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Never, Ever, Ever Store These Things Under The Sink

Published

December 14, 2023

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An image of cooking oil being poured alongside an image of a blender being used. — Cheapism/coffeekai/Sergey Ovchinnikov/istockphoto

This time of year, when we’re all trying to do what we can to keep our respective winter caves as clean and organized as possible, it might be tempting to store as many things as you can under the sink. It’s a convenient and discreet location — out of sight, out of mind, right?

However, keeping certain items under the sink can can result in some dangerous and/or otherwise unwanted debacles. Let’s take a look at five things you definitely shouldn’t store underneath your sink.

1. Anything Flammable

We’ll kick it off with perhaps the most intuitive of the bunch. It’s within the realm of logic to assume that you probably don’t want to have anything that’s flammable stored underneath your sink. This includes rubbing alcohol, aerosols, and cooking oils.

2. Any Cookware, Like Pots & Pans

Stacked pots and pans — Richard Villalonundefined undefined/istockphoto

In an ideal situation, you’ll have enough cabinet space to be able to store your cookware, including pots and smaller appliances, as opposed to keeping them underneath your sink. If you don’t, though, all is not lost, as you could use the space available in your baker’s rack.

One of the biggest concerns with storing items under your sink is having a leak occur — meaning, whatever you’ve washed down your sink drain could end up making a complete mess of your pristine pots and pans.

3. Electrical Appliances

You should absolutely never find yourself storing any electrical appliances underneath your sink, where it could run the risk of getting wet. Your small kitchen appliances should always be given a much safer and more practical home. This includes any battery-operated appliances that could run the risk of being exposed to water leaks and/or an environment with excessive moisture.

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4. Light Bulbs

Fluorescent (CFL) bulb and new LED light bulb — vitranc/istockphoto

While light bulbs might seem easily storable, they’re also quite fragile and prone to breaking. You don’t want to deal with a predicament where you have a bunch of broken light bulbs hanging out underneath your sink.

5. Food

Raw potato with copy space — Rouzes/istockphoto

While there are certain foods like potatoes or onions that you might think are safe to store underneath the sink (as long as you gave them a good wash), this isn’t necessarily the case. You’ll actually want to store this kind of produce in a dry, dark, and cool space.

Meet the Writer

Matt Staff

Matt has spent the last 8 or so odd years as both a writer and editor in Seattle and Brooklyn, where he is now based. He loves escaping the tirelessly fast pace of the “Mad Apple” that is NYC by taking walks and runs through parks where he’s able to catch up on the latest tea about society from the city’s ever chatty, always hungry, occasionally rabid, pigeons. When he’s not taking his urban nature strolls, or dutifully combing the deepest rabbit holes of the internet to find the content that’s worth sinking your mind’s teeth into, he’s likely holed up at a dark-lit dive bar with a book and/or some friends, or just easily he could be on the hunt for the next addition to his steadily growing plant family.