Click here to visit the new home of that's fit!

Hot on HuffPost Healthy Living:

AOL.com
MAIL

En Español

That's Fit

Send Feedback

When to toss household items

Posted on Jul 5th 2008 3:00PM by Maggie Vink

Filed Under: Diet & Weight Loss

That carton of milk in your fridge is stamped with an expiration date, but what about your pillow? Prescription medications, mattresses, vitamins, contact lens solution, and other items all need to be replaced after some time. It's important to replace these items to preserve your health -- in time allergens can build up or the efficacy of the product can wear off. But how do you know what needs to be replaced... and when?

Smoke alarms. Change detectors after 10 years.
Pillows. Replace bedroom pillows once a year.
Mattresses. Replace after 5-10 years.
Vitamins. Replace after two years.
Fire extinguishers. Replace after 10 years.

Knowing when to replace items as they wear out can help keep your family safe and healthy.

Source

4 Comment

Tags: fire extinguisher, FireExtinguisher, mattress, mattresses, pillow, pillows, replacing household items, ReplacingHouseholdItems, smoke alarm, smoke alarms, SmokeAlarm, SmokeAlarms, vitamins, when to replace your mattress, when to replace your pillow, WhenToReplaceYourMattress, WhenToReplaceYourPillow

Around the Web

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Maire 7-05-2008 @ 6:53PM

I don't believe milk has an "expiration" date, I believe it has a "sell by" date and is good up until 7 days after that date.

Andrea 7-05-2008 @ 7:48PM

Not true... that's NOT a sell by date you see stamped..it will say that if otherwise which it's usually not.

Casey 7-05-2008 @ 11:22PM

Milk and other foods do not "expire". The dates on any container of food are a guideline. Milk simply doesn't go bad and need to be thrown out at midnight on a set date. That's one of my biggest pet peeves.

And getting rid of pillows after a year. I buy very expensive down pillows. I'm not tossing a $250 pillow every year.

marcie0305 7-05-2008 @ 11:37PM

Casey! Try overstock.com :) Seriously, I think hotel pillows should be tossed after a year, maybe sooner. But I have some in my house that are sitting in a closet unused, I figure they are ok until they get - smelly or something. I wash some of my throw pillows from the couch occasionally...