Does It Freeze? My Hudson Valley Garage Edition

I've been a homeowner since 2015, currently in my second house.  Now, with that being said, I'll admit, I am the type of person that has to hire someone to fix things anytime something goes wrong. I ask a lot of questions about how things should work, and I do a lot of Googling when it comes to homeownership.

Anyway...

Last week the temps were down into the teens and single digits, and we knew this was coming, but for some reason, I feel like the impact these freezing temps had on my house was a bit different this time around.

Let me explain.

The Laundry Detergent

Saturday afternoon, I went to do laundry and realized I was just about out of detergent in the laundry room.  Ran into the garage to grab another bottle (always stocking up when they're on sale like a real bargain shopper adult) - went to pour it into the washing machine and sludge came out.  What?

Did you know that storing laundry detergent in your freezing cold garage (or the trunk of your car) can lead it to freeze and solidify?  According to myhomedwelling.com, liquid laundry detergent can freeze at temperatures below 12 Fahrenheit, it can then solidify and become unstable and thus less effective.  My solution? I let it sit in the laundry room for a while to warm up, shook the bottle to recombine everything, and it ended up fine.

Snapple

I drink a lot of iced tea, and I have always stored it in my garage.  Well, I had a case of glass bottles of Snapple and those too got a bit too cold, and a few of the bottles exploded in the garage leaving me with a mix of glass shards and Snapple slushie on the shelf.  Obviously when liquid freezes it expands, thus putting pressure on the bottle and causing it to explode.  I was not surprised that it happened, just wondering why, after storing it in my garage for the past few years, did had never happened before.

Driveway Ice Melt/Rock Salt

Ok, this one really threw me for a loop.  A product we buy to melt the ice on our driveways, sidewalks, front steps.  I have a few different bags of melt products because I'm always on the lookout for the best pet-safe option. Why, when I opened a brand new bag to put some out on the steps was it a frozen block?  Apparently, when condensation gets in the bag and causes moisture, the rock salt or ice melt products can freeze up.  This can happen if the product was damp when it was put into the bag or bucket, or if it was in a warm place that turned cold, and then warmed up again, condensation forms and causes the product to freeze when temperatures drop.  I had moved the bag right next to the garage door for easy access, so that's what caused that.

My latest Google search about homeownership as a result of this fun game of 'does it freeze' directed me to this article from The Family Handyman about 10 things you should get out of your garage before winter.  Needless to say, I'll need to remove eight or nine more things when I get home from work this afternoon to avoid any future cold temp garage fun.

Not only did I learn a thing or two about what you should/shouldn't store in the garage in the winter, but I also discovered that I need to have someone install a new seal around my garage door, as it appears that is why it all of a sudden got so cold in the garage causing everything to freeze...adulting, am I right?