Why Plastic Bins Have Become The Gold Standard For Garage Storage

Plastic storage bins don't enjoy much fanfare, but it's hard to imagine modern home life without them. It wasn't too long ago that household container options were limited to glass, metal, cardboard, and wood materials, each with unique advantages but also distinct drawbacks that could make storage a hazard. Sure, they offer smart ways to organize the home in an eco-friendly manner. However, at the same time, they all have durability and practicality issues. Glass is heavy and shatters into dangerous shards, metal rusts, and cardboard collapses and gets moldy. Mice and insects, meanwhile, can bust through paper and wood containers. These options could put your stored contents at risk, especially in an area like the garage where humidity and pests may be more of an issue. Plastic bins, on the other hand, are a top storage choice for home garages because they last for years and aren't as damage-prone as other packaging materials.

Attached garages first popped up in the 1920s as car ownership became the norm. Their popularity soared in the ensuing decades, particularly after WWII. Around the same time, plastics took on more uses around the home, arriving just in time to offer better storage for household overflow. Why are they the gold standard today? Plastic containers don't break down due to moisture, they hold up to impacts and compression, and their ability to be sealed keeps pests out. These totes are lightweight yet strong, with a structure suited to handle any garage storage need.

Businesses and consumers alike value the comprehensive benefits plastic storage bins provide for organization. These bins are typically made of polyethylene or polypropylene plastics. Both are lightweight yet durable and are often able to endure fluctuating temperatures that might affect a non-climate-controlled space. Perhaps the only significant drawback (besides the environmental impact) is UV degradation. In a closed garage that won't let in much outside sunlight, though, that may not be much of a concern. Indeed, plastic bins appear to only offer a host of benefits, particularly when you dig into their design features.

Sealable plastic bins are a huge upgrade from cardboard boxes that can be a pain to open and tape up again. The snap-on lid makes accessibility a breeze while also keeping water and pests out. Add in a gasket, and you get an airtight, thoroughly protected container. With this, there's no worry over moisture, dust, or insects damaging delicate items in long-term storage. Often resistant to water and oils, plastic bins can hold almost any garage item without risk of spills or breakdown.

Beyond their material properties, the design of plastic bins make them the most practical storage solution for the garage. With clear options available, plastic bins make it easy to find stored materials. Color-coded styles can offer similar organization benefits. Many bins also have tapered shapes to let them nest within one another, so multiple bins only take up minimal space when not in use, giving you more room for other items.

The strength and resilience of storage totes make garage organization a low-stress process. A few key principles can help you get the most efficiency from them. For starters, watch the weight of your stored things. Although a heavy-duty bin might handle bulky garage items, you may overload it and make it dangerous to lift. Use large bins for lightweight materials, like beach gear or Christmas ornaments. Meanwhile, the smaller totes can hold power tools and other heavy items. After that, they need clear labeling. Even better, you can apply some easy-to-use tech tricks to organize and tidy your space, like QR code tags.

When storing your plastic bins, you can see how their versatility further cements their status as the top garage storage option. The designs are adaptable. You can upcycle plastic bins into rolling storage carts and other DIY units to solve unique problems. Or, you could try one of today's hottest DIYer projects — a tote storage rack.

The plastic bin's tapered shape and lipped rim make a space-saving hanging rack an easy, sensible solution. Everything falls in a tidy stack against the wall. You can pull out and put back any bin, no matter where it sits in the stack. Casters add even more function in a DIY supersized rolling tote storage unit. Now, you have a wheeled rack to move around the garage, a significant convenience and one of many organization options only made possible through the smart design of today's plastic storage bins.