5 Dollar General Products Worth Buying For Your Garage

Dollar stores have become commonplace across the country, oftentimes becoming the default store for food, school supplies, and auto parts for families that are living in areas that don't have a Walmart, Target, or other big-box option for low-cost products. While Dollar General, Family Dollar, and the like have their drawbacks — we've written before about things to avoid from these stores — there are gems to be found, if you know what to look for.

Dollar General has a good selection of products worth buying for your garage. Whether you're stocking up to have products on hand or just stopping into the DG for an emergency quart of oil, it's always worth a trip down the aisles to see what's available. Stores like Dollar General and Dollar Tree can save you a few bucks when you're working on your car, especially if you're just looking for disposable things for cleanup or installation.

After a quick look at Dollar General's website and a trip to our local location for a browse, we've come up with this list of five Dollar General products worth buying for your garage.

WD-40 has been around since 1953, when Rocket Chemical Company's three employees created a line of rust-prevention solvents and degreasers. They eventually found the right combination of water-displacing chemicals after 40 tries — hence WD-40. This magical solvent/lubricant, officially labeled WD-40 Multi-Use Product, can free stuck lugnuts, quiet noisy hinges, and prevent corrosion on irrigation equipment — in fact, the brand maintains a list of over 2000 uses of the stuff. And, unlike many name brands sold through Dollar General, you get a reasonably sized can for about the same price per ounce as you'd get at AutoZone.

A can of WD-40 is one of the most useful things to have on hand in your garage or in your toolbox. It removes rust, but WD-40 also has plenty of other unexpected uses. It's not necessarily going to save you any money, but if you're shopping at Dollar General anyway, at least you can rest assured knowing you're not overpaying for WD-40, a product with a good reputation across its long history. A 7-ounce can of WD-40 with the Smart Straw top for wide or precision applications can be picked up at your local Dollar General for about $7.

Effective, powerful, cheap, and it smells good, too! The name may be a bit of a mouthful, but LA's Totally Awesome Orange Heavy Duty Degreaser and Spot Cleaner does what it says on the label and then some. This stuff is great for cleaning up around the house and in the garage, and its degreasing properties make it a solid choice to clean up after an oil change or other messy work.

We kept a bottle of this in the lube tech bay at my first Sears Auto Center job to quickly clean up oil spills made by overzealous new technicians, and I keep one in my garage for general cleanup. Along with smelling nice, this orange-scented cleaner can be diluted for mopping or used straight in a spray bottle for spot cleaning applications. It works on fabrics, counters, and even appliances, making it versatile enough to earn a spot on that shelf of cleaning supplies in the garage.

Given its shockingly low price, it might be hard to believe that this cleaning solution is at all effective. But SlashGear has written about this incredible product before, and online reviews agree that it's as useful as it is cheap. LA's Totally Awesome Orange Heavy Duty Degreaser and Spot Cleaner can be purchased in a gallon bottle from Dollar General for $1.

Dollar General carries a variety of storage totes that would be perfect for the garage. Whether you're looking to order online or just wandering the aisles, you'll find brand names like Sterilite and True Living next to generic plastic boxes. And these aren't all one size or style; Everything from big 30-gallon totes to sets of three clear totes with locking lids is available and ready to store all your Halloween decorations, seeds for next year's garden, or old newspapers celebrating the Blackhawks' last Stanley Cup win.

Just spare a thought for what you're planning to store in these things, and use some common sense when making a purchase. If you're putting your first edition autographed Hemingway novels in storage, maybe look into something that feels more solid than a $4 tote made of cheap plastic.

Storage tote selection varies at different Dollar General locations, and there's an assortment available online as well. Prices range from $1 to around $20, depending on size, brand name, construction material, and features.

If you're looking to save money when stocking your garage, there are definitely some corners to be cut. Hit up Harbor Freight for some must-have tools, and get a cheap mechanics' tool set from this list to get started. A visit to Dollar General isn't a bad idea, either. Every DG carries a few shelves worth of automotive fluids in its stores, and most of them are fairly trustworthy. However, just like when buying motor oil at Dollar Tree, it's a good idea to make sure that the fluids are compatible with your vehicle. While things like windshield washer fluids, fuel additives, and coolants are usually okay, take an extra minute to make sure that bottle of Mobil 1 is compatible with your ride.

And if you do need to get fluids into your reservoirs, grab a funnel or two while you're in the store. They're cheap, good-sized funnels, and spending a few extra bucks is better than driving around with a cloud of smoke coming from under the hood while you wait for the oil to burn off because you dumped half the bottle onto your engine. The Drive MXD Multipurpose Funnel can be purchased from Dollar General for $1.50.

If you're going to wash your car, you should have some towels on hand, even if it's just for a quick rubdown after the fact. For that job, a cheap terry towel is fine, and should leave your vehicle streak-free. At $6, a five-pack of Dollar General's store-brand towels is priced lower than a similar product at Autozone, and can just be tossed in your trunk when you're headed out to the car wash, or kept in your garage if you're a hose-and-bucket car washer.

If you need towels for cleanup when working on a vehicle, a disposable towel is more appropriate. And when you're talking shop towels, soft blue Scott Shop Towels are the industry standard — I worked at multiple shops throughout my career and never saw anything else stocked. Surprisingly, if you're just looking for a single roll of the popular Scott Shop Towels to have in the garage until that next Sam's Club run, you can save a buck or two by buying them at Dollar General for $4 instead of paying more at Advance or Home Depot.