While some everyday items simply lose their effectiveness, others can become messy, damaged, or flat-out dangerous. Before you use that bright windowsill as extra storage, here are a few things worth moving elsewhere.

1. Aerosol Cans

Items such as hairspray, spray sunscreen, cooking spray, dry shampoo, and air fresheners are pressurized, which means high temperatures can cause the contents inside to expand.

That doesn’t mean your dry shampoo is guaranteed to explode, but aerosol cans can rupture or leak when exposed to extreme heat. Most labels specifically say to store these products below 120 degrees Fahrenheit. In the summer, a car parked in direct sunlight can easily surpass this threshold, causing your aerosol can of SPF 50 to burst.

2. Bleach and Cleaning Products

Heat and sunlight can break down the active ingredients in bleach over time, making it less effective when you actually need it. Other household cleaners can also degrade when left in hot conditions, particularly anything stored in thinner plastic bottles. Containers can warp, labels peel off, and formulas may separate or lose potency. A cool, dark space such as a hallway closet is a much better storage option for your cleaning supplies.

3. Batteries

Loose batteries should stay far away from direct sunlight. Heat can shorten battery life, increase the risk of leakage, and damage the battery casing. Rechargeable batteries are especially sensitive to high temperatures and can, in extreme cases, present a fire hazard. Leaving a pack of AA batteries on a bright windowsill for weeks might not seem like a big deal until you go to use them and realize they’re either dead or leaking corrosive residue.

Junk drawers aren’t safe for storing loose batteries either, so stash them in a dedicated storage container in a room-temperature space.

4. Remote Controls and Small Electronics

TV remotes, gaming controllers, wireless keyboards, and other small electronics don’t tolerate heat any better than your laptop. Direct sunlight can warp the plastic, fade buttons, and weaken internal battery performance over time. In extreme heat, adhesives used inside electronics can also degrade. It’s not usually instant damage, but repeated exposure adds up.

Keep these items tucked inside a closed media console, a drawer, or an opaque storage bin with a lid to protect them from direct sunlight.

5. Skin Care Products

Many skin care ingredients are light-sensitive, especially products with retinol, vitamin C, benzoyl peroxide, and SPF formulas. Heat and UV exposure can destabilize ingredients, making products less effective long before their expiration date. Store your expensive products in a bedroom drawer, a linen closet, or even a mini fridge to prevent the formulas from breaking down.

6. Perfume

Perfume bottles look nice displayed on a vanity tray, but sunlight slowly works against them. Heat and UV rays can alter fragrance notes, change the scent, and shorten shelf life. A dark, cool storage spot is a much better choice.

7. Cooking Oils

Olive oil, avocado oil, sesame oil, and other cooking oils can go rancid faster when exposed to heat, light, and air. Once oils oxidize, the flavor changes — and not in a subtle way. Store them in a cool, dark pantry or cabinet instead.

8. Medication

Prescription bottles, vitamins, and over-the-counter medications should never be stored in direct sunlight.

Heat can reduce potency, alter chemical stability, and in some cases make medications unsafe or ineffective. Bathrooms aren’t ideal either, thanks to humidity. Instead, opt for a dry, dark location with a temperature that hovers between 68 and 77 degrees Fahrenheit. If you have pets or children in the home, consider using a medicine lock box stored on a high shelf.

9. Plastic Water Bottles

Leaving a single-use plastic water bottle in direct sunlight isn’t doing the bottle — or the water inside — any favors. Heat can cause plastic to degrade faster, warp the bottle, and make the water taste noticeably unpleasant and unsafe to drink. As the material breaks down, trace amounts of chemicals and microplastics can leach into the water. The risk is low in most everyday situations, but a clear water bottle can also act as a lens that concentrates sunlight. Should that focused beam land on a combustible material, it could generate enough heat to smolder or ignite. Reusable insulated bottles are a better choice if you tend to leave drinks sitting around.

What It Comes Down To

Sunlight makes a room feel warm and inviting, but it also damages a host of everyday items. If a product contains chemicals, fragrance, pressurized contents, batteries, delicate ingredients, or plastic, there’s a strong chance it shouldn’t be left in direct sunlight for an extended period.

1. Pouring Grease Down the Drain

After cooking bacon, ground beef, or anything oily, it’s tempting to rinse the pan and send everything down the drain. The grease looks liquid while it’s hot, but once it cools, it hardens.

That hardened grease sticks to the inside of your pipes and acts like glue for food scraps passing through. Over time, the buildup thickens until water has nowhere to go.

Instead of pouring grease down the drain, let it cool in a container, then toss it in the trash or strain it for future cooking. Yes, it’s slightly less convenient, but it beats dealing with a flooded kitchen.

2. Treating Your Garbage Disposal Like a Trash Can

Garbage disposals are useful, but people tend to overestimate what they can handle. Fibrous foods such as celery, corn husks, onion skins, and asparagus can wrap around the internal components and cause jams. Starchy foods, including pasta, rice, and potato peels, expand with water and create a thick sludge. Coffee grounds are another sneaky problem because they clump together and settle deep in your pipes.

A garbage disposal is meant for small leftover scraps, not half your dinner prep.

3. Using Liquid Drain Cleaner Too Often

When you have a clog, liquid drain cleaner may seem like the easiest fix, but its short-term convenience can have long-term consequences. Many commercial cleaners rely on harsh chemicals to dissolve blockages. While they can sometimes clear minor clogs, repeated use can be rough on your plumbing system. These cleaners trigger intense chemical reactions that generate heat to melt clogs, but that same heat can warp PVC pipes and slowly corrode older metal fixtures.

For slow drains, first try using a plunger, a drain snake, or a mix of baking soda and vinegar followed by hot water.

4. Ignoring Small Leaks

A dripping faucet or tiny leak under the sink doesn’t always feel urgent. But besides wasting water, small leaks can create bigger issues behind walls and inside cabinets. Over time, moisture encourages mold growth, rots wood, and warps flooring.

Often, a minor drip isn’t an isolated issue — it’s an early warning sign of high water pressure or a worn-out pressure-reducing valve that’s quietly straining all the pipes in your home. If you notice a leak, don’t wait until it turns into a full-blown plumbing emergency.

5. Letting Hair Go Down the Drain

Hair doesn’t dissolve, and once it combines with soap residue, toothpaste, shaving cream, and whatever else ends up in your sink or shower, it forms a dense, stubborn clog. Using a simple hair catcher can make a huge difference. It’s not glamorous, but neither is fishing a wet blob of hair out of your drain with a plastic zip tool.

6. Using Your Toilet Like a Trash Can

Toilets are surprisingly easy to clog. Beyond the obvious no-go items, people frequently flush things like medications, cat litter, dental floss, and food scraps. None of these belong in your plumbing — not even “flushable” wipes, which stay intact far longer than toilet paper, making them more likely to snag, bunch up, and create blockages. Flushed medications can also create environmental hazards by contaminating local water systems.

If it isn’t toilet paper or organic human waste, it shouldn’t go down the toilet.

The Takeaway

Most plumbing disasters don’t come out of nowhere. They build slowly through daily habits that seem harmless at the time. Making a few small changes to how you treat your drains can save you money, stress, and at least one deeply unpleasant plumbing emergency.