I cleaned out my pantry today.
Honestly, I didn’t think it was that bad. It’s not very full. Since I’m not couponing like I once did, it’s hard to be motivated to do a big overhaul of the pantry. Everything can be seen at a glance because there’s so little there.
But alas, I was motivated once again by . . . bugs.
After I cleaned out the cabinet last week, I didn’t see any bugs for several days. I was hopeful that the rice bag had, after all, been the culprit.
But then, they reappeared. And this time, in the general area of the pantry. I’ve carefully examined everything I’ve pulled out of there since we started seeing the bugs, but I haven’t found any creepy-crawlies in food that was stored in there.
Keyword: found.
Which reminds me of my favorite joke from when I lived in Bangkok.
The first year missionary finds a bug in her food, and throws it all away. The second year missionary finds a bug in her food, picks it out, and keeps on eating. The third year missionary finds a bug in her food and just eats it along with her food. The fourth year missionary looks at her friend’s plate and says, “Hey, are you going to eat that bug?”
Although while living there I often found myself drawn to a street vendor’s cart by delicious smells, only to find that the aroma was coming from perfectly seasoned grasshoppers-on-a-stick . . . I don’t want bugs in my house.
Especially in my kitchen.
Especially in my pantry.
So I got to work.
I pulled everything out, and put all canned goods in the handy-dandy door shelf system. I took the ultra-cool-but-had-nothing-on-it expandable shelf system out to be washed. It was pretty gross.
Not sure how packaged foods can produce so much nastiness.
I removed things starting on the bottom shelf, and going up. I held my breath . . . and squinted my eyes . . . and crinkled my face as I examined each item, sure that I was going to find the source of these pantry beetles. I imagined I would open a package and find everything moving.
I was mentally ready to go jump in the shower at a moment’s notice.
But I found nothing on the bottom two shelves. The top two both had several dead ones, but no packages revealed any bugs inside. I threw away anything that wasn’t in a sealed container.
Once I got to the top shelf, there were several “Hmmm, wonder what that is” moments. I found a pie crust.
A very old pie crust:
I found a cardboard box that was full of mostly-unopened medicine.
Mostly-expired-mostly-unopened medicine.
I threw most of it away. What a waste. Grrr.
Once I had everything out, I vacuumed off the shelves (you know how I love my hand-held vac) and then scrubbed them down.
I replaced the now-gleaming expandable shelf. Not that I had much to put on it. But I went ahead and expanded it fully, since pantry space really isn’t at a premium right now.
I put back the things I had decided NOT to throw away, and am hoping that this picture will motivate me to do the shopping I need to get done tomorrow.
And as I keep on learning (over and over again) in this deslobification process . . . . decluttering is never EVER done. The last time I worked on this pantry, I’m sure I thought of a good reason to keep our second electric knife, when we rarely use one. But with the passage of time, and the knowledge that I still hadn’t used it, I found it easier to donate. And now that we have a carafe-less coffee-maker, we probably don’t need to keep two additional ones, just waiting for the carafe to break.
Probably.
I’ll be linking this up at Orgjunkie.com, for her 52 Weeks of Organizing.
And don’t forget to come back for February’s Decluttering Update on Tuesday (which is March 1 . . . can you believe it?). You can leave a comment or link up a blog post and share what you’ve decluttered this month!
Ah, decluttering. You're right. It's a continuous process 🙂
im the same as you and i always wonder, how do the pantry beetles get in the pantry and why can't they get in anything else…why just the pantry??? no matter what kind of container food is in, they find their way in as well.
I love your word "deslobification". Where did you find the over the door pantry organizer? That is great!
I have also had bugs in my pantry in the past. I found that if you put an open jar of bay leaves in the pantry they don't like the smell. You can also tape individual leaves to the shelves or the inside of the lids of your flour and other staples. Hope this helps.
i had the same frustration of throwing stuff out when i cleaned my pantry. but ever since i organized it, i have been able to keep things stocked better & use things in a timely fashion & even enjoyed doing it! great job – i hope you enjoy it, too!
Love the bay leaf idea!
Hi Heather, I found the organizer at the Container Store. It's ultra-easy to install and you can buy just the pieces you need.
HA HA you are hilarious! I have had two ants show up this week on my drainboads, luckily they did not find a thing!
I had a different kind of "bug" in my pantry and could not get rid of them. They had come in on some fruit we had bought. One day I decided to clean out my spice cabinet and lo, and behold that was where their big hang-out was. (I could see their droppings but never saw them.) Anyways, after I cleaned that out thoroughly we never had another problem. That was a BIG relief.
I'm sorry you're having this problem. It's no fun.
Elisabeth
I had a bug problem in my old pantry. I cleaned everything out and still had the problem.
The way that I got rid of them was to pull everything out and get rid of everything that was not in a can. All boxes had to go as they had found their way in sealed boxes. I then vacuumed the shelves and washed them down, including the underside and especially along the walls, with bleach water.
Everything that went back in had to be a can or if it was a boxed/ bagged item it had to be taken out of the packaging and put into a container with a screw top lid. I tried a non screw top and they got into that as well. After I did all that they finally went away.
Ugh. Sounds like I'm not the only one to go through this, and these stories scare me! I haven't been home today to see if they're still around, but if they are, I guess I'll just keep going through each and every cabinet until they're gone.
I think I had something similar to Tami. The were either pantry moths or Indian meal moths. I noticed the little tiny moths in the kitchen & didn't think much of it until I found larvae (worms) in some packaged stuff. I had to take everything out, throw away a lot (they were even in unopened boxes – they get under the cardboard flaps & lay eggs, then bore through the inside bag). What finally worked was putting everything in airtight containers & wiping down everything, even the undersides of the shelves, with vinegar water.
Amazon has these great pantry moth traps-I’ve had them 2x! You’re right about them getting into everything….especially crevices of lids ect on containers that you’ve utilized to keep them out of things! Going to try the bay leaf trick for maintenence! Love the blog!
I live in the country. Bugs live here too. I especially have trouble with the moths mentioned above. I store all (ALL) my bug-consumables in canning jars (got a huge pile of 1/2 gal. ones at an auction) with metal (METAL, not plastic — ask me how I know the plastic ones are not good enough) lids. Every time I put off moving the rice or split peas or dried beans or cornmeal or spices or….. to a jar, I remember why it is so important. I have also found that items purchased from bulk bins are more prone to bring bugs home. (But if I put those items in jars as soon as they get home, the infestation is limited to that one item.) Oh, and moths like chocolate. I keep both chocolate (except white) and nuts in the freezer. I don’t buy mixes, but the freezer would be a solution for those too.
Reading all these comments makes me SO happy to live in the barren wasteland of Canada where bugs, while we have some, definitely aren’t such a big problem!!!! I would die, absolutely die if there were bugs in my cupboards.
PS this is my first comment since reading from the beginning and I am so happy to have found kindred spirits!!! 🙂
Welcome, ANgela! And yes, be thankful for your lack of pantry bugs!
How funny that this should show up in my Facebook feed today, yesterday I cleaned out my huge, fully packed pantry cabinet, which had desperately needed attention for at least 6 months (probably twice that if I’m honest) I had similar problems, bugs, mystery grime, so many expired yet unopened packages, SO MUCH STUFF. Now, three + garbage bags later I can fit everything I want in there! even my bags of dog and cat food fit in the bottom! I’M SO HAPPY! It makes the whole kitchen feel more organized!
Hi, I’m starting with a fridge cleanout first. The main problem in the pantry I’ve had over the years is ants. Blighters bit there way into any breakfast cereal that had fruit or sugar. Opening a new package and finding ants freaked me out.
Anyway, figure grandparents knew something with herb sachets like lavender.
There are many sites re herbs and bugs this is just one http://srirad0675.hubpages.com/hub/Natural-repellents-A-brief-overview-of-plants-that-repel-pests-bugs-and-insects