5 Crucial Email Cleanout Scrubs For 2025
You’ve probably heard the term “email scrubbing” floating around, but if your brain immediately jumps to harsh chemicals and rubber gloves—don’t worry. In the world of email marketing, scrubbing your list simply means cleaning up and maintaining your email subscribers so that your emails reach the right people.
And yes, it matters—a lot.
Whether you're just starting your list or you've been at it for years, email list cleaning is one of the most effective things you can do to protect your sender reputation, improve your open and click rates, and Make sure you’re building a business centered on genuine connection—not outdated contacts..
Let’s walk through what it is, why it matters, and how to do it.
What Is Email List Cleaning?
Email list cleaning is the process of identifying and removing subscribers who aren’t engaging with your emails—people who have gone silent, unsubscribed, or are no longer reachable due to invalid or outdated email addresses.
It might sound counterintuitive to delete contacts you worked so hard to get. But here's the truth: if someone hasn’t opened your emails in months—or worse, if their email address bounces every time you send—keeping them on your list isn’t helping you. In fact, it’s likely hurting your deliverability and skewing your data.
Why Cleaning Your Email List Is So Important
You can put a lot of effort into growing your list—creating a lead magnet, writing emails, setting up automations—but if your list is full of disengaged or invalid addresses, you’re throwing energy into a bucket with holes in it.
Here’s what regular list cleaning helps you do:
Improve Engagement Rates
When you clean out inactive subscribers, your open and click-through rates become more accurate. You’re talking to people who are actually interested in what you’re saying—which means more interaction, more replies, and more momentum.
Boost Email Deliverability
If your list includes a high number of bounces, spam complaints, or inactive addresses, email providers might start flagging your messages as spam. A clean list improves your chances of landing in the inbox, where you belong.
Lower Your Costs
Most email marketing platforms charge based on list size. Keeping unengaged or fake contacts means you’re paying more for less. A clean list is a cost-effective list.
Get Clearer Data
A bloated list makes it hard to tell what’s working. A clean list gives you real, trustworthy metrics you can actually use to make decisions about your content, offers, and strategy.
Stay Legally Compliant
Cleaning your list helps ensure you’re following important email marketing laws like the CAN-SPAM Act and GDPR. That includes honoring unsubscribe requests and removing addresses that are no longer valid.
What to Look for When Scrubbing Your List
Not sure who to remove? Start with these common red flags:
Unengaged subscribers: They haven't opened or clicked in 3–6 months. Most email tools let you tag or filter them.
Invalid email addresses: These bounce back and can tank your deliverability.
Unsubscribes: If someone opts out, they must be removed within 10 days (legally speaking).
Duplicates: Sending the same message twice is a fast way to annoy someone (and burn trust).
Spam traps & catch-all emails: These can land you on a blacklist. Use list-cleaning tools to detect them.
What About Re-Engagement?
Before you hit delete, you can try a re-engagement campaign. These are simple emails that ask inactive subscribers if they still want to hear from you. You might offer a gift, a discount, or just a friendly “Hey, are we still good?”
If they click or respond—awesome!
If not? It’s time to let them go, no guilt required.
Remember: it’s not about the number of people on your list. It’s about how aligned and engaged they are.
How to Clean Your List
If you’re thinking, “Okay Gregory, I get it—I need to clean my list… but how do I actually do that?”
Don’t worry. I’ve got you.
You can clean your email list manually if your list is still on the smaller side, or you can use email marketing tools that do most of the heavy lifting for you. Here's how to go about it, step-by-step:
Step 1: Identify inactive subscribers
Start by filtering or tagging subscribers who haven’t opened or clicked on any of your emails in the last 60 to 90 days (you can go longer if you don’t email weekly).
How to do it:
Most email platforms like *Kit, *MailerLite, and *Flodesk allow you to filter by engagement level. Look for tags like “cold subscriber,” “inactive,” or “unengaged.” You can also set up an automation to tag people based on lack of activity.
Step 2: Send a re-engagement email (optional but encouraged)
Before deleting anyone, give them a chance to come back! A re-engagement email is a kind, simple way to say:
“Hey, still want to hear from me?”
Let them click a button to stay on your list—or do nothing and be removed. Keep it warm and respectful. And make it easy.
Step 3: Remove or archive cold subscribers
Once you've given folks a chance to re-engage and the deadline has passed, go ahead and remove those who didn’t click. Depending on your email tool, you can either delete, unsubscribe, or archive them (archiving means they’re off your active list but not permanently deleted).
How to do it:
Use your platform’s bulk actions to select and remove these subscribers. If you’re unsure about deleting, start with archiving so you can revisit later.
Bonus tip: You can even offer a little gift, like a free resource or discount, to encourage re-engagement.
Step 4: Verify your list for invalid or risky emails
Next, it’s time to clean up any technical junk—like bounced emails, spam traps, or addresses that don’t actually exist.
This is where an email verification tool comes in handy. These services scan your list and flag:
Invalid addresses (misspelled, abandoned, or fake)
Catch-all emails (generic inboxes like info@ or support@)
Spam traps (emails used to catch spammers that can hurt your deliverability)
Role-based emails (e.g., team@, contact@—often not monitored by one person)
Recommended tools:
Most tools let you upload your email list as a CSV file, run the check, and download a clean list with notes about which addresses to remove.
Step 5: Remove duplicates
Some email platforms automatically merge duplicates, but it’s still a good idea to scan for them—especially if you’ve imported emails from different sources (like lead magnets, webinars, or events).
How to do it:
Look for tools or filters inside your platform labeled “duplicate contacts” or use a spreadsheet tool (like Excel or Google Sheets) to sort and find duplicates manually.
Make List Cleaning a Regular Habit
Scrubbing your list isn’t a one-time fix—it’s something you should do regularly, like checking in with your finances or doing a little closet cleanup.
Set a reminder to clean your list every 3–6 months. It doesn’t have to take long, and it keeps your email strategy strong, responsive, and full of actual potential clients or customers.
Final Thoughts
Cleaning your email list isn’t about loss—it’s about alignment.
It’s about making sure your emails are going to the people who truly want to hear from you. It’s about creating space for new, engaged subscribers to join. And it’s about honoring your time, your message, and your business by keeping things clean and intentional.
And if you want support in building an email list that grows with heart—and strategy—come check out my membership, List Launch Studio. We do email marketing the grounded, non-burnout way—with templates, guidance, Q&A sessions, and support every step of the way.
You don’t have to figure this out alone.
I’ve got you.
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I help new coaches ditch performative marketing and make more sales through the power of story-driven emails.