Decorating Kitchen Decor & Design Kitchen Storage Kitchen Organization Throw Away These 12 Kitchen Items Immediately (and Be Glad You Did) Conquer all the clutter in your kitchen. By Jessica Bennett Jessica Bennett Instagram Jessica Bennett is an editor, writer, and former digital assistant home editor at BHG. Learn about BHG's Editorial Process Updated on January 13, 2023 Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos Photo: Better Homes & Gardens / Blaine Moats Cleaning out forgotten, expired, mismatched, and flavorless items from your kitchen allows you to optimize storage in an organized manner. It also lets you give empty cabinet shelves and drawers a thorough cleaning before restocking them with fresh goods. Here's a look at the things you should toss, relocate, or donate immediately. 01 of 12 Cooking Oils Werner Straube Remove all cooking oils from cabinet shelves, check expiration dates, open lids to check that the necks aren't chipped, and give the oils a taste to ensure they're still good. Throw out chipped bottles, rancid oils, and those past their expiration dates. No matter how carefully a bottle top is tightened, oils tend to leak, says cleaning expert Mary Findley. She advises cleaning the bottles you plan to keep and washing the shelves with soapy water before returning oils to their spots. 19 Household Items You Should Probably Throw Out Now 02 of 12 Old Spices Better Homes & Gardens / Christina Wedge Spices come with expiration dates, which you should check a few times each year to ensure the seasonings you're sprinkling are at their flavor peak. Can't find an expiration date? Pinch the herb or spice between your fingers; if it no longer has a distinctive scent, it's past its use-by date. Findley suggests dumping the expired seasonings on your spice rack (Better Homes & Gardens Natural Bamboo Expandable Spice Rack, $15, Walmart), cleaning and drying the jars, and refilling them with purchased-in-bulk organic herbs and spices. You'll save money, enjoy tastier seasonings, and reduce landfill waste. How to Make a DIY Spice Drawer Organizer 03 of 12 Plastic Containers Better Homes & Gardens / Jay Wilde Edit jumbled piles of plastic containers to free up cabinet space and make storage operations run more smoothly. Cleaning coach Leslie Reichert advises pulling out all your plastic containers, matching lids to their containers, and tossing out unmatched components. Next, throw out plastic containers labeled 3, 6, or 7, which are made of hazardous plastics. Keep those coded 1, 2, 4, or 5, which are safer for humans and the environment. Finally, organize the containers by size to see what's what; store only those you need and are likely to use. 04 of 12 Miscellaneous Junk Ed Gohlich Every kitchen has a junk drawer that's home to miscellaneous household stuff. If you're not careful, this space can quickly become a holding area for unusable items like dried-out pens or keys without corresponding locks. Empty each junk drawer, and sort through the contents. Throw out anything without a purpose. Recycle no-longer-needed receipts, takeout menus, and user manuals available online. Outfit each drawer with dividers to sort the goods returning to your "dejunked" drawers. 05 of 12 Too-Old Pantry Staples Helen Norman Empty food cabinets and use your sense of smell or taste to take stock of pantry staples, suggests cleaning specialist Melissa Maker. "Smell pantry items (flour, nuts, sugar), or do a quick taste test and dispose of anything rancid," Maker says. "Keep a running list of items you need to replace [and] get rid of items you didn't or won't use. Look for expiration dates on packages and cans, and dispose of anything old. Finally, be ruthless: If you have six cans of creamed corn and kid No. 2 has developed a corn allergy, you can safely donate the creamed corn." When restocking the cabinet, think like a grocer and place items with the nearest expiration dates in the front so you'll remember to use those staples first. 06 of 12 Frostbitten Foods Better Homes & Gardens / Werner Straube Freezers easily suffer from overload, with leftovers buried behind other items to create a frozen wasteland of inedible foods. Keep your freezer tidy (and ensure the food you're reheating is safe to eat) by purging frozen foods periodically. Generally, you should throw out anything in the freezer for more than a year. Toss leftover cooked meat and poultry after six months, frozen raw ground meat after four months, and leftover soups and stews after three months, according to guidelines from Foodsafety.gov, a clearinghouse of food safety information provided by the U.S Department of Health and Human Services. 07 of 12 Dated Refrigerated Items Better Homes & Gardens / Cameron Sadeghpour Throw out expired condiments, opened lunch meat, and leftovers that have been in the fridge for more than three to five days. Toss fresh ground beef, poultry, and sausage after about two days; throw out fresh steaks, chops, and roasts that have been in the refrigerator for five days. Check condiment expiration dates weekly, advises Reichert, but schedule a thorough refrigerator purge annually to give your fridge a fresh start. 08 of 12 Kitchen Equipment Better Homes & Gardens / Dave Lauridsen Slow cookers, stand mixers, blenders, and roasting pans take up more than their fair share of cabinet space. Move equipment you don't use monthly to a pantry, the basement, or an underused closet. Reichert recommends putting a date on the appliance or pan when you store it; you're likely to be surprised by how much time has passed when you grab it to use it again. 09 of 12 Glasses, Cups, and Mugs Better Homes & Gardens / Brie Williams Throw away cracked, chipped, and stained glasses and mugs. They're unsightly and unsafe, says Reichert, who adds: "Chips and cracks can lead to many injuries, from a small cut to handles coming off when you least expect it." Too many souvenir glasses or meaningful mugs crowding your shelves? Donate those in good shape, or repurpose good-looking glasses and mugs as vases, pencil holders, and vanity organizers. How to Optimize Storage on Open Kitchen Shelves 10 of 12 Damaged Pots, Pans, and Baking Trays Better Homes & Gardens / John Granen Sort your cooking and baking pans to determine what needs to go and what can stay. Throw out nonstick pots, skillets, and baking pans with peeling or scratched surfaces, as they're no longer safe to use. Toss pans with baked-on gunk that won't come off; donate specialty pans that you never use. "Then organize the pots and pans by size, and only keep the ones you use on a regular basis," Reichert says. "See if every lid has a pot—if not, out goes the lid." 11 of 12 Cutlery and Cutting Tools Better Homes & Gardens / Laura Moss Clean out drawers that hold your gadgets, silverware, and knives. Get rid of mismatched silverware pieces, never-used tools, and lesser-quality knives. Keeping only what you need, what you use regularly, and what fits in the drawer (stay organized with this Better Homes & Gardens Natural Bamboo Drawer Organizer, $22, Walmart) ensures that you'll be able to find what you want when you need it. 22 Kitchen Pantry Ideas for All Your Storage Needs 12 of 12 Grocery Bags Better Homes & Gardens / Blaine Moats Stash reusable shopping bags in your car instead of a cabinet or drawer—this will open up a good deal of cabinet space for storing kitchen gear. Paper grocery and shopping bags piling up? Keep only those you'll need for a week or two and recycle the rest. Or check with local food pantries or homeless shelters to see if they can use your extras. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit