Cleaning the Pantry

Pantries are a wonderful addition to the kitchen of any home. However, if the proper care isn't taken to clean the pantry every once in a while, bigger problems can quickly find their way into your home. An improperly cleaned pantry will lead to an increased chance of rodents and insects polluting your home. The method listed here will take between 60 and 90 minutes to accomplish depending on the size of your pantry.

1. Remove. Before you can really begin cleaning, you need to remove everything from your pantry. Place all the items onto nearby countertops or tables. As you are going through all the items in your pantry take a look and see if there is anything that you can do to consolidate as many items as you can into as few containers as possible.
2. Wipe. Once you have emptied your pantry, wipe all the empty shelves. Use a damp washcloth to remove all the excess dirt and dust from those shelves. If you find that your shelves are particularly dirty, you may need to scrub a little harder, in which case you need to proceed to step three. However, if you find that your shelves are OK with a simple wipe down, skip step three and go to step four.
3. Scrub. Scrub your shelves down using warm, soapy water mixed with white vinegar. This homemade cleaner can save money while getting commercial-cleaner results. If scrubbing is necessary, allow enough time to let the shelves completely dry.
4. Sweep and mop. Take the time to sweep out and mop the floor of your pantry. While the floor is not usually a place that many people store anything, it is the place that catches everything. Take care that you use the proper type of cleaner for your floor, otherwise you will end up creating a larger mess. Once you have mopped the floor, be sure you allow enough time for it to dry.
5. 5. Organize and restock. When all is clean, it is time to put everything back. As you are doing that, take time to organize everything. The best way to organize your pantry is to have canned goods with other canned goods, dry goods with other dry goods, and boxed goods all together.
6. Maintain. Once you have everything cleaned and organized, be sure that you maintain the organization method that you came up with. Doing so is will make any future cleaning endeavors easier