How to Declutter Your Kitchen: 9 Things to Toss Today

The kitchen collects clutter faster than any room in the house. Here’s how to clear it out — and the quick test for each one.

Your kitchen is one of the rooms you use most, which is likely the reason why it’s also one of the most crowded rooms in your home — you’ve got a baking cabinet filled with ingredients you haven’t touched in months (if not years), the spice jars that are older than some of your houseplants, and the junk drawer that won’t close. A fair amount of that clutter is costing you something — spoiled groceries, gear that stopped doing its job, and bacteria you’d rather pretend doesn’t exist. So before you reorganize, declutter your kitchen the same way you clean out your closet each season. Pull out anything expired, broken, unused, or just hogging space, and toss it so you can reorganize more effectively.

What You Should Know About a Kitchen Clean-Out

Deciding what old kitchen gear needs to go comes down to food safety and performance. On the safety side, it’s the things that stay germy even with scrubbing thoroughly (like scratched up cutting boards or your sponge that’s multiple months old). On the performance side, it’s basically just old kitchen gear, like warped pans and ancient baking soda.

We all know the closet rule we are supposed to live by: If you haven’t reached for it in a year and don’t have a real plan to, out it goes. The same mindset should stand in your kitchen.

Going Deeper: The 9 Things to Toss (and Why)

1. Scratched-up or warped nonstick pans. Nonstick coating has a shelf life, and once a pan starts flaking, bits of that coating end up in your food. A warped bottom that rocks instead of sitting flat is another problem — it heats unevenly, so you get scorched spots next to raw ones.

2. Leaveners past their prime. If you’re baking a lot of flat baked goods, it’s time to check your pantry stock. For baking powder, drop a teaspoon into hot water — it should fizz right away. For baking soda, add a splash of vinegar, and if it doesn’t fizz, it’s time to say bye. For yeast, dissolve a half teaspoon of sugar in a half cup of warm water, stir in a packet, and give it 10 minutes — fresh yeast foams up and domes.

3. Spices you can’t smell. Old spices are mainly just pointless to keep around. Give the jar a sniff test by crushing a pinch between your fingers, and if you don’t smell it right away, it’s not going to add any flavor to your food. For a general timeline, ground spices start losing their punch within a year or two, and whole spices keep even longer.

4. Sponges and brushes on their last legs. Your sponge is very likely the dirtiest thing in your kitchen. Clemson food scientists who tested sponges from 14 apartments found nearly 400,000 bacteria per sponge after a single week of use, climbing to 20 million by week three — more than the sink, the counters, or the toilet seat. Clean it at least weekly by microwaving it wet for a minute (nothing with metal in it) or running it through a full hot dishwasher cycle, and replace it outright once it’s torn or discolored, since a worn sponge gives bacteria more places to hide. Same rule for dish brushes with frayed bristles.

5. Food storage containers that are cracked, stained, warped, or missing their match. The container cabinet is where organization goes to die, which is reason enough to dig in. Deep scratches and stains in plastic can hold onto bacteria, and a lid that no longer seals isn’t doing its job. Toss anything warped, funky-smelling, cracked, or stained permanently orange from that batch of tomato sauce you made and froze for months. (Pro tip on the lids that aren’t sealing: check whether the brand sells a replacement lid first before tossing.)

6. Old takeout menus and the junk-mail pile. Expired coupons, menus from a place that closed in 2019, a tangle of unusable charger cables, three half-used rolls of tape — we all have a place this “junk” lives. Give yourself fifteen minutes and clear out that mail container or junk drawer in one go.

7. The knife you never sharpen and never reach for. Most home cooks really only reach for a couple of knives. Get rid of anything that’s rusted, chipped, dull, or just gathering dust in a drawer. And sharpen the ones you keep — OSHA’s kitchen safety guidance puts it plainly: dull knives tend to slip, and that’s how people get cut. When you do throw a knife out, wrap the blade in cloth or heavy paper and box it, so your trash collectors stay safe.

8. A can opener that’s gunky or rusty. Manual can openers are grime magnets. If yours has visible buildup or rust, or it’s not opening things cleanly anymore, it’s time for a replacement.

9. Cutting boards carved up with deep grooves. Those knife scars are little canyons where bacteria hide out even after a good wash. A wood board with minor wear can be sanded and re-oiled back to life. But a plastic board that’s seen better days, or any board that’s warped or holding onto a smell has got to go.

The Takeaway

Regular kitchen clean-outs are good home maintenance, leading to safer food prep, less money lost to spoiled groceries and useless gear, more counter space, and a kitchen that’s just easier to cook in. Start with one drawer or cabinet and let the satisfaction of the clean carry you through the room. And if you’re stuck on one item, ask whether you’d buy it again today (or whether it sparks joy, IYKYK). If the answer is no, it’s already told you what to do.

Bottom Line

The risks here are not high stakes, so don’t panic over the germs and treat the whole thing as maintenance rather than an emergency. To keep it simple, clear out what’s lost its functionality, never gets used, or just looks permanently dirty. And that should leave you in a good spot.