Your Trashcan Stinks! And Actually So Does Mine, Here's What We're Doing

I called Lysol so you don't have to

Hi, I was wondering if you have any tips for cleaning a garbage can. I know that to avoid smells, you should take the garbage out as often as possible (and use a smaller garbage can so you are forced to do so), keep food in the fridge until you are ready to throw it away, wipe down the can often, and use baking soda to soak up odors. But what if your can still smells? And how do I get out the tiny pieces of dirt in the nooks and crannies of the can?

I have this garbage can: SONGMICS Trash Can 

I've tried vacuuming with my Dyson attachment, but there are tiny crevices near the joinery of the can that have tiny little dirt particles.

Thanks so much.

Okay literally right now my kitchen trashcan smells so bad, you guys. It's not my fault, except obviously of course it's totally my fault: I was sent an absolutely gorgeous cheese board that was corrupted by all manner of truffled cheeses and truffled cured meats. I loathe truffle. The smell of it makes me want to retch, immediately and dramatically, which I supposed is silly to say because when in the history of ever has retching not been immediate and dramatic??

While I would like to blame the purveyors of the cheese board for including so many revolting truffled items among the delicious non-truffled items, I can't actually bring myself to blame them for the fact that I, an idiot who literally knows better, tossed a stack of sliced truffled sausage into my kitchen trashcan. 

So now I have only myself to blame for the fact that every time I open the door under my kitchen sink to fetch a Cascade pod, I'm greeted with the foul scent of truffle. I broke the rules. All of them. Which means it's time to codify those rules, because obviously someone (me) can't keep them straight.

Before we do that, however, let's get our befouled trashcans clean and free of foul (truffle) odors once more.

Is any single one of you going to be surprised when I say that you have options, here? No, no you are not!

Level 1: Lysol — The Easy Way Out

When the truffle overtook my trashcan, I really did call Lysol, you guys. (Well, I emailed Lysol.) 

Here's why: The easiest and fastest way to nuke trashcan odors is to blast them with Lysol, or any other similar antibacterial odor eliminating spray. Start by removing the liner and tying it up. Then, spray the interior of the can with Lysol, making sure to cover not just the bottom of the can but also the sides. Then, allow the Lysol to dry (use this time to take the bag out?), put in a new liner and voila! No more smells.

Use this method when you're in a rush, there are no visible spills in the trashcan, or on a day when you're just feeling low-effort. (It happens, don't sweat it.)

Level 2: Wipes — A Low- to Medium-Effort Affair

Quite often but not always (truffle scent, I am looking at you), a foul odor in a trashcan develops because something has spilled, and dried, and, like, rotted. 

When that happens, Lysol alone won't be enough to solve the problem, though it can serve as a temporary solution. Eventually, though, you will want to give the trashcan a deeper clean to remove that which has spilled. There's an easy and a less easy way to do this, and the easy way is to use a premoistened cleaning wipe to, well, wipe the thing out. My beloved Crocodile Cloths would be perfect for this operation, but any old cleaning wipe (Lysol, Clorox, Hippie Wipes from the Whole Foods, etc.) will work. I like the Crocs because they're oversized and sturdy, unlike those other ones which I find dinky and flimsy. You can also use an all-purpose spray+a paper towel or microfiber cloth! That would be just fine too.

Level 3: A Bubble Bath for the Trashcan — Max Effort (But Also Not That Hard)

When things are really bad, or when you have the time for it, the best way to clean a trashcan is to clean the trashcan the way we clean our dishes, and ourselves: With soap and water. This means giving the trashcan a nice bubble bath, and won't that be fun for everyone involved!?! (No actually it won't because this is a pretty crummy job — it's awkward and splash-y, and not in the fun splashy way, in the "well great, now my shirt is all wet" way — although it is not overly difficult, so we have that going for us.) The task, here, is to wash the trashcan with warm, soapy water and a sponge or cloth using regular old dish soap. Nothing fancy! Just give the inside and the outside of the can a good lathering, rinse it, dry it off, and put it back into the rotation.

This can take place indoors or outdoors, depending on your setup. Indoors, I find the tub or shower to be the best place for the operation simply because it's a roomier spot than the kitchen sink, but the kitchen sink can work too. Outdoors, you can use a hose, spigot, or a pressure washer to give the trashcan its bubble bath. Just be sure to use a mild soap if you've got plantlife that you care about so you don't poison your begonias with bleachie when you dump out your cleaning solution.

A note on form: You only need to fill the trashcan with about two or so inches of water, then add some soap (a drop or two will be plenty, I promise!), before sticking your hand in there and washing the interior. No need to fill it all the way up, which will actually make things needlessly difficult. So! An inch or two of water, soap, warsh, dump suds, rinse, flip trashcan on its lip, use the still-soapy sponge or rag to warsh the exterior, rinse, dry. That's all!

If you have a trashcan like the one LW has, that has a metal frame and plastic inserts, remove the plastic inserts and wash those, and then wipe the frame inside and out with wipes, all-purpose spray, paper towels, a cleaning cloth, whatever. If, like LW, the frame is holding onto crumbs and dirt and etc. flip the thing over and bang on it. (Now I'm telling you to spank the trashcan, clearly I have taken a wrong turn somewhere in life.) Giving it a good banging (heh) will dislodge any fine particulates lurking in corners — after flipping it right side up, give the interior a going over with a premoistened wipe to get any lingering dirt or crumbs. You'll probably also need to vacuum or sweep, if you did your spanking indoors. If you did your spanking out of doors, well, the neighbors are going to talk is all I'll say.

Level 4: If You're Detailing the Trashcan You've Gone Too Far

To be clear, I have detailed my trashcan. 

Even after cleaning, the trashcan (especially light-colored or plastic ones) may have some stains — I have a white plastic Rubbermaid kitchen trashcan that that is prone to developing sort of soot-y streaks — and those can be removed using a Magic Eraser. I'm not telling you to do this, I'm just telling you that you can do this.

The Rules of Trashcannery

I have a complicated relationship to rules. I don't super love them, except when I really love them! I like my own rules for myself, but I don't like the rules other people insist on making for me, I guess is the best way to describe my relationship to rules. I definitely do not love making rules for others, which you know because it's why you like me more than other cleaning experts — I'm not going to tell you what you have to do, I'm just going to lend a hand when you ask for one. 

But I do love a codified system of rules! Not to follow, just to … appreciate? Admire?

• Thou shalt use a liner

• Thou shalt admit when said liner is full and take out the trash rather than allow the trashcan to turn into Mt. Garbage

• Thou shalt avoid overly large trashcans

• Thou shalt, if possible, use the garbage disposal to rid yourself of foodstuffs

• Thou shalt not throw old food from the fridge in the trashcan until trash day

• On trash day, thou shall open the refrigerator and survey its contents: Does anything need to be tossed? Toss it

• Thou shalt, at regular intervals or as-needed, clean the trashcan using one or all of the three methods above

I have, I'm sure, missed a few Rules of Trashcannery, here. (The use of baking soda isn’t included in the Rules because it doesn’t work, but I’m not spiritually or emotionally ready to talk to you about that yet. One day!) What should we add? Put your additional Rs of Ts in the comments, I'll add them to the list, and then when we're satisfied that we've got them all,  I'll carve them in a nice marble because I have Italian ancestors and they'd be disappointed in me if I used a less flashy stone for my carvings.