By
eHow Home & Garden Editor
Difficulty: Moderately Easy
Things You’ll Need:
Step1
Empty the storage shed of all tools and storage items. Lay them on the lawn, out of your way.
Step2
Knock down cobwebs. Use a broom covered with a rag. (This keeps webs out of your bristles.) As you're removing cobwebs, keep a sharp eye out for insect nests. You must never smack a beehive or hornet nest with the broom-—they will swarm you.
Step3
Get rid of nesting insects and their homes before you clean. Bees, hornets and wasps all produce paper-looking hives of various shapes. Most commonly, they appear bulbous, with a single hole in the center, or in a honeycomb formation. Purchase poisonous sprays to eliminate flying insects, but toxins and garden sheds don't mix. Instead, use a Shop Vac with a long extension hose. Position the hose beside the nest during a cool evening, when the insects have returned home. Secure the hose in place. Keeping it unplugged, turn the switch on. From a safe distance away, plug it in. Leave it running for at least an hour to ensure that you've trapped all inhabitants; and then plug the end of the hose while the vacuum is still running. (This ensures no insects fly back out.) Turn it off, and set aside the Shop Vac for a few days and then empty the shed.
Step4
Pick up rodent waste. Mouse droppings contain toxins, so keep the door wide open and wear rubber gloves and eye protection. Paper breathing masks are useful as well. Cleaning from the top-down, use a broom or Shop Vac to remove droppings from ledges and dormers. Sweep the floor well, and then allow the dust to settle. Return with an isopropyl alcohol and hot water mixture (16 ounces per each gallon of water) and scrub ceiling, walls, and finally the floor.
Step5
Block entry to unwelcome guests. Make repairs as needed to chewed entry holes and use caulk to seal cracks. Cover vents with heavy screening and modify doors as needed for a tight fit.
Step6
Clean and replace your tools. Dirt left on garden tools can lead to rust. Rinse the dirt off your tools and allow to dry. Oil hand tools if preferred to keep rust at bay. Simply sand off existing rust, then fill a five-gallon pail with garden sand and stir in one quart of unused motor oil. Mix well, then dip metal tools into the mixture and remove. (Do not submerge any part that you could damage by the process, such as pivot points.) Brush off excess sand and put away. When finished, cover the sand-oil mixture for future use.
