A question about : How Often Do You Clean Out Your Kitchen Cupboards?
I think for a lot of women including me (maybe men too?) this question will bring a nasty pang of guilt/dread or at least a moment of unpleasant pondering. By cleaning them out I don't mean pushing things to one side and giving the cupboard a quick bleachy wipe. I am talking about the empty everything out, throw out of date things away and thorough clean kind of cleaning.
I'm not sure how often I clean mine but it tends to run into months. During this time I am thinking that it should be done tomorrow but that tomorrow never seems to come. It eventually reaches a state where my conscience forces me to do it and then have a blitz. However trying to do them all at once never seems doable because I don't have a huge kitchen with lots of cupboards but I love cooking so I have lots of ingredients and cooking equipment. The result is my kitchen cupboards are crammed to bursting point.
Therefore it takes ages to empty everything out. Then cleaning out all the bits and crumbs takes forever. My cupboards are high in places so I have to get my husbands step up thing to stand on and it usually deposits bits of paint and filler etc on the kitchen floor tiles. This also means that the vacuum cleaner won't reach that high so I have to remove all the crumby bits by hand.
Then sorting it out and putting it all back is a nightmare. I mean, what do you do about the tin of unopened Birds custard powder with the expiry date of September 2014? What do you do about the jar of honey with a centimetre of honey at the bottom? You discover that you have not one but four packets of oxo cubes, three spice containers of turmeric, two of thyme and several different types of chilli. You discover you have three opened jars of peanut butter and three Nutella and you have no idea of when they were opened. At least I that's what I find.
Then you try to do another cupboard and find there's no room on the worktop for all the things in there and the other cupboard is still damp. So you have to wait till it feels dry enough for everything to go back.
Last year I tried a different way of cleaning the cupboards. I decided I was going to do the whole kitchen by cleaning out a cupboard a day. This worked for a while. I even organised my cooking ingredients cupboard by buying lots of jars and plastic containers. It had been a source of irritation because the cupboard was so full that whenever I opened the door I would get a bag of flour or something else fall on my feet. It was even more annoying when the bag had been opened. I got so sick of cleaning up lentils, pasta shells and sesame seeds that I spent about three days searching supermarkets for containers. So now instead of the packets falling out, the jars do instead. Sometimes.
You might feel differently. You might be someone who relishes cleaning their cupboards every week or someone who has a huge kitchen/doesn't cook much who has plenty of space in their cupboards so it is easy.
Anyway, I eventually got sidetracked by life and slowed down and stopped my cupboard a day. Until now. I've decided to blitz all the cupboards until they are finished. Well, my cupboard should be dry by now so I'll get back to it. 
I only sat down for a cup of tea.
Best answers:
- I don't do mine often enough! Funnily enough I was thinking yesterday that I should think about doing them. Probably do them 2 or 3 times a year.
I tend to do a couple a day over a few days. The cutlery drawers are the things I detest doing!
I try and keep most of my dry goods in plastic containers. Certainly cuts down on the odd lentil or two loose in the cupboards! - not often enough.
Have had a massive declutter. So got rid of loads of stuff to other people. Some of it was out of date but they were happy to take it off my hands as they would use it up.
Better not talk about the fridge or freezer. Won't mention about the mould growing on the shelves of the fridge
Yours
Calley - A couple of times a year. My cupboards are small, I only keep what I use. Sure I'll stock up on things I use a lot of, but the rest of it - use it or lose it.
If I'm waiting for something to boil will sort through and see is there something I haven't been using. i'll leave it out to remind me or I'll find I don't use it - put it down to a bad purchase and get rid of it.
If you've multiples of the one thing, especially where the multiples are open and you don't know when they were opened, then your system isn't working for you.
I've a tiny kitchen and cook everyday. But...everything has it's place. 1 drawer with spices and my tea towels. If I run out of space I've bought too much! I've a shelf for my tins - beans/tomatoes/coconut milk - if I run out of space, I've too much.
I'd a infestation from something in the flour a few years ago - I'm a lot more careful since then! - I clean my food cupboards a couple of times a year but I never throw anything out regardless of date..I just make sure I find some way of using it up. Makes me try new recipes so it's a good thing.
However my other cupboards are a disgrace, I've already decided they need sorting but keep putting it off!
I tidied the cupboard under the sink about a month ago and I threw out a load of tin foil dishes 2 weeks ago as they were beyond use from another cupboard, but I also have loads of empty tubs (think margarine tubs, cream cheese tubs etc etc) that I saved to store stuff in, however all they store is dust and they keep escaping from the cupboard when you open the door! - I do mine when I can't cram anything else in, and not a moment before.
- Do mine every couple of months or so. They don't get that dirty and they are easy enough to clean. Except the cleaning cupboard, that's usually rammed.
- Probably not often enough - but realistically 3/4 times a year when the mood strikes.
- Every leap year without fail !
- Hi,
from your post op it seems to me that you have too much stuff for the space you have.
Thin out all your cupboards and you may find your life a bit easier.
As for my cupboards, i try to do one cupboard a week to try and keep on top of them, doesn't always happen though.
I always miss the one under the sink though i really detest cleaning out that one.
Good luck
regards - Only about once a year. I have lots of cupboard space, so it's not a problem.
Under the sink is rarely done as I can't kneel to do it. - Probably a couple of times a year. With us previously both working full-time, it probably got done on thorough spring and autumn cleans!
Now I'm home full-time, I plan to do it a bit more often, to ensure I keep on top of what we've got in and what needs using up. With only one salary now, don't want to waste anything!
Our kitchen can be quite damp/steamy so now try to keep most things in jars or containers so it last longer....the trick is to label them so you do know which flour is which :-) - Kitchen cupboards only get cleaned when we move house...
(2 years ago was the last time, next move is planned for later this year...)
My head is hung in shame. - I have an unusual set up for the present day. I have a walk in pantry with a window and an airbrick high up, with three large, deep shelves running around two walls. I keep all food on two of the shelves, misc on the highest (light bulbs, vases, etc). In the kitchen itself, there are 2x600mm wall cupboards and 2 x 300mm wall cupboards. Below, floor standing, there are 2x 300mm and 1 x 600.
I clean out my pantry, top to bottom once a year. Things get pretty confused in there because I work full time and my retired husband loves bringing home things from Tesco/Booths. After the most recent clear out (last month) I found I had 9 (!) bottles of vinegar of various types, and several types of oil, ranging from sesame through olive to rapeseed.
I save bottles and jars (I make jams and flavoured alcohols lile sloe gin and apple schnapps) and put all "bitty" things in a jar and label the jar, so I can see when I need to replace rice, lentils, powdered milk (I make bread, too.)
Here's a tip: when you clean the top of your cupboards, if you have a cornice, place newspaper on the cupboard. You'll never have to clean them again, just replace the paper.
I have never turned out my upper kitchen cupboards since the kitchen was installed in 2004, but they do not get dirty. The lower cupboards get turned out when they need it, but they only contain stewing pans, cookbooks, tea towels. - I'm always doing it, my kids say i have cupboard OCD , in fact just reading this thread has me breaking out in a sweat thinking i must do them ..........as i am work it might prove difficult !
However i teand to take it all out , throw out a few things then bung it all back in - As only tins and crockery are kept in them, cleaning out is annually, I throw anything I see which is expired, whether or not it is sealed.
- I aim for one cupboard or drawer per week, working my way round the kitchen, as long as I'm feeling well enough to do it. We had the kitchen totally refitted last September, so everything was all sorted out, tidied, re-located as per my preference, and from that point I'm trying to keep it all nice so that it's never a large task. And if I get the odd week where I'm not well enough, it's not the end of the world.
I keep a spreadsheet with a list of the food we have in, both for the cupboard and the freezer, and I use things in rotation so that we don't get the problem of something with a best before date of 5 years ago lurking at the back. - Prob once or twice a year. I did it last week and wonder why I hadn't done it sooner. I have so much space now!! So many half packs of stale crackers and random "sniff to guess the flavour" stock cubes ... Oh the shame of it all!
ETA: I use the kiddos shoeboxes for all of my herbs and spices. Easy to pull them all out to rummage through and put back. Same for pasta and rice, use a bigger shoebox and half packs etc go in there so easy to pull out. Also easy to clean if there are any divers from the main pack, just tip them into the bin and Bob's your uncle
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