diff --git a/data/queue.py b/data/queue.py
index f05ee9c8f..b2e6fa976 100644
--- a/data/queue.py
+++ b/data/queue.py
@@ -274,3 +274,21 @@ class WorkQueue(object):
       except QueueItem.DoesNotExist:
         return
 
+
+def delete_expired(expiration_threshold, deletion_threshold, batch_size):
+  """
+  Deletes all queue items that are older than the provided expiration threshold in batches of the
+  provided size. If there are less items than the deletion threshold, this method does nothing.
+
+  Returns the number of items deleted.
+  """
+  to_delete = list(QueueItem
+                   .select()
+                   .where(QueueItem.processing_expires <= expiration_threshold)
+                   .limit(batch_size))
+
+  if len(to_delete) < deletion_threshold:
+    return 0
+
+  QueueItem.delete().where(QueueItem.id << to_delete).execute()
+  return len(to_delete)
diff --git a/workers/queuecleanupworker.py b/workers/queuecleanupworker.py
index 2e453f3d0..763be0906 100644
--- a/workers/queuecleanupworker.py
+++ b/workers/queuecleanupworker.py
@@ -1,17 +1,22 @@
 import logging
 
-from app import app
-from data.database import UseThenDisconnect, QueueItem
-from workers.worker import Worker
 from datetime import timedelta, datetime
 
+from app import app
+from data.database import UseThenDisconnect
+from data.queue import delete_expired
+from workers.worker import Worker
+
+
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
-DELETION_DATE_THRESHOLD = timedelta(days=7)
+
+DELETION_DATE_THRESHOLD = timedelta(days=1)
 DELETION_COUNT_THRESHOLD = 50
 BATCH_SIZE = 500
 QUEUE_CLEANUP_FREQUENCY = app.config.get('QUEUE_CLEANUP_FREQUENCY', 60*60*24)
 
+
 class QueueCleanupWorker(Worker):
   def __init__(self):
     super(QueueCleanupWorker, self).__init__()
@@ -22,16 +27,11 @@ class QueueCleanupWorker(Worker):
     with UseThenDisconnect(app.config):
       while True:
         # Find all queue items older than the threshold (typically a week) and delete them.
-        threshold_ago = datetime.now() - DELETION_DATE_THRESHOLD
-        to_delete = list(QueueItem.select()
-                                  .where(QueueItem.processing_expires <= threshold_ago)
-                                  .limit(BATCH_SIZE))
-
-        if len(to_delete) < DELETION_COUNT_THRESHOLD:
+        expiration_threshold = datetime.now() - DELETION_DATE_THRESHOLD
+        deleted_count = delete_expired(expiration_threshold, DELETION_COUNT_THRESHOLD, BATCH_SIZE)
+        if deleted_count == 0:
           return
 
-        QueueItem.delete().where(QueueItem.id << to_delete).execute()
-
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
   worker = QueueCleanupWorker()