Add Organization to Wire Shelves
Wire shelving units are commonly used in offices, garages and basements. Wire shelves can become unorganized quickly if people consistently add items to the shelving units in an unorganized manner. To keep track of the items on your wire shelves, create an organizational system by reorganizing the items' locations on the shelving unit, investing in boxes and creating labels.
Instructions
1
Remove all of the items from the wire shelves so they are clean and empty.
2
Clean the wire shelves with a damp cloth and soapy water. If the wire shelves are used to store food items or kitchen equipment, cleaning the shelves will help to avoid cross-contamination should there be bacteria on the food or equipment.
3
Place the heavy items on the bottom shelf. If heavy items are placed on top shelves, the shelving units may fall over or collapse due to the weight displacement. For example, if you are using the shelving units in a kitchen, place blenders, pots and pans, and other heavy electronic devices on the bottom shelf.
4
Divide other items into categories. For example, if you are using the wire shelving in an office, divide the items into categories, such as paper, pens and paper accessories, including staplers and paper clips. If you are working in a kitchen, divide the items into spices, cooking spoons, utensils and kitchen cloths.
5
Put each of the categories into its own box. If you prefer and if it is safe, you can leave the lid off the boxes. If you are using the wire shelving in a walk-in fridge, however, where meats and vegetables are stored on the same shelf, you must use lids. Otherwise, meat juices or bacteria can fall down on the shelf below and contaminate the contents. If you are simply storing equipment or spices, however, you can avoid using lids.
6
Create sticker labels for each area on the wire shelving unit. For each box on the shelf, create a label that describes what is in the box. Do not put the label on the box, as the box can be removed from the shelf and cause disorganization. Rather, place the label on the shelving unit itself. Do this for each shelf and each section of every shelf. For example, add a "Spices" label to the wire shelf and place the box with spices by the sticker. If the box should break, simply put a new box in its place.
