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7 Items You Shouldn’t Keep in Your Laundry Room, According to Pros

If you’re strapped for storage, your attention might turn to the laundry room. But before you start stuffing the space with bins and organizers, it’s important to know that some items simply aren’t a good fit for this area. 

We spoke to experts to find out what you shouldn't be keeping in your laundry room. 

Meet the Expert

  • Hashi Mohamed is the president of Ivy Cleans in Minneapolis.
  • Sharon Garcia is a content creator who is well-known for her cleaning tips and tricks on Instagram and TikTok.
  • Janille Mangat is a professional organizer and founder of VMAP Cleaning Services.
Modern organized laundry room

onurdongel / Getty Images

Cleaning Chemicals

It’s tempting to stash all your cleaning supplies together in your laundry room, but there are good reasons why you should keep your toilet cleaner and disinfectant sprays separate from your fabric softener and detergent.

“Storing chemical cleaning products in your laundry room can pose safety hazards,” says Hashi Mohamed, president of Ivy Cleans in Minneapolis. “These products often contain potentially harmful chemicals that can be dangerous if they leak or if there’s accidental exposure.” 

Additionally, Mohamed says, the humidity and temperature of a laundry room is constantly fluctuating. This can affect the stability and effectiveness of some cleaning chemicals over time. Instead, Mohamed recommends storing any chemical cleaning products in a dedicated, well-ventilated storage area—away from not only your laundry room, but safely out of reach from kids and pets, too. 

Food

Have some extra cabinet space above your washer and dryer? Don’t stock it with food, even if you have an overflow of nonperishables. 

“The laundry room is not meant for storing edibles,” says Sharon Garcia, a content creator who is well-known for her cleaning tips. “These items can attract pests and create unpleasant odors, making your cleaning tasks far less pleasant.”  

And it’s not just the added clutter and potential pests you need to worry about. Storing food in your laundry room can contaminate your snacks and ingredients, since they’re being kept in close quarters with your laundry supplies and in humid space. Keep your food properly stored in your kitchen instead. 

Medications

Just like with food, keeping medications in the laundry room isn’t a good idea, Mohamed says. 

“The moisture and temperature variations in a laundry room can degrade medications and reduce their effectiveness,” he says. 

To properly store medication, follow any instructions on the packaging. Store them in a cool, dry place and keep all medicine secured out of the reach of curious kiddos or animals. Always throw them out when they’ve reached their expiration date. 

Important Documents 

It’s not hard to imagine all the ways that storing documents in a laundry room could go wrong. Not only can the always-changing humidity be a hazard, but there’s also the risk of accidental spills. 

“These conditions can lead to mold, mildew, or deterioration of documents over time,” Mohamed says. “Keep important documents and files in a secure, climate-controlled location, such as a home office, study, or in a fireproof safe.” 

But if you live in a small space and have to use the laundry room to store your passport, birth certificate, or car title, use an airtight, waterproof container to make sure everything stays protected and free of fabric softener. 

Electronics

Similarly to paper documents, the laundry room can be an especially treacherous place to stash any electronics, says Janille Mangat, a professional organizer and founder of VMAP Cleaning Services. What could seem like a convenient storage solution can quickly go wrong when your expensive electronics become damaged from the moisture and stop working as they should. 

Clothing

We know this seems a little backward, but you shouldn’t keep any clothes that you are not actively cleaning in your laundry room. This is especially important for clothes that shouldn’t be washed at all, such as any leather or suede pieces of your wardrobe. 

These items should be stored in another room or closet, Mangat says, to prevent any damage to your clothing. 

Holiday Decorations, Valuables, and Any Other Clutter

Simply put, your laundry room should not be used as a storage room. 

“Excessive clutter not only hampers efficiency, but it also creates an unsightly and disorganized space,” Garcia says. “It’s crucial to keep the area organized and free of unnecessary items. A clutter-free laundry room allows you to access cleaning supplies and equipment with ease, promoting an efficient workflow.” 

Instead of making the laundry room a catch-all for your storage items, try other storage solutions. For example, store valuables in a climate-controlled area that doesn’t get a lot of foot traffic to reduce the risk of breakage (“the laundry room can be a busy space, and accidents can happen,” Garcia says). Organize your holiday decorations in recognizable bins and place them in a closet, basement, or designated storage room. 

The goal is to keep your laundry room efficient for a less-hectic laundry day.