You're Probably Not Cleaning Your Kitchen Trash Can The Right Way

Keeping your kitchen clean is an unavoidable, and oftentimes unpleasant, part of being an adult. There are plenty of suggestions for making clean-up after dinner so much easier, as well as tips for keeping things tidy while cooking. Those might not be the most desirable tasks, but they're also not the worst things to keep spick-and-span in your kitchen. That dubious distinction tends to go to keeping your trash can sanitary, and there is a right way to go about it. Once a month, you should be sudsing up your kitchen trash bins and giving them a good scrub.

You'll need just a few basic supplies: dish soap and a long-handled brush (handheld is fine, it just means you'll need to physically reach inside the can). If you're doing this outside, you can also use your hose for the preliminary spray, which is useful to get caked-on grime soaking, so it brushes off more easily later. Put a few squeezes of dish soap in your trash can, and fill the bottom with a little water. Let that sit for up to 10 minutes, then dump it out.

Put some dish soap on the bristles of your brush and scrub all the sides of the can, inside and out. Once you're done, give the whole can a good rinse and let it air dry completely before refilling it with a new bag. It's worth mentioning that if you're a renter or you live somewhere that experiences cold and snowy winters, you can also run through this process in your bathtub with a detachable shower head.

While it might not be feasible for you to actually scrub your kitchen trash can once a month (or swap out your kitchen towels weekly), you can at least help keep the nasty smells and stains to a minimum between cleanings. It starts with considering what you throw away. It's easy to just toss that old milk from your fridge, but if someone left the lid slightly ajar, it's not only going to leak, it's going to make your garbage smell like, well, sour milk. Best to dump any liquids out before throwing away the container. You'll also want to make sure your trash bags are of good quality. Cheapie bargain bags with non-elasticized tops save some money, but they can often fall inside the bin when you dump things in or rip more easily.

It will also help if you spot-clean the trash can whenever you take the bag out or any time you spill something on the lid. It's just that much less you'll have to tackle whenever you do a deep clean. Finally, to help contain the smell emanating from your trash bin, you can sprinkle some baking soda at the bottom (before putting in the bag) or even drop in a cotton ball that has been treated with an essential oil you like.