How to Clean Your Garbage Can - Indoor & Outdoor (Clean My Space) 

I have found that using a toilet brush, instead of stretching to get my hand to the bottom of the trashcan makes it much easier to clean, I'm all about easy. I love all of your tips, I find them to be very useful. Thank you.

I clean my trash can daily because I have 2 little ones that LOVE to touch it. Thanks for sharing!

Melissa (and Chad) - First of all, congratulations! Baby Riley is adoooooorable and it's so cool to see y'all settle into the parenting life, and share the challenges as well as the joy. :D Second, I wanted to say THANK YOU for this channel and all the things you've shared with us. Not just how to clean without the harsh chemicals, simple decluttering tips, or ways to make the process easier (although these are all certainly appreciated!) but for being upbeat, encouraging, and honest. It's a lot easier to say "Hey, I can do this not-fun thing I have to do" when the tips are coming from someone who not only admits to what challenges she has in carrying out her own advice, but who's made a successful business out of something she really dislikes. 👍 Personally, I found your channel at exactly the right time - we'd just bought a house built in 1963, with only 2 previous owners, and there's still plenty of residual cleaning to do. Besides which there's no dishwasher, and very little carpet... So your tips on hand-washing dishes and mop essentials have been especially helpful. Not to mention all the other tips which I use regularly (the weed killer with dish soap is such a winner, btw.) Anyway, I chose this video to comment on because that garbage can lives in our kitchen as well, and seeing it helped me feel more connected to what you're saying in general, strange as that may seem. Keep being awesome, Maker family! ~ A.P. PS, funny story about the garbage cans: they come in a set of two. We can't use the littler one on the floor anymore because our dog very quickly figured out how to activate the motion sensor and get at all the "good sniffs." 😜

Melissa, you can also toss a couple dryer sheets in the bottom, too!

I've been loving your videos for years and have listened to your tips again and again. Keep them coming! One thing that helps me with my trash cans (and kills two ongoing chores at once) is when I change my bags - I choose one old magazine I'm done with and push it to the bottom of the bottom of the bag. This removes the extra air that makes things pop out of a newly relined can, gets rid of reading clutter, and serves like your trick with the newspaper. :)

Melissa, you inspire me a lot!! I will be moving into my new home in a month or so. I've started watching all your videos... love them totally. I wish to follow your cleaning regimen!! Thank you. You are awesome! Lots of love and hugs to you...

Great work Melissa. Now even our garbage can looks clean and fresh. Thanks a lot 👍☺

NYC apartment dweller, I use the tub for this and cleaning other large items!

Its a Bin! Thanks for all the tips Makers :) I'm ashamed to say my bins are well overdue for a clean, so this will be first on the list this weekend!

Thanks for the tips. Looks like the outdoor garbage bin and I will be spending some quality time together this coming weekend! Always appreciate your tutorials.

Your channel is a lifesaver for new homemakers!!! Awesome tips and vids

"A sunny area" lol!!! What is that burning ball in the sky? It burns us, precious! Seriously, I haven't cleaned my trash bins in forever. Thanks for the reminder!

Your cleaning skills are on another level! Love the channel

Great video as always! I usually clean mine once or twice a week.

Perfect timing :). I've been avoiding tackling the outside garbage cans because I wasn't sure what I should use. Everything that was being recommended was so potent and smelly in a chemically toxic way that I just avoided the task altogether. Thank you for sharing. :)

I loooooove the highlights in your hair!!!💕💖 wonderful tips on cleaning our trash/garbage cans.

I just cleaned my bin using this method. I am so happy with the result. I did go over the outside of the bin with my water and vinegar mix as it is stainless steel and my all purpose left it a little streaky.

This video could not have come at a better time. We are moving houses and our garbage cans stink! I will definitely be using these tips.

I need to do this, thanks!!

I have been waiting for this for so long

can you please do a weekly whole house cleaning routine. love you vids

I really needed this! Thank you!

Really great tips I love all of your videos

Love cleaning and organizing.

i cleaned mine 8 months ago.....i love yr channel and have learned alot about cleaning solutions and have a Happy Clean 🏠Home in Hot Arizona and belive me things can get pretty stinky in the heat. 🌵☉

I feel so bad after seeing your video and reading the comments. I last cleaned my indoor trash can in summer of 2015. But never for the one in the basement or the one in the garage. Also, we have an outdoor one like yours mostly for yard waste that I've never cleaned. Then we have 2 large city-supplied trash cans in the alley (one for recyclables). Dang! I've got work to do and I'm already tired just thinking about it!

Your garbage can looks so shiny, and i always clean the outside of my can and and deep clean once a week and my outside garbage at least 2 twice a year.

I use the vinegar/dish soap mixture for our tub and it does wonders (:

Melissa you'r great !!! Thanks for sharing!

Great tip about the newspaper . I just move and have tons of wrapping paper the kind you wrap dishes with and didn't want to toss it now I know what to do with it thanks

Great Points! Thanks for this. Been putting this off for a bit.. Good reminder!

Very helpful thanks for doing it. Chad got to clean the outdoor one hahahaha well trained xx

So sweet of Chad to clean the outdoor trashcan! :D

Omg never 😱😱 but I will clean it this weekend thank you

A couple months ago. My method: Step 1: pour about a cup of backing soda and a bottle of vinegar into the bottom. Swish around for about five minutes. Step 2: add a quarter cup of dish soap and set in the shower/tub. Fill with hot water to the brim and let soak for about an hour. Stick lid in the can. Step 3: Dump the water down the drain and dry the can and lid.

I cleaned my kitchen waste bin this morning. My arms are too short to reach the bottom of our recycling and general waste bins, but I found a Wheelie Clean in Lakeland (I LOVE that shop!), so I can scrub the gunge out of them.

Great tips thank you 😍👍🏽

Such a great tutorial!

I cleaned my kitchen trash can early January and April of this year. I don't put the newspaper in the bottom anymore to collect the odor and any drips , because I don't want to touch them. I sprinkle a heavy dusting of baking soda in the bottom and a dash of imitation vanilla in the can to catch the drips & odor. When the baking soda clumps up due to drips I rinse it out in the tub and pour the dirty water down the toilet. TFS & GOD Bless O:-) ♥:-D ♥O:-)

So simple, yet so necessary. Great!

OMG I clean mine every week!! Only twice a year?? That confused me Melissa. 😂

little find... must share. the soap and vinegar solution works very nicely I must say on Mirrors or Windows you can't get the Yuk:( off of. I happened to pick up the wrong spray bottle after cleaning the bathroom trash cans and then the outside ones too. I sprayed this on a window I have tried to get clean several times since Mid-June. I however just gave up till I decided to try again. After I realized what I did I just went with it and did as you said with treatment and since I was just doing the outside window and also getting ready to rinse the outside cans again I figured what could hurt. Once the cans were rinsed out and drying I scrubbed the window with an old scrub sponge I just put outside the night before. Well, the stuff on the window with a small amount of scrubbing came right off. I rinsed off the entire window twice and then took a mix of half Vinegar and half Water and sprayed it down and used newspapers to clean the window. It squeaks clean now. I was amazed. I did it to 2 more windows and can I say WOW. when I checked from the inside I was amazed. After I got inside done I almost walked right into the glass like the door was wide open. lol

your videos are amazing. could you please do a video with tips on how to cope with builders in the house and how I keep on top of dust and mess overall. I am asking as I know you had your kitchen done so any tips would be great. thanks

I clean my kitchen garbage can every week...can't imagine doing it only twice a year. 😲

Never ha! I'm need to replace them my dad and I were just talking about it last week as a matter of fact. Now I know they do need the TLC going forward! 😊

love it.

good work Thanks

I love my multipupose spay I use vinagar and ajax grapefruit dish soap it smells so strong and amazing cleans amazing

Melissa! Do a video on quick clean up cheats, like if your'e having company come over and don't have time to really clean, how can you make your place look and smell clean in a few minutes? Thanks! love the channel, keep up the good work!

Any tips for really big outdoor garbage bins? In Australia ours are very tall and no way to reach inside to scrub - even putting it down on the ground would involve crawling inside it to scrub (not something I'd like to do, of course!) Maybe I just need to throw it out and start again?! 😂

Going to try this tonight!

I haven't had an outside can for years, where I lived just had about 5 dumpsters along the alley they emptied every week, and we shared with at least 2 neighbors. No recycling or anything, it about drove me nuts. This is my first week in more than 2 years somewhere that not only has an outdoor can, but also recycling, and I love it. Anyway, the point of my comment is that I only really had to clean my inside can, and I did that probably monthly if not bi-weekly. I just wipe the outside with all purpose cleaner as needed, and then for a deeper clean I would bring it to the tub and use a clean toilet brush to scrub it with all purpose cleaner. I never thought of newspapers for odor control, will have to try that, I just sprinkle in some baking soda to the bottom and let it do it's thing under the bag.

Too much work for outside can. I rinse it with hose, add pine cleaner, add a bit of water and use a broom to scrub it. Then rinse and let dry in sun. I'm talking about the BIG trash can. The broom I use is a household broom that I only use outdoors.

Hi, I've bought a new kettle. How do I keep it at its best? Thanx xx

so off topic, but LOVE your hair!!

Hi! I clean my trash can every Saturday when I do house cleaning. in going to try your mixture because the bleach and cleaner kills me everytime😕thanks for sharing!

Good video!

Garbage can. Love the highlights, very pretty.

Thanks a lot for these tips! Your hair looks gorgeous btw :)

Good one 👌👌👌👌

i do a general wipe down of the outside daily and the inside about once a week or as needed....#kids

When my kids were little (and not so little) I used a toilet brush, hot water and cleanser. My can was big enough for the big bags, so if I tried to clean it without a long-handled brush, I'd fall in. Poured in a pan of hot water, swished it around, sprinkled the cleanser, scrubbed it with the brush then poured the whole thing down the toilet. Rinsed it in the shower and poured that down the toilet, then dried it. Then scrubbed the toilet. Since the water was hot, the can dried easily. The can was plastic so it could take that kind of scrubbing. It was part of my weekend cleaning routine (working Mom). Now that it's just my husband and I, we have a small can that doesn't need to be cleaned that often.

I like your sandals :) and of course your video

Great video I just cleaned my outdoor rubbish can yesterday I'll probably spray it on trash days to keep the build up to a minimum....has anyone used the large outdoor liners is it worth it?

I'm 4 years late but oh well. I live in a rented room, and the outdoor can is not my responsibility, but boy does it stink. I'm ready to take matters into my own hands, thanks to you.

It's a bit of an investment, but I finally broke down and bought some heavy duty 96 gallon garbage liners (from Amazon) for my outdoor trash and recycling cans (we call 'em herbie curbies here!) . Now if a kitchen bag leaks in the outdoor can, it's leaking into another bag and not directly in the can. This really helps keep the outdoor cans cleaner and cuts down on odor too. Now I can also clean out my car or do other outdoor work, and toss trash right into the bagged herbie curbie. Whatever works....we create too much trash around here! :)

The last time I cleaned my trash/garbage can was several months ago. I am glad to find this video because I wanted to make sure I was cleaning it right.. i wish I had a yard to clean with a hose, the sink is kind of awkward. I might try the tub,as it works for cleaning the cat box.

Your so lucky to have Chad clean the outdoor garbage can. Can you send him to South Carolina? lolI cleaned my garbage cans this past summer. Better to do it in the fall and spring.

I feel like such an OCD freak! I clean and disinfect my bins everytime I replace the bag.

I spray H2O mixed in Vinegar! And rinse it off with water every week, no scrubbing at all and its always clean!

Just don't dump vinegar mixture on the grass...I killed a big spot on my lawn by accident:-) .Thanks for this video!

I came here for tips on how to get rid of the smell of my compost bin. It is FOUL. I wash it with dish soap or spray it with Lysol but the smell doesn't quite go away. Baking soda it is then! Thanks, Melissa

LOL! "They both get thrown a lot of crap". Your humor always catches me off guard.

I haven't cleaned mine, I've only owned this one for a couple months at most and my first tiny one (I could clean it in my bathroom sink [which is pretty small, probably only holds around a gallon of liquid]) I stopped using pretty soon after getting it and recently threw it away, I never cleaned it in the 7 years I've had it.

You look so cute in this video!! Makeup on point. Wish you would have uploaded this 2 weeks ago when I cleaned my garbage cans!! hahaha Thanks for the newspaper tip, thats so smart!!

1:33 Did I just notice a dirty cup in your sink Melissa? Ha gotcha! :P just kidding!

Now I know why the husbands should take out the garbage --they don't do the cooking ! LOL Thanks , I'm saving this one , I'm gonna need it :)

Mine is always so bad, I clean it every month but maybe not so perfectly as you did. I will now do it twice a year as you say more intensive and little by little every month

I clean my garbage can every week :O

What is the garbage can you use in the video? Can you put a link for it? :)

When's the last time you cleaned your garbage can?

What kind of trash can do you have? The foot pedal on ours broke and I've been looking for a new one.

To the vinegar and dish soap do you add water? Or is it just vinegar and dish soap to clean the outside garbage can? The last time I cleaned mine was today. Maggots. Every week after trash pick up in the summer I clean it.

Just figured out the bottom of my trash can comes out! Woot woot!

My husband has been relegated to this job. It's not working. Thanks for all your great tips. Now, it's on to MY cleaning the garbage can. I hadn't played on this job today. But, onward ho!

I find that if you don't have access to an outdoor space (at ground level) that the tub/ shower stall is also a great place to wash and rinse larger items such as garbage cans. Although I will admit it can be a bit of a pain to rinse if you don't have a removable shower head

I actually clean mine in about every couple of months, and every time it has a leak. Our outdoor one is a wooden container which is the landlord's responsibility thankfully :)

I'm cleaning my indoor garbage can TODAY . . . and watching this video for reference.

I find that putting the newspaper makes it worse the paper. Can get soaked from dripping liquid then that get stuck to the can and makes bigger mess and hassle to clean

have you ever cleaned out your air conditioning vents or vent covers? do you have any tips on cleaning that out? I do know it's very important to have them clean because it's the air that you breathe while you're in your home. got any tips?

Hi, Melissa. I always clean my garbage cans, every time I have to throw the garbage, that's mean Wednesday and Sunday, here's in Hicksville, NY. The only thing when my hubby do it just throw the garbage bags so this is too much for him, he tries to clean but not enough for me. I appreciate her help but never clean up... My question our baby have just 3 months what happen now?? I love your videos that's helping me a lot with my cleaning company, thanks Soo much. You're Soo beautiful

hi... do you have any tips for me to manage trash while preparing meal. i mean after chopping vegetables or meats what can i do to manage them simultaneously throwing away the waste so i don't hv to go back manage the waste/trash and save time... Thanks.

Nice tips about the 🗑 trash can. Joan Bates

Here in England our dustbins/Garbage cans, are very big, so it is impossible to do it as you with yours. We used to have a man come around once a month to steam clean them, for £5. But we have not seen him for a long time now. So I have to be honest, I just give it a good spray of vinegar, as it is so high it comes up to my chest. I should get my sons to do a Deep clean really.

Any recommendations for an airtight garbage can that doesn't run on battery power?

Hi Melissa! Last time I cleaned the outside garbage can was probably last fall or something. the "in" one we clean much more often because it's smaller and contributes to the smells right under our noses.. I do have a question for you. Our garbage can outside is veery tall. So tall I cannot reach more than half of it to scrub so I'm wondering what are your tips for scrubbing that kind of trash can? The bottom never gets scrubbed down:/

I clean them once a month, or when needed, but a different one each time: organics, plastics, paper and bottle glass. They are not quite big, I wash them in the shower before cleaning it. Here in Spain we throw away the garbage in different containers that are placed on the streets. I also clean the cats's litter boxes that way once a week. I find It easier for me.

we call it a bin in Ireland and my outdoor stinks I usually scrub it the summer but I didn't get round to do it now I feel sorry for the bin man who has to empty it out got to get to it before I kill him with smell lol

I clean my trash can like this about once a month, and it still stinks. We don't get a newspaper, but we've been meaning to buy one to try that out. In the meantime, we've been adding a sprinkle of baking soda and a drop of orange oil at the bottom. It helps a little. Our apartment is by a dumpster, so we get gnats easily. Any tips on keeping them away?

Would love some help with how to remove a stubborn mystery stain on stainless steel