How Long Can You Keep Household and Personal Items

How long can you keep household and personal Items before throwing them away? I know there are probably a lot of things around your house that you've wondered this about. I know I have, and I've mostly gone by the expiration date, that is if I can decipher it. Because some expiration dates either can't be determined or they are in a code that only the manufacturer can
understand.

So here is a simple list of items for you, so that you best determine when it's time to get rid of the old, and bring in the new.

How Long To Keep Flour

You should probably only keep flour for about a year. After a year it begins to spoil because the oils in it start to degrade.

But if you want to keep it longer than a year, then put it in the refrigerator in an airtight container. It's okay to keep your flour in the canister on your counter during the winter months, but during the hot summer months it should go in the refrigerator.

The heat will increase the oxidation process, and cause your flour to spoil faster.

How Long To Keep Your Toothbrush

Throwing your toothbrush out after 3 months seems like a short time, but think of the germs, viruses and bacteria it is exposed to daily.

And if you've only had your toothbrush for 1 month, and you have a cold or sinus infection, throw it away. There is no reason to re-infect yourself from using this toothbrush.

If you want to keep your toothbrush longer than 3 months however, run your thumb over the bristles, under running hot water. This helps clean your toothbrush to some degree.

You can also kill germs by soaking your toothbrush in an antiseptic mouthwash or hydrogen peroxide for about an hour, then rinse it and dry it.

How Long To Keep Wine

A very short time before the wine starts to taste bitter! Five days for white wine and three days for red wine.

To keep it longer, you should re-cork and store red wine in a dark and cool place, and re-cork your white wine and store in the refrigerator.

Since wine doesn't really go back, it just starts to taste bitter, why not keep it and use it for vinaigrette salad dressings, vinegar, or in your cooking.

How Long To Keep Coffee

Coffee doesn't go bad, the taste just tends to get really weak. But the life span is only a few months.

Want to keep it longer? Then take out what you will need and freeze the rest. This slows down the process that makes the taste weaker. Then store what you've taken, in an airtight container in a dry, cool place.

How Long To Keep Perfume

Sorry, but perfume starts to deteriorate after six months because of exposure to air and heat, but you can probably keep it up to one year.

If you want the scent of your perfume to last longer than a year, then store it in the refrigerator. The coolness will keep the ingredients fresher for a much longer time.

How Long To Keep Kitchen Sponges

If you're still using sponges, you should only keep them about two weeks, before they become too saturated with bacteria.

However, you can keep them longer if you float them for a few minutes in boiling water, or every few days microwave them while they are still wet, or you can run them through the dishwasher.

After you have cleaned your sponges, squeeze some lemon juice on them to keep them smelling clean and fresh.

How Long To Keep Mascara

Since this item depends on being moist, three months is as long as you can probably keep it.

If you want to extend the life of your mascara, however, don't do what I use to do, which is pump the wand up and down trying to coat it with the mascara. This only forces more air into the container, thus drying out the mascara faster.

You also want to make sure the top is secured tightly, to prevent air from getting inside the container.

How long can you keep household and personal items? Since this is just a short list of the things you probably use everyday, why not do a little research and discover the lifespan of other household and personal items.