Declutter & Organize Car Care Products & Auto Supplies {15 Minute Mission}

Today's mission is to declutter and organize car care products and auto supplies that you store in your garage, in your car, or wherever else you keep them.

I've designed this mission to be completed while working through the Garage Organization Challenge here on the site, which is one of the 52 Week Organized Home Challenges.


I did that because auto care products are often kept in the garage. Therefore, you can do this mission while generally decluttering your garage.

The types of things I have in mind for you to declutter and organize, when deciding this was an important mission, include items you've purchased for car maintenance, as well as cleaning and general care of your vehicles.

Obviously some people have a lot more of these products than others. My Dad absolutely enjoyed washing our cars when I was a kid, plus he enjoyed being what he always referred to as a "shadetree mechanic" so we had a lot of this stuff in my childhood garage.

On the other hand, now in my own home, I don't keep a lot of stuff like this in my garage because I don't personally work on my own cars much. But I do have some basics, such as car wash soap and car wax, as well as windshield washer fluid, coolant, and some extra motor oil for just in case.

You know what you've got related to your vehicles, and today's the day to declutter anything too old to use, or broken, or that doesn't even work for cars you still own.

Only after you declutter what you no longer want or need is it time to organize what you've got left (because as always, I'm not asking you to get rid of it all). Once you're ready to organize gather up the rest of these car products into one location and organize it so you'll always know where all these supplies are in the future when you need them.

While decluttering these types of things is, in theory simple, you do need to realize that unlike general trash you've got to properly and safely dispose of automotive fluids and certain car cleaning products, since many of them are considered hazardous waste.

Therefore, below I've provided a bit of information on this step so you declutter things safely.

How To Properly & Safely Dispose Of Automotive Fluids & Car Maintenance Products

As I stated above, once you've gathered up all of the automotive products that you plan to get rid of you need to make sure you properly and safely dispose of them, which most of the time is not just throwing them in the trash.

First, for any products that are still good, and unopened, but that you personally have decided you don't need to keep in your home, see if you can find a place to donate them. Because having them used, by someone, is better than just disposing of them, even if it is done safely.

However, for any types of items that you do need to dispose of the key is to do a little research first to make sure you're following all applicable laws and environmental regulations, as well as keeping yourself and your family safe.

For example, antifreeze and coolants are dangerous for pets and children because they are poisonous, yet taste sweet, so keeping such items out of reach during both storage and disposal is important. Similarly, many automotive fluids are flammable or corrosive, so again, following common sense safety measures is mandatory.

These days every single fluid used by the modern automobile, except perhaps windshield washer fluid, requires either recycling or special disposal. (You can check out my article on how to properly dispose of cleaning products here if needed.)

That includes these fluids and other car parts:

• Oil and oil filters from at home oil changes


• Antifreeze and coolants


• Transmission fluid


• Brake fluid
  
• Old car batteries (here's my article on how to dispose of batteries which contains a section on automotive batteries


• Tires

Safety Rules To Remember

Here are some general safety rules to keep in mind when dealing with any type of automotive fluid.

• Never mix these fluids together, but instead keep them separate in their original sealed containers whenever possible until disposal


• Never dump these fluids onto the ground, into a storm drain or septic system

Laws & Methods For Disposal Vary Based On Where You Live

It is difficult to say definitely how you should dispose of various car maintenance products and automotive fluids because of the fact that each area of the country, and the world for that matter, has different laws, regulations, and procedures for disposal.

Typically though, as long as you know what you've got, you're going to be able to find out quickly and easily how to properly dispose of these things. That's because, already, professional mechanics and others in the car maintenance industry are heavily regulated in how they are required to dispose of these exact same types of products. That means in your area there are already developed procedures in place that you can follow once you ask the right person who can tell you what those procedures are.

Typically, many of these items are recycled and repurposed, or if not, you want to get them into the hazardous waste disposal system, so they can be disposed of more safely for the environment.

Check First With Your Auto Parts Stores

Many auto parts stores accept used motor oil and other car fluids for recycling or disposal, but not all. Check with these types of stores first, because this can be the easiest way to deal with these types of products.

Waste Management Companies And/Or Municipalities May Have Drop Off Locations Or Scheduled Pick Up Days

Another possibility is to contact your local waste management company, or municipality to determine how to dispose of these items.

Many times they have drop off locations, or scheduled pick up times for these products, although sometimes it isn't very convenient and you may need to put the date on your calendar to remember when it is later.

If they don't have these available they should also have more contact information for additional places you can call to make sure you get these items into the proper disposal channels.

In addition, your local city hall or county government office may also have this type of information available on municipal websites.

One Declutter 365 participant, Beth, did this after her husband got rid of his motorcycle. She explained, "After we sold my husband's motorcycle I pulled all the motorcycle supplies and equipment from a shelving unit and converted it to food storage. Much of the motorcycle stuff - especially cleaners and oil and fuel stabilizers - is still sitting on a card table in the garage as it is hard to dispose of. Yesterday I finally made an appointment for next month to drop off household hazardous waste at a city collection site. They will also take pesticides, herbicides and non-latex paint so a couple more shelves should be emptied by the appointment date!"

You can also see photos, below, from another Declutter 365 participant, Patti, who took these types of automotive supplies and products to a disposal center in her area, as part of her decluttering process.

Want To Do More Decluttering Missions? Get Started With Declutter 365 Today!

Once you declutter one type of item in your home I bet you'll want to declutter some more. After all, decluttering gives you a great reward for even a small investment of time and energy.

The Declutter 365 system is designed to help you declutter, over the course of a year, your entire house, with just 15 minutes of decluttering each day!

Hundreds of thousands of people use this proven system to get rid of their clutter, and bring peace and calm back to their homes.

Declutter 365 works to guide you to clear the clutter without overwhelm, focusing on just one small area at a time, and without making a huge mess in the process, so you see consistent forward progress without all that "messy middle" that makes it even harder to function in your home than before you started.

In addition to building a daily decluttering habit, the Declutter 365 program, along with the accompanying 52 Week Organized Home Challenge, teaches you the skills, habits, routines, and mindsets necessary to maintain the clutter free and organized state of your home from now on, so it'll never be as messy and cluttered as it is right now, ever again.

If you haven't already, make sure to get your copy of this year's Declutter 365 annual calendar here (it's FREE!), find today's date, and do 15 minutes of decluttering on the day's mission. Then, repeat again tomorrow, and again and again. Over the course of the next year, if you do this 15 minutes per day, you'll declutter your whole house!

Get This Storage Areas Decluttering Checklist + 32 Other Decluttering Checklists For Your Home

Right now you're decluttering storage areas within your home, and there's a lot of stuff to declutter in these spaces.

Get your 2 page storage areas decluttering checklist, plus 32 other decluttering checklists, to help you declutter your entire home here.

I've done the hard work of breaking down these tasks into smaller more manageable steps for you, so you don't get overwhelmed or worry you're forgetting a task, and you can go at the pace you want, whether that's fast or slow.

In addition, you can tackle these decluttering tasks in whatever order you want when you use these checklists!

Related Pages You May Enjoy

Getting Clutter Free 15 Minutes At A Time Hall Of Fame

Getting Rid Of Storage Area & Garage Clutter Hall Of Fame

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