How do I clean wheelie bins and recycling boxes?

Outdoor bins smell because liquid leaks out of bags and sits in the base, where it warms up and ferments. Cleaning is straightforward; keeping them clean is mostly about stopping liquid getting in there in the first place.

What you'll need

• Hose
• Long-handled brush
• Detergent or disinfectant
• Bicarbonate of soda (optional)
• Gloves

Step by step

1. Do it on bin day, when the bin is empty.Obvious, but the alternative is dealing with a full bin.
2. Rinse the inside out with a hose to remove loose debris.Tip the water out onto grass or a drain, not onto a neighbour's path.
3. Add hot water and a squirt of detergent or disinfectant and scrub with a long-handled brush.Do the lid and its underside — that is where flies lay eggs.
4. Pay attention to the base and the rim.Liquid pools in the base and the rim collects residue you cannot see.
5. Rinse thoroughly and tip the water out.Detergent left behind attracts insects.
6. Leave the bin open in the sun to dry completely.Sunlight and drying do more to control smell than any product.
7. Put a sheet of newspaper or a handful of bicarbonate of soda in the base.It absorbs the liquid that leaks past bags, which is the actual source of most bin smell.

Tips

• Double-bagging wet waste, or freezing meat and fish scraps until bin day, removes most of the problem at source.
• In hot weather a bin needs cleaning far more often. A rinse every couple of weeks in summer prevents maggots.
• Keep the bin in shade if you can. Direct sun accelerates everything unpleasant happening inside.

Common mistakes

• Never cleaning the lid underside — It is directly above the waste and is where flies lay eggs.
• Putting the bin away wet — Residual moisture restarts the smell within days.
• Pouring bin water down a storm drain — It goes to watercourses untreated. Use a foul drain or grass.

Questions people ask