Free Printable Garage Deep Cleaning Checklist

When I enter my garage and it feels like I’m in the Bermuda Triangle, I know it’s time for a thorough cleanup! I whipped up this free printable garage deep cleaning checklist to turn this often overlooked area of the home into an organized space where we can finally breathe. And your chances of finding the tennis racket that’s been missing for years will increase greatly!

I’m not sure how you’re using your garage, but mine is the place where tools, sports equipment, and holiday decorations go to disappear forever. Just last week, I spent 20 minutes searching for my gardening gloves, only to find them buried under a pile of beach toys. So I got angry, and decided to use this feeling productively!

When you first look at that heaping pile of mess, your first instinct might be to call it quits. Well, so was mine! This is how I came up with this free printable garage deep cleaning checklist.

🧽 Garage Deep Cleaning Checklist

To keep my sanity intact, I decided to approach the cleaning and decluttering of my garage in an organized manner. There’s a lot to do, especially in the decluttering phase.

Each task has a checkbox, so you can cross them off the list one by one. This feels so satisfying, right?

In fact, I think the cleaning part is the easiest. Once you sort your items, it’ll be smooth sailing!

✅ Step 1 – Prepare

This is going to be a tough battle, so you can’t go in without weapons. Make sure you have plenty of containers for sorting all that garage clutter and gather all your cleaning supplies.

• Grab your cleaning supplies: broom, dustpan, rags, all-purpose cleaner, etc.
• Gather boxes, bins, and bags for sorting
• Prep some containers labeled “Donate” and “Trash”
• Lay down a tarp or old sheet to protect the
  garage floor

✅ Step 2 – Declutter

The traditional approach is having 3 containers labeled “Keep”, “Donate”, and “Trash”. I decided the first one was too generic. So instead of creating a huge pile of items to keep, you will organize them into several categories:

👉Outdoor/Yard – This category encompasses everything related to your outdoor spaces and gardening activities. Think gardening tools like shovels, rakes, and pruners; lawn equipment such as mowers, trimmers, and leaf blowers; outdoor toys and games like bikes, balls, and frisbees; gardening supplies like pots, fertilizer, and hoses; and patio furniture like chairs, tables, and cushions.

👉Tools & Equipment – This category is home to all those handy tools and equipment you use for home maintenance, repairs, and DIY projects. This includes hand tools like screwdrivers, hammers, and wrenches; power tools such as drills, saws, and sanders; workshop supplies like nails, screws, glue, and paint; also ladders and step stools.

👉Sports & Recreation – This category is dedicated to all things fun and active! It includes bikes and scooters; sports equipment like balls, bats, gloves, and helmets; camping gear such as tents, sleeping bags, and coolers; and any other items related to your favorite hobbies and outdoor activities.

👉Automotive – This category covers everything related to your vehicles. Think car maintenance supplies like oil, antifreeze, and cleaning products; tools and equipment like tire inflators, jumper cables, spare parts, and emergency kits; and car accessories like car seats, bike racks, and roof boxes.

👉Miscellaneous – This is the the catch-all category! Here, you’ll place any items that don’t neatly fit into the other categories. This might include holiday decorations, seasonal items like winter gear or summer toys, storage bins, containers, and any other odds and ends that have found their way into your garage.

Keep in mind that in order to clean the garage, these will need to be temporarily stored outside of it. Yep…..it’s a painful process, but the results are worth it. Imagine searching for something in your garage and finding it in under a minute. Amazing, right?

Also, the categories above are general. Feel free to organize similar items into subcategories, especially when you have a larger group. For example, I have tons of camping and hiking gear so this will have its own category.

✅ Step 3 – Clean

With all the items sorted and relocated, it’s time to give your garage a good scrub.

• Dust ceiling and corners
• Clean light fixtures
• Wipe down walls and shelves
• Wipe all furniture and surfaces
• Clean windows
• Wipe down garage door
• Sweep the floor & clean spills
• Clean the floor drain

✅ Step 4 – Organize

The final step is to return your sorted items to the garage. But you might want to do one more thing before this and that is to make sure you have enough storage options for them.

Now is a good time to install new shelving, purchase a new locker or cabinet, or even just some storage containers if you’re lacking in these areas. Once you have this part figured out use the same categories you used for decluttering to organize your items in the garage. And give them a good wipe, most of them are dusty, at the very least.

• Outdoor/Yard
• Tools & Equipment
• Sports & Recreation
• Automotive
• Miscellaneous

🖨️ Grab It Now

This free printable garage deep cleaning checklist is ready to print.

✔️Enter your name and email in the box below, hit the ‘Grab It Now’ button and in a few moments you’ll receive the download link to the PDF.

✔️After you save the file to your device, open it with a PDF reader like the free Adobe Reader.

✔️Select the Print option from the File menu.

✔️Use the default settings if printing on U.S. Letter paper. For other paper sizes like A4 or A5 you can adjust the Scale before printing.

✔️Hit the ‘Print’ button and enjoy!

📌Tip: Laminate this checklist and use it with a dry-erase marker to avoid having to print it over and over. I added it to my cleaning binder so it stays straight between uses and I always know where to find it!

🧺 More Free Printable Cleaning Checklists

Cleaning isn’t fun, but at least if we’re organized it can be efficient. The garage requires only occasional cleaning which can’t be said for the rest of the house.

I’m a big fan of an organized cleaning routine so I have tons of free printable checklists you can choose from to keep your house sparkling.

⭐Maintenance Cleaning – If you’re the type that likes to do maintenance cleaning and avoid major cleaning challenges, grab my free printable daily cleaning checklist. The free printable weekly cleaning routine will also work if you’d rather focus on cleaning chores just once a week.

⭐Deep Cleaning – For the occasional thorough cleaning, I have a free printable monthly cleaning checklist and a deep cleaning schedule to help you out. There are some less frequent tasks and forgotten corners we need to clean occasionally and these sheets will help with that!

⭐Emergency Cleaning – I used to panic if I got last-minute visitors and my house was a complete mess. Now I rely on this free printable speed cleaning routine to make my home presentable in record time minus the anxiety.

I’d love to hear about your garage cleaning adventures! Do you have any favorite organizing hacks or cleaning shortcuts? Let’s chat in the comments!