Is your food storage pantry looking less than organized these days? A well-organized and properly maintained pantry is crucial for ensuring your family has access to safe, nutritious food during times of crisis.
These expert tips will help you efficiently clean and organize your pantry. Discover how to maximize storage space, minimize food waste, and keep your supplies fresh and easily accessible. Learn to identify and discard expired items, while implementing a labeling system for seamless inventory management. Empower yourself with the knowledge to create a pantry that provides peace of mind and resilience in the face of any emergency situation.
How long will cleaning my food pantry take?
The time you need to clean your food pantry will depend on the size of your storage area. I have a standard sized closet and it takes me approximately 1.5-2 hours. This includes time to take inventory, check dates, and clean shelving.
How often do I need to clean my food pantry?
I recommend doing a full food pantry cleaning two times a year if you are not incredibly organized or have a busy family. We have three kids and two adults so the pantry gets disorganized quick. If you are a small family you may only need to do the process once a year.
Food pantry cleaning tips
1. See your pantry as it really is
You have to recognize that your food pantry is a mess in order to be successful in cleaning it. If you think it is not in horrible shape, you may be less likely to go through all the steps. This is from personal experience! It took my husband telling me how bad our pantry was before I actually took initiative to completely clean it.
2. Remove all items
Get a rolling cart or boxes and take every single item out of the food pantry.
3. Wash floors and shelves
Wipe down every shelf with a mild cleaning solution. Use a razor to scrape any sticky stuff and re-wipe to remove remnants. Clean the floor with an appropriate cleaning fluid. Our floors are wood, so I use a wood cleaner on the pantry floor. Be sure you get all the little spaces and any baseboards that are in your pantry area.
Tip 1: One reader gave a great recommendation about oils. If you find that your oils always seem to have some kind of drip – you are not alone. Reader CTY recommended using a lid from a container as a base for oil storage. Place the lid on the shelf and put your oils on top. It can be easily removed for washing and repeated use. I am sure a plate or small cutting board would work too.
Tip2 : Use 2:1 water/vinegar + a couple of drops of tea tree oil as a cleaner. It will help freshen the pantry. If you have grease or grime on your shelves, add a bit of dish detergent.
4. Use storage baskets and bins
This is a great time to consider using baskets or bins to keep you more organized. Can baskets help with spices or smaller cans? Can you trade in your plastic containers for glass to be more eco-friendly and to make visualizing what you have easier? Think through this part carefully so you can have a user-friendly pantry the whole family can enjoy.
Use your creativity! In an effort to not spend a ton of money, I created a spaghetti holder hack which holds all of my spaghetti boxes in the pantry. No more boxes falling over when I stack them.
5. Add labels to your containers
Labeling your containers can be a huge help for everyone. Don’t confuse sugar with flour! Label each container so there is never a mistake when you are looking for something quickly. I personally use an old fashioned Dymo Label Maker since it requires no power source.
6. Wipe all products before putting back
Now you should be ready to start putting everything back. The last thin you want to do is put dirty items back on your clean shelves. Wipe down every box, container, and bottle that you plan on returning to the pantry. If there is any grit or grime on the outside give it a little extra elbow-grease.
7. Review every products expiration date
This part can be a struggle because there is no consistency on where expiration dates will be on a product. For me, this is the longest part of the process. If your products are still in code – always put them back in the pantry with the farthest out expiration dates in the back, and those expiring sooner in the front.
This will keep you eating things in the order they came in which will reduce waste. As you continuing adding products to your pantry always put the new stuff in the back. Expiration codes are not an exact science either. You can use some goods after the expiration date – but be sure to smell and taste test before you do.
If you have food that will be expiring soon that you won’t use, donation is a great option!
8. Create a shopping list
Now that all y our food is back in the pantry you should be able to easily see what you have and what you need. If you have it organized by product type you can easily see “holes” in the products. For example if you are big soup eaters and often have a lot of cans, but now only have two – you know you will need some.
9. Keeping it organized
Now that you have an organized and clean pantry – the best way to reduce this annual or bi-annual tradition is to keep up with it throughout the year. With a busy family the pantry can become a mess pretty quickly.
Get the family together and walk them through expectations for keeping the food closet neat and organized. Here are a few things that each family member should take responsibility for.
- If they see or made a spill – clean it immediately. It is much easier to clean syrup when it is a fresh spill rather than 3 weeks later when it is a stick mess.
- Note when something is out of stock on a pad. We have a sticky notepad on the inside of our pantry door where everyone leaves their requests.
- Whomever puts products away should know to put new in the back and old in the front.
- All products should be in groups and when family members put things back, they should be sure to put it in the proper spot.
If you can maintain the order of your pantry throughout the year – the annual cleaning will feel like nothing.
Your Thoughts: Do you have an organizational tip that makes keeping your pantry clean and organized easier? Share it with us!