Six products compared on the distinction nobody makes: removing the residue, killing what grew in it, or digesting what soaked in. The top pick is Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner.
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02
The short answer
Buy Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner if you are buying one thing, because trash can smell is a grease problem first. Add OdoBan if the can has held raw meat or pet waste and you want an actual disinfectant step. And buy a brush — the OXO Extendable Scrubber is the reason an outdoor cart gets cleaned at all rather than postponed again.
#
Product
Best for
Price
01
Simple Green All-Purpose CleanerThe degreaser we would reach for first: it breaks down the fat and food residue that actually makes a can smell, and Simple Green publishes a garbage can method for it.
OdoBan Disinfectant and Odor Eliminator ConcentrateThe registered disinfectant step, and one of the few whose EPA label carries directions for garbage cans and waste receptacles specifically.
Zep All-Purpose Cleaner and Degreaser Concentrate (ZU0567128)The bulk option: a gallon of concentrate that Zep states makes up to ten gallons of working solution, with a published dilution for each level of soil.
Biokleen Bac-Out Stain and Odor RemoverThe enzyme option for residue that has soaked in — a bin that still smells after a proper wash, rather than one that is merely dirty.
OXO Good Grips Extendable Tub and Tile ScrubberThe tool that makes cleaning a big can possible at all: a steel handle that twists out to 42 inches with a head that pivots into the bottom corners.
OXO Good Grips Deep Clean Brush SetTwo small stiff brushes for the three places a trash can actually smells from: the underside of the rim, the pedal channel and the lid hinge.
This whole page exists because of a sentence we have now written on about a dozen other pages of this site: wash the can before you buy anything else. That advice is free and it is right, and until now we have never said what to wash it with. Here is the answer, and the honest version of it is that three different products are sold as one category and they do genuinely different jobs.
03
How we picked
We do not run a testing lab and we have not cleaned six identical cans with six different products. What we did was read each manufacturer's own stated chemistry, dilution and permitted surfaces, check the EPA registration where a product makes a disinfection claim, and rank on how well each one matches the specific thing that is wrong with a dirty trash can. Our full methodology is here, and how the site is funded is here.
The criteria, applied consistently: which mechanism the product actually uses — degreasing, disinfecting or enzymatic digestion; whether the manufacturer publishes a dilution you can follow rather than leaving you to guess; whether the label or registration covers the surfaces a trash can is made from; whether there is an EPA registration behind any kill claim; cost per can cleaned, which favors concentrates heavily; and whether a human being can physically reach the part that needs scrubbing.
Two things we deliberately did not weigh. Star ratings and review counts, because they are gameable, not comparable across retailers, and quoting them would imply we had verified them. And fragrance, because a trash can that smells of lemon is a trash can that still smells — scent is the thing you add at the end, not the thing you buy to fix it. That argument in full.
04
The picks in full
01 — Best cleaner overall
Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner
The degreaser we would reach for first: it breaks down the fat and food residue that actually makes a can smell, and Simple Green publishes a garbage can method for it.
Type
Cleaner and degreaser, concentrate
Bleach
None
Biodegradable
Passed OECD 301D closed bottle test (manufacturer)
Half a gallon of concentrate to half a gallon of water
Disinfectant
No — no EPA kill claim
Trash can smell is a grease problem before it is a bacteria problem. Fat from meat packaging and food scraps films the inside wall, bacteria live in the film, and a disinfectant sprayed over the top of it kills what it can reach and leaves the rest. A degreaser removes the film, which is why it is the right first product. Simple Green publishes a garbage can procedure on its own site — mix in a bucket, scrub inside and out with an extendable brush, rinse, air dry with the lid open — and the company states the formula is biodegradable, having passed the OECD 301D closed bottle test, orally non-toxic, USDA Biobased, and recognized under the EPA Safer Choice program. There is no bleach in it, which matters in a can that has held pet waste or cat litter.
What we'd flag: it cleans, it does not disinfect. There is no EPA kill claim on it, so if the reason you are cleaning is raw meat drippings or a maggot episode, you want this first and then a registered disinfectant second — not this instead of one.
OdoBan Disinfectant and Odor Eliminator Concentrate
The registered disinfectant step, and one of the few whose EPA label carries directions for garbage cans and waste receptacles specifically.
Type
Disinfectant, deodorizer and cleaner, concentrate
EPA registration
66243-2 (Clean Control Corp)
Garbage can directions
Yes — on the registered label
Dwell time
Required; see the label
Scents
Eucalyptus, lavender, fresh linen and others
After the grease is gone, a disinfectant is what deals with what was living in it. OdoBan is an EPA-registered product — registration number 66243-2, registrant Clean Control Corp — and the label includes use directions for garbage cans and waste receptacles, which is unusual: most household disinfectants are labeled for counters and bathrooms and leave you guessing. It is a concentrate, so one bottle covers a lot of cans, and it deodorizes as it goes rather than needing a separate product afterwards.
What we'd flag: dilution is use-specific and the ratio for a garbage can is not the ratio for a countertop — follow the label on the bottle you buy rather than a number off a blog, and give it the dwell time printed there or you have not disinfected anything. It is also strongly fragranced, which some people will find worse than what it replaced.
Zep All-Purpose Cleaner and Degreaser Concentrate (ZU0567128)
The bulk option: a gallon of concentrate that Zep states makes up to ten gallons of working solution, with a published dilution for each level of soil.
Type
Cleaner and degreaser, concentrate
Size
1 gallon
Yield
Up to 10 gallons diluted (manufacturer figure)
Light soil
About 3 fl oz per 32 oz water
Medium soil
About 6 fl oz per 32 oz water
Tough soil
Full strength
If you are cleaning several cans, or a 96-gallon cart, buying ready-to-use spray bottles is the expensive way to do it. Zep publishes three dilutions — roughly 3 fl oz per 32 oz of water for light soils, 6 fl oz per 32 oz for medium, and full strength for the worst of it — which means you are not guessing, and the gallon lasts through a lot of cans. Zep lists it as safe on countertops, tile, stainless steel, porcelain, fiberglass and painted surfaces, which covers every material a trash can is made from.
What we'd flag: at full strength this is a serious degreaser and it will dry out your hands and take the shine off some finishes. Wear gloves, test an outside corner of a painted or powder-coated can first, and do not use it full strength on the inside of a can you will put food waste into without rinsing properly.
The enzyme option for residue that has soaked in — a bin that still smells after a proper wash, rather than one that is merely dirty.
Type
Bio-enzymatic stain and odor remover
Active
Live enzyme cultures, citrus extracts, essential oils
Sizes
32 oz spray; 128 oz refill
Scents
Lavender and lime; a Free and Clear option
Labeled for trash cans
No — see our note
Enzymes work differently from a degreaser: rather than lifting the residue off, they break the organic molecules down, which is why they are the right answer when something has had weeks to soak into a plastic can. Biokleen states Bac-Out uses live enzyme cultures with citrus extracts and essential oils, and it is sold both as a 32 oz spray and as a 128 oz refill. It is also the plant-based pick here for anyone who does not want a quaternary disinfectant in a kitchen.
What we'd flag, honestly: Biokleen does not list trash cans among its stated uses — the label talks about fabrics, carpets, pet accidents and bathroom surfaces. We are recommending it for the residue chemistry rather than on the maker's say-so, so spot-test an inconspicuous area first. Enzymes also need real dwell time; spraying and wiping straight off does nothing.
The tool that makes cleaning a big can possible at all: a steel handle that twists out to 42 inches with a head that pivots into the bottom corners.
Handle
Extends 26" to 42", steel
Head
Pivots; tapered for corners
Pad
About 6" x 4.4" x 1", nylon
Grip
Non-slip
Good for
Deep cans, outdoor carts, bases and walls
Everybody owns a cleaner and nobody owns the right brush, which is why outdoor cans do not get cleaned. A 96-gallon cart is deeper than your arm, and the only way to scrub the bottom is to lean your head and shoulders inside it — which is exactly why the job gets postponed. A handle that goes from 26 to 42 inches solves that, the head pivots so it meets the base at an angle instead of skating over it, and the tapered shape gets into the corner where the residue actually collects.
What we'd flag: it is a flat pad, not bristles. It is excellent on broad inside walls and the base, and useless in a pedal channel or under a lid rim — which is why we pair it with a detail brush rather than recommending it alone.
Two small stiff brushes for the three places a trash can actually smells from: the underside of the rim, the pedal channel and the lid hinge.
Contents
Large brush plus small brush with a wiper blade
Bristles
Nylon
Grips
Soft, non-slip
Good for
Rim underside, pedal channel, lid hinge, drain holes
The inside wall of a can is the part people clean and the part that is rarely the problem. The smell lives where splashes dried and nothing ever reaches: the lip under the rim, the slot the pedal linkage runs through, and the hinge. A large brush cannot get into any of those. This set pairs a larger brush for broad grime with a small one with a wiper blade for crevices, and the stiff nylon bristles survive hot water and a degreaser.
What we'd flag: these are small, hand-held brushes. You will be close to the can while you use them, which is unpleasant on a bin that has gone badly wrong — do the degreaser soak first and the detail work second, not the other way round.
Before you buy anything, work out which of these three problems you have. Buying the wrong one is the usual reason people conclude that cleaning the can did not work.
Mechanism
What it removes
Buy it when
What it will not do
Degreaser (surfactant)
The fatty film the smell lives in
The can is visibly dirty or sticky
No kill claim — it cleans, it does not disinfect
Disinfectant (EPA-registered)
What was growing in the film
Raw meat, pet waste, maggots
Nothing, if the grease is still there shielding it
Enzyme cleaner
Organic residue that soaked into the plastic
It still smells after a proper wash
Work quickly — it needs real dwell time
A brush
The residue the liquid cannot reach
Always, and nobody owns one
Replace the chemistry; it is the delivery system
The order matters as much as the choice: degrease first, disinfect second. A disinfectant sprayed onto a greasy wall only reaches what the grease is not covering.
Why a degreaser comes first
The inside of a used trash can is coated in a thin film of fat — from meat packaging, from the bottom of takeaway containers, from whatever leaked out of a bag three weeks ago. Bacteria colonize that film, and the compounds they produce are the smell. A disinfectant applied over the top of the film kills the surface layer and leaves the rest sitting underneath it, protected, which is precisely why people report that the can smelled fine for two days and then came back. Remove the film and most of the problem leaves with it.
When you genuinely need a registered disinfectant
Three cases: the can has held raw meat or fish drippings, it has held pet waste or cat litter, or you have had maggots in it. In all three, something pathogenic has been in contact with the surface and a cleaner with no kill claim is not the right finish. Look for an EPA registration number on the label — that number is the difference between a product that is permitted to make a disinfection claim and one that is using the word loosely. And give it the dwell time printed on the label; wiping a disinfectant off after thirty seconds has disinfected nothing. If maggots are the reason you are here, start with this instead.
Never mix bleach with anything
Bleach and ammonia produce chloramine gas, and bleach and an acidic cleaner produce chlorine gas. A trash can is a bad place to find this out, because a can that has held cat litter or urine-soaked diapers already has ammonia in it. If you use bleach, use it alone, on a can you have already rinsed, with the door open — and in practice a degreaser does the job better anyway, which is why none of our picks contains any.
Dry it, or you have wasted the afternoon
The single most-skipped step. A can that goes back into service still damp is a can with a thin film of water on every surface, and the next bag that touches it starts the process over immediately. Leave it upside down or lid-open in the air until it is genuinely dry to the touch. Simple Green's own garbage can instructions end on exactly this point, and so does our step-by-step method.
06
How much product a can actually needs
Concentrates win this category on arithmetic, not on chemistry. A ready-to-use spray bottle is mostly water you paid to ship, and a 13-gallon kitchen can takes very little working solution. Where it changes is outdoors.
Can
Realistic clean
What that means for product choice
Kitchen can, 13 gallon
Monthly; a spray bottle and five minutes
A ready-to-use spray is fine; a concentrate still costs less
Kitchen can after a leak
Immediately; soak the base, then detail
Degreaser, then a detail brush on the rim and pedal
Outdoor cart, 64-96 gallon
Twice a year; a bucket and a hose
Concentrate plus a long-handled scrubber, not a spray
Any can after raw meat or pet waste
Same day; degrease then disinfect
Two products, in that order, with dwell time
Frequency figures are a sensible household rhythm rather than a manufacturer specification. If food waste goes in the can, clean it more often than this, not less.
The outdoor row is where most people's plan quietly fails. A 96-gallon cart is deeper than your arm, and the honest reason it never gets cleaned is not laziness, it is that you would have to put your head inside it. That is the entire argument for an extendable scrubber, and it is why we put a tool in a list of cleaners. If the cart is the actual problem, this page is more specific.
07
What we would not buy
Three categories that take money and do not solve this.
Scented sprays sold as trash can cleaners. If a product leads with its fragrance and never names a mechanism, it is an air freshener with a different label on it. There is a legitimate place for odor products — in the lid headspace of a can you have already cleaned — and we have ranked those separately. Using one instead of cleaning is perfume over a problem.
Trash can "cleaning" tablets and pods. A tablet dropped into a wet can dissolves into standing water at the bottom and does nothing to the walls, which is where the film is. The dose is small, the contact is partial, and the mechanism is usually fragrance plus a mild surfactant.
A new can. This is the expensive version of the mistake, and we see it constantly in this category. Almost every persistent smell is residue on a can that is structurally fine. Clean it properly once; if it still smells after a degreaser, a rinse and a genuine dry, an enzyme cleaner is the next step — and only then is it worth looking at the can itself.
08
Which one for which job
If this is you
Buy
Why
You are buying one product, full stop
Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner
Degreases, no bleach, and the maker publishes a garbage can method
Raw meat, pet waste or maggots
OdoBan Concentrate
EPA-registered, with garbage cans named on the label
Several cans, or a 96-gallon cart
Zep Cleaner and Degreaser Concentrate
A gallon makes up to ten; three published dilutions
It still smells after a proper wash
Biokleen Bac-Out
Enzymes digest residue that soaked into the plastic
The can is deeper than your arm
OXO Extendable Tub and Tile Scrubber
Steel handle out to 42", head pivots into the base
You have scrubbed it and it still smells
OXO Deep Clean Brush Set
Reaches the rim underside, pedal channel and hinge
If none of those describe you, the honest answer is that hot water and dish soap, used properly and followed by a real dry, fixes the large majority of smelly cans for nothing. Every product on this page is an upgrade on that baseline for a specific reason — not a replacement for it.
09
Common questions
What is the best cleaner for a trash can?
Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner, because trash can smell is a grease problem before it is a bacteria problem and a degreaser is what removes the film the smell lives in. Simple Green also publishes a garbage can procedure for it, and there is no bleach in the formula.
Should I use a cleaner or a disinfectant on a trash can?
Both, in that order, if the can has held raw meat or pet waste. A degreaser removes the fatty film; a disinfectant then reaches the surface underneath. A disinfectant applied first only kills what the grease is not covering, which is why the smell comes back in a couple of days.
Can I use bleach to clean a trash can?
Use it alone or not at all. Bleach plus ammonia makes chloramine gas and bleach plus an acidic cleaner makes chlorine gas, and a can that has held cat litter or diapers already contains ammonia. A degreaser does the job better and carries none of that risk.
How often should you clean a trash can?
Monthly for a kitchen can, immediately after any bag leak, and roughly twice a year for an outdoor cart. If food waste goes in daily, clean it more often than that - odor is driven by how long residue sits and how warm it is.
What do you do when a trash can still smells after cleaning?
Two things are usually left. Residue in the places a big brush cannot reach - the underside of the rim, the pedal channel, the lid hinge - and organic matter that has soaked into the plastic itself. A detail brush fixes the first; an enzyme cleaner left to dwell fixes the second.
Do trash can cleaning tablets work?
Not well. A tablet dissolves into whatever water is standing in the base and barely touches the walls, which is where the film actually is. The dose is small, the contact is partial, and the active ingredient is usually fragrance plus a mild surfactant.
10
Sources
Every specification on this page traces to one of these, checked at the time of writing. Where a manufacturer does not publish a figure, the page says so rather than estimating it.
Owner and editor of Lid & Liner, published by Magoo Media Group. He started the site after getting tired of the same problem everyone has: every “best trash can” article covers ten products and none of them tells you whether a 13-gallon bag actually fits a 13-gallon can. Lid & Liner covers one category and tries to cover it completely.
Last reviewed October 1, 2026. Spotted an error? Tell us and we will correct it and note the correction.
