Winter Storing Tips

Winter is quickly approaching, are you ready? Here are three ways to prepare your stored belongings in colder weather. Don’t let winter’s weather sneak up on you before you’re done winterizing everything!

1. Who is mowing the grass in the winter? No one. Keep it safely stored away in the winter by storing it in a storage unit. Make sure to empty the gas tank in all your small engine equipment due to the ethanol found in gas today. The ethanol will eat the carburetor costing you some extra money to get it started when you’re finally ready to use it again. Most gasoline stabilizers will not preserve your gasoline over the entire winter. It is best if you can finish off the gas that you have before winter comes. The primer bulbs that are found on some small engines usually don’t fair too well in the cold of winter and end up cracking, be prepared to replace them when spring comes again. They are fairly cheap and easy to replace yourself. Here is a Youtube video on how to replace a primer bulb: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S16iWuedqx8

2. Be careful storing canned food items and sodas in storage over the winter months as it is not uncommon that some cans will burst open and spill everywhere. Cans that have burst open previously can be a major health hazard if consumed. Inspect all cans when ready for use. A trick that works great for storing cans of various foods and liquids is using an unplugged refrigerator. It can actually insulate those items from freezing temperatures.

3. Is there anything with a higher risk for damage from the cold? Items such as fragile antiques and items that have liquids or chemicals in them such as batteries have a higher chance of damage. The cold air can make glass and even some plastics very brittle. Wrap them up in a lot of newspaper for insulation.