into. Make sure that each box has the same items within them such as nails in one box and hose spray heads in another. Once you have taken all the items off of your tables and shelves, you can begin with the items left upon the floor. After everything has been cleared you should label each box of items so that you know, without having to search inside, what items are in each box. You will leave these boxes in the shed or workshop for they will never have to be taken outside.
Take a screw driver and make sure that all shelves are durable and not swaying. Wipe down all shelves with a dry rag or old shirt to dust off anything left behind from that long winter. You may find that mice just loved to visit these areas as they left their waste behind to prove their once existence in your shed or workshop during that long winter. Clean up the tops and bottoms of each shelf. Slide the shelves outside of the shed or workshop that can easily be removed. The shelves that can not be removed can be useful for the boxes of small items and tools. After cleaning the non-removable shelves with cleaning solution, place each box on top of them. All boxes should be placed together and not in any sorting fashion since you will sort the boxes out in due time during this spring cleaning process. The shelves outside can be cleaned with cleaning solution once outside to assure no dangers of inhaling the solution within the shed or workshop. You are ready for the next phase.
Cover the indoor shelves that hold the boxes with a big old sheet. From the ceiling to the floor, wipe down that dust and cobwebs. Try not to forget the corners for they are the dust collectors in any shed or workshop. Clean all windows, both inside and out, to assure no residue is left upon them from the long winter months. After you have completed this, take a break and gather your energy. When you are ready to continue, wipe down the walls with your cleaning solution. To help with safety in using the cleaning solution indoors make sure that you can add water to it so that it becomes lighter in solution and less dangerous to use. If your shed or workshop has baseboards, clean them as well. Now you can move to the flooring phase.
Take a broom and sweep out theshed or workshop thoroughly, from corner to corner and then wall to wall. Once you have swept up every area upon the floor make sure that you do not throw away any items that has fallen victim to the sweep that you may want. Place these items aside and dump the dirt and dust into a trash bag. Lightly mop up the flooring and take a break while it dries. You are so ready for a new look and now is the time to capture it.
You can paint the inside of your shed or workshop if you desire a fresh coat as part of your spring cleaning task. Make sure that you allow 24 hours to dry before using another coat. Allow 24 hours for the second coat to dry before returning any item back into the shed or workshop. You can add shelves if you wish to better fit your products upon. You can even install a peg board to better hang your tools and instruments. You can also extend your workbench for more space when using the workbench in the future. Either way, this is the moment when you fill your shed or workshop with the latest storage products or shelving ideas.
Place the shelves that have been cleaned outside back into the shed or workshop. Make sure that they are placed along the sides or the walls and not blocking areas to walk through. You could place many large items around these shelves as you return them into the shed or workshop. The larger items or tools that are left outside should be tested before returning. This way you do not return a broken item back into the shed or workshop. This would be senseless since they are not usable. Place all broken and non-usable items and tools to the side. After testing and assessing the larger items, return them. Dull tools should be sharpened before returning as well. Know your plan as to where you wish to place your items or tools for use during the spring season. Once you have returned the large items or tools back inside then you can begin returning the medium items or tools back into the shed or workshop.
Make sure that all broken items or tools are placed aside as you will make sure that all dull tools are resharpened before returning them back into the shed or workshop. Place the items where they are easy accessible and where you see fit for their usage. Possibly any new shelves or peg boards may help in this task. You are ready to move to the next phase, the little items or tools that you have boxed up earlier.
The little items or tools also could use some organization. If you haven't used a tool box before, perhaps now is a good time to. A tool box can help organize your little items or tools so that they do not spread out all over the place as many times they end up on the floor. Jars have been used since the dawn of their time yet remember that you want to place jars away from areas that will make them fall and bust. All rusty and defected nails should be thrown away. If one steps on a rusty nail it can cause an emergency situation and should be avoided at all cost. Throwing them away takes care of that problem all together for the betterment of you and your family. After you have a place for all your small items or tools then you can test those hoses.
Hook up all hoses to the outside water source. Make sure that you run them for at least five minutes to clear out anything that may be resting, laying or simply collecting inside of them. Spiders are known to find dark areas to hide into and hoses have been known to be great spots for them so it is advised to run that water through until all creatures have been flushed out. If a hose seems to have holes in it, do not throw it away for it can be used in a future date as an irrigation source for gardens. You can lay that hose along the garden and the water can seep through to parts of the garden that a straight line hose may miss. We use all punctured hoses for this cause and it works like a charm in irrigation. Once you have tested all hoses, hang them up where you can reach them since you will be using them on a regular basis during the spring season. You are almost through with the spring cleaning of your shed or workshop.
The broken items that lay outside of your shed or workshop should be disposed of properly. Some items can be fixed yet if you do not have the time to fix them then donate the broken items to a worthy cause. The Helping Hand Mission and Veteran Services, at times, offer the quick fix or items to offer to those who can not afford them. Since each place is different, it may be worth it to call them first to assure that these services are offered in your town. The old saying comes to mind 'turning trash into treasure'. You could have a yard or garage sale to sell any items or tools that no longer appeal to your taste.
Once you have cleared off the outside of your shed, or workshop, you can consider a fresh coat of paint for the outside. Take a step back and watch your creation for you have not only completed a thorough spring cleaning task but you have also created a healthier and safer environment within your shed, or workshop.
With this said, no matter if it is a shed, workshop, garage, or a simple storage place, keeping these areas clean and organized can make any project easier and faster to complete. At least one might not have to dig into boxes, barrels, and buckets for needed items, a sign of a ready-to-use shed or workshop for the spring.
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