diff --git a/lib/mail_catcher.rb b/lib/mail_catcher.rb
index 0e665b6..a5595dc 100644
--- a/lib/mail_catcher.rb
+++ b/lib/mail_catcher.rb
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ module MailCatcher extend self
     :browse => false,
     :quit => true,
     :sqlite_db => ':memory:',
+    :delete_older_than => nil,
   }
 
   def options
@@ -125,6 +126,10 @@ module MailCatcher extend self
           options[:sqlite_db] = db
         end
 
+        parser.on("--delete-older-than TIME_MODIFIER", "On mail receipt, delete all mail older than this, examples: '-5 minutes', '-2 days'") do |db|
+          options[:delete_older_than] = db
+        end
+
         if mac?
           parser.on("--[no-]growl") do |growl|
             puts "Growl is no longer supported"
diff --git a/lib/mail_catcher/mail.rb b/lib/mail_catcher/mail.rb
index c078222..366abba 100644
--- a/lib/mail_catcher/mail.rb
+++ b/lib/mail_catcher/mail.rb
@@ -57,6 +57,9 @@ module MailCatcher::Mail extend self
     EventMachine.next_tick do
       message = MailCatcher::Mail.message message_id
       MailCatcher::Events::MessageAdded.push message
+      if MailCatcher.options[:delete_older_than]
+        MailCatcher::Mail.delete_messages_older_than!(MailCatcher.options[:delete_older_than])
+      end
     end
   end
 
@@ -159,4 +162,11 @@ module MailCatcher::Mail extend self
     @delete_messages_query.execute(message_id) and
     @delete_message_parts_query.execute(message_id)
   end
+
+  def delete_messages_older_than!(modifier)
+    @delete_messages_older_than_query ||= db.prepare "DELETE FROM message WHERE created_at < datetime('now', ?)"
+    @delete_message_parts_older_than_query ||= db.prepare "DELETE FROM message_part WHERE created_at < datetime('now', ?)"
+    @delete_messages_older_than_query.execute(modifier) and
+    @delete_message_parts_older_than_query.execute(modifier)
+  end
 end