How Often Do You Clean Out Your Kitchen Cupboards?

tesuhoha

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 I am talking about the empty everything out, throw out of date things away and thorough clean kind of cleaning.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.

azzabazza

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!

calleyw

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 :eek:

Yours

Calley

FrugalWorker

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!

pm2326

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!

peachyprice

I do mine when I can't cram anything else in, and not a moment before.

System

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.:o

elsien

tesuhoha wrote: »

I'm not sure how often I clean mine but it tends to run into [STRIKE]months[/STRIKE] years.

Corrected that one for you.

shammyjack

Every leap year without fail !

tooties

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

pollypenny

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.