CPSC Recalls App: How to Track Product Recalls for Stuff You Already Own

Every Thursday the CPSC posts a fresh batch of product recalls. Toys, strollers, dehumidifiers, blenders, lithium batteries that catch fire. Here's how to actually check if anything in your house is on the list, and how to stop checking one product at a time.

Why recalls actually matter

The CPSC issues recalls for products that can hurt you. Cribs that strangle infants. Space heaters that start fires. Power banks that explode. Blenders with blades that detach mid-spin. These are not theoretical risks. They are products already in homes, already being used, already on the agency's incident database.

The catch: the recall only protects you if you hear about it. Manufacturers post a notice, the CPSC publishes it, news outlets pick up the big ones, and that's the system. Nobody calls you. Nobody emails the original buyer unless you registered the product. If you bought a humidifier two years ago and the same model gets recalled today, you find out by accident, or you don't find out at all.

That's the problem this post is about. The CPSC publishes the recall data. The tools to check it are free. The reason most people get caught off guard is they have no list of what's in their house to compare against.

The CPSC Recall App, explained

The CPSC Recall App is a free progressive web app built by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. It runs in your phone's browser, no install needed. Open it, search by brand or product type, and you get the full list of matching recalls with photos, hazards, and remedy instructions.

It pulls from the same data feed as cpsc.gov/Recalls. The app version is faster to scroll on a phone and easier to bookmark to your home screen than the desktop site.

What the CPSC app is good for

• Looking up a specific product. Type a brand and model and see if anything matches.
• Browsing by category. Filter by toys, appliances, furniture, sports equipment, and so on.
• Reading the hazard details. Each notice explains what can go wrong, what dates and lot numbers are affected, and how to get a refund or replacement.
• Getting alerts. You can subscribe to CPSC email alerts so each week's recalls land in your inbox.

What the CPSC app is not good for

• It does not know what you own. You search one product at a time.
• It does not scan barcodes. You type the brand and model by hand.
• It does not remind you about anything you searched before.
• If you forget the model number, you have to go find the data plate again.

The app is a reference. It tells you what has been recalled. Whether anything in your house matches is still a question you answer yourself, by walking around and reading labels.

recalls.gov, NHTSA, and FDA

The CPSC handles consumer products. Other agencies handle the rest. If you want one search box that covers everything, start at recalls.gov.

If you only check one, make it recalls.gov. It will route you to the right agency when there's a match, and it covers categories most people forget about (like the car seat in the back of the SUV, which is regulated by NHTSA, not CPSC).

What info you need to check a recall

Recalls almost never apply to every unit of a product. They apply to specific manufacturing runs, defined by model number plus date code or serial range. A recall notice might read: "Sold from March 2023 through September 2024, model AC-450, units with serial numbers starting with K7."

To match that against something in your house, you need the brand, the model number, and ideally the serial number or purchase date. The brand alone is not enough. Whirlpool makes hundreds of dishwashers and only one might be on the list.

Where the info lives

• Appliances. Data plate inside the door, on the back, or behind a kick plate. Our guide on where to find the appliance model number covers every type.
• Electronics. Sticker on the back or bottom of the device, or in the settings menu.
• Baby gear and toys. Tag sewn into fabric, or molded into the plastic on the underside.
• Furniture. Tag stapled to the underside of a cushion or frame.
• Power tools and yard equipment. Plate on the body of the tool, near the handle or motor housing.

kept's recall matching in action. a nexgrill grill brush flagged automatically after the CPSC issued an ingestion hazard recall.

The painful part of checking recalls is not the searching. It's gathering this information for the first time. If you have not done it, every recall notice means walking around the house pulling out appliances and decoding tiny labels. If you have done it and saved it in kept, the app does the matching for you.

The inventory method: check once, get notified later

There are two ways to track recalls. The reactive way and the inventory way.

The reactive way: you read a news story about a recall, walk to the appliance, find the data plate, compare model numbers, and either breathe out or file a claim. You do this every time you see a headline.

The inventory way: you build a list of what you own once, with brand and model number on every item. When a recall hits, the app matches it against your inventory for you. kept does this automatically. If the CPSC recalls a Whirlpool dishwasher model WDT750 and that model is in your kept inventory, a red [ recall ] pill appears on the item. Open it and you see the hazard, the remedy, and a link to the official recall page.

The inventory method scales. The reactive method does not, which is why most people only check recalls when the news is loud enough to cut through. Quieter recalls (which still include serious hazards) get missed. With an inventory-based approach, the quiet ones get caught too.

The same list helps with tracking warranties, documenting items for insurance, and ordering replacement parts. Automatic recall matching is one of several reasons to build an inventory, and it's the one that protects your family, not just your wallet.

What to do if something you own is recalled

You found a match. The model is on the list, the serial is in the affected range. Here's the order of operations.

1. Stop using the product. Especially for fire, electrical, fall, or strangulation hazards. Unplug it if it has a plug. Remove batteries if it has them.
2. Read the remedy section of the recall notice. Most recalls offer a free repair, replacement, or refund. Some require you to ship the product back. Some send a replacement part. Some send a prepaid label.
3. Gather proof. The manufacturer usually wants the serial number, sometimes a photo of the product with a code written on it (so you can't claim twice), and sometimes proof of purchase. If you saved the receipt in kept, this is two taps.
4. File the claim through the link in the recall notice. Use the official manufacturer page or the CPSC link. Skip any third-party site asking for payment.
5. Save the claim confirmation. Refunds and replacements typically arrive in four to eight weeks. Keep the confirmation until it shows up.
6. Update your records. If you get a replacement, add the new unit to your inventory. If you got a refund, mark the original as removed.

The 60-second weekly habit

The CPSC posts new recalls every Thursday morning. The list usually has five to ten items. Scrolling it takes about a minute. Most weeks, nothing matches anything you own. The week something does match, you'll be glad you looked.

Two ways to make this a habit:

• Email alerts. Sign up at cpsc.gov for free weekly recall emails. They land in your inbox automatically. Scan the subject lines, open if anything looks familiar.
• Thursday bookmark. Bookmark cpsc.gov/Recalls or the CPSC Recall App on your phone. Make it part of your Thursday morning routine, the same way you check the weather.

If you also have a kept inventory, you can skip the manual check entirely. kept matches new CPSC recalls against your items automatically. Open the app and any affected item already has a red [ recall ] pill on it, with the hazard and remedy details one tap away. The Thursday habit becomes: open kept, see if anything is flagged, close it.

For the broader picture of staying on top of your house, our home maintenance checklist covers the rest of the weekly, monthly, and seasonal tasks worth tracking.

Frequently asked questions

How do I check if a product I already own has been recalled?

Go to recalls.gov or cpsc.gov/Recalls and search by brand and product name. You can also use the free CPSC Recall App on your phone. To match accurately, you need the model number and ideally the serial number or date code from the product's data plate. An inventory app like kept can do this matching automatically if you have saved your items' brand and model info.

Can I still use a product that has been recalled?

No. The CPSC recommends you stop using a recalled product immediately, even if you have not experienced any problems with it. The recall was issued because the product poses a specific hazard, such as fire, shock, or injury. Unplug it, remove batteries if applicable, and follow the remedy instructions in the recall notice before using it again.

Do I get a refund for a recalled product?

Most recalls offer a free repair, replacement, or full refund. The specific remedy depends on the recall. You typically need the serial number or proof of purchase. Refunds usually arrive within four to six weeks after you return the product. There is generally no deadline to file a recall claim, even if you discover the recall months or years after it was issued.

How often does the CPSC issue new recalls?

The CPSC posts new product recalls every Thursday morning, usually five to ten per week. You can sign up for free email alerts at cpsc.gov so each week's list lands in your inbox automatically. Scrolling the weekly list takes about a minute, and most weeks nothing on it matches anything you own.

Is there an app that tracks product recalls for things I already own?

The CPSC Recall App lets you search the recall database, but it does not know what you own. kept is a home inventory app that stores your brands, model numbers, and serial numbers, then matches them against CPSC recalls automatically. If something you own gets recalled, kept flags the item with a red [ recall ] pill and shows you the hazard, the remedy, and a link to the official notice.