How to Keep Your Pantry Clean and Tidy

Have you ever opened your pantry to try and find something and it seems to have disappeared? Maybe you’ve noticed that you have ants or other crawly things in your food or on your shelves?

Perhaps your food sticks to the shelves, or seems to have leaked? All of these things are familiar problems of a disorganized, messy pantry. Here, we tell you how to keep your pantry clean and tidy, so you never have to worry about these issues again.

1. Start with a clean base

As with any kitchen cleaning project, first, you need a clean base:

• Clear the shelves off one by one and toss anything that is old.
• As you clear out each shelf, brush away all the crumbs and wipe away gunk from leaky bottles.
• Clean the shelves with an all-purpose cleaner to remove stuff like sticky sauce residue.
• Place some shelf paper if you just like to make it easier to clean up if you experience spills. It also looks nice.

If your pantry has drawers, clear them out as well. Then, either take the drawers themselves out and shake out the crumbs or use your vacuum attachment to suck up all the debris.

You can also buy one of those little crumb brushes and dustpan sets to brush up all the crumbs in drawers and off shelves. Then, restock your shelves as you finish cleaning.

2. Consider using containers

While this might seem like a big investment, using containers with lids offers many benefits:

• You keep food items fresher, especially foods like cereals, crackers, and cookies
• You keep pests at bay because they can’t get into your food
• You reduce crumbs because everything is safely contained
• It’s easier to find everything

You can invest in containers at the dollar store, or simply buy containers for each shelf slowly but surely to spread the cost out over a few weeks or months. When choosing your containers, think square and stackable. Round containers waste space.

3. Create sections

To make it easier to put things away and find them, consider creating sections. Have one shelf or shelf area for baking items, another for cereals, another for pasta and rice, another for cans, etc.

You can sort things in a way that makes sense to you. Then, when you restock the shelves, make sure you put everything where it belongs.

This really is a time-saver, but also makes a world of difference in the way your pantry looks. You know the old saying, “A place for everything and everything in its place!”

4. Optimize space with organizers

If space is limited, shop around for things to keep everything organized. This helps make the most of your space. For example, if your spices are in pouches instead of jars, get some little trays or baskets and organize the pouches in alphabetical order.

If you have spice and herb jars, look for spice organizers instead. Also, search for organizers for the inside of the cupboard door such as hooks or shallow shelves with fronts. These work great for things like spices, but also smaller cans like tomato paste, or baking ingredients like extracts, food dyes, and sprinkles.

5. Use labels

Once you organize everything, consider using labels for each section. It will act as a reminder, but also make it easier for family members or guests to find stuff when raiding the pantry for snacks!

You can put labels not only on the containers but also on the shelves to keep items neat and organized.

6. Clean as you go

Make sure you don’t let things slide back into a mess. Wipe bottles after you use them to avoid stains and drips. Make sure containers are properly sealed with the lids on tight to avoid spills.

Avoid pantry snacking, and instead, take snacks out of the pantry and pour them into a bowl. This is actually a life hack because it also keeps you from eating an entire bag of chips!

7. Keep small items tidy

As mentioned above, having little baskets for foods like spice and herb pouches makes a world of difference. Anything small needs a little help to avoid getting lost amongst all those taller containers.

Small baskets are always an easy, affordable solution. Even if you don’t want to go to the trouble to alphabetize your spices you can at least keep those little items contained in one easier-to-find spot.

You can keep a basket per section, or just have a basket or two for anything small like the last few packs of yeast, chocolate bars, or even those square packs of ramen noodles.

8. Keep things kid-friendly

You might actually find this kid-unfriendly. Kids can get their hands into a jar or bag of cookies quicker than you think.

To avoid them snacking on the sly, put their snacks on the top shelves so they are harder to reach and harder to spot. If they are allowed to eat certain snacks, you can keep those foods on the bottom shelf.

Also, be mindful of items that can make them sick, like extracts, alcohol, raw flour, etc. Kids who can’t read might be attracted to brightly coloured packages.

Another consideration is pets. Your pets might lick or get into foods that can leave behind germs that make you ill. Keep your pantry door closed, so pets can’t get in and wreak havoc.

9. Commit to keeping items tidy

This is probably the hardest step. Once you get your pantry clean and tidy, you have to commit to keeping it that way. Reorganize, toss old food, remove crumbs, and wipe down shelves at least every season to keep debris and leaks to a minimum.

This also frees up space when you toss out stale boxes of cereal or those ghost pepper corn chips that were way out of your league spice-wise.

You can always call in the pros at Maid4Condos if this sounds like too much work! We’ll do a thorough kitchen cleaning, so everything is clean and tidy. Speak to our team today. You can also call us at 647-822-0601.