Prevent Garbage Can Odor

Garbage cans and rubbish bins are called such because of the junk that they hold inside until someone finally decides to take it all away. While it is great that the garbage does not have to sit around the house during that time period, all the junk stored together over a period of time has a horrible tendency: it will make the garbage can stink. This smell, if strong enough, can leak out of the garbage can and permeate your home. No one likes the smell of garbage. Even if you use fragrance sprays, candles, or other great smelling methods that have been discussed in previous articles, the garbage can will still stink.

The odor that comes from the garbage comes from two sources. These sources are odor-causing bacteria and molds. Neither one of these things is particularly pleasant. The molds and bacteria can be caused by food that goes in the garbage, so removing that food will help, but sometimes the bacteria and mold grow just because of the dark, damp conditions where garbage is stored. When the smell comes from this source, it is much more difficult to remove. Even professional cleaners will sometimes fail to remove that smell.

If you want to make that odor a thing of the past, the first thing you will want to do is clean out the garbage or rubbish bin as often as you can. The easiest way to do this is get a hose out, preferably with a high powered tip, and just blast all the muck and gunk away from the inside of the bin. This will at least clear out the food, though it may not completely get rid of the smell.

To make that smell go away, every month you should sprinkle just a small amount of borax in the bottom of your garbage can. Borax can be extremely toxic, so be very careful when applying it. Follow any instructions on the packaging. The advantage of the toxicity of borax is that it will kill the molds and bacteria that cause odor.

Using these two simple steps, even though your garbage can holds garbage, it will no longer smell awful.