How to clean an outdoor garbage can

Rinse, apply a degreaser, let it dwell ten minutes, scrub with a long-handled brush, rinse, then stand it upside down to dry in the sun. Do it on grass or gravel rather than a driveway so the runoff soaks away instead of running to a storm drain, and do it on the day the cart is emptied, when it is empty and you have a week before it matters again.

The reason the drying step matters as much as the washing is that what you are smelling is bacterial activity in a film of organic residue. Water is part of what that film needs. A cart that is rinsed and left standing upright with an inch of water in the bottom is a cart that smells worse in three days than it did before you started.

1. Step 01

   Pick the day and the spot

   Clean it the morning it is emptied, so the cart is as empty as it ever gets and has the longest possible time to dry before the next load. Move it onto grass, gravel or a planted area. Washing a cart on a driveway sends the runoff to a storm drain, which in most municipalities is both discouraged and pointless when a lawn will filter it for you.

2. Step 02

   Rinse out the loose material

   Hose the inside from the top, working around the walls, and tip the cart to pour the water out. You are removing what is loose so the cleaner can reach the film underneath. If there is baked-on residue, a few minutes of plain water sitting in the bottom softens it while you get the cleaner ready.

3. Step 03

   Apply a cleaner at the right strength

   A degreaser concentrate is the right tool - the residue in a garbage can is mostly fat and protein, which is what degreasers are formulated for. Zep publishes three dilutions for three levels of soil; Simple Green publishes a garbage can method of its own. For a cart that has had meat or fish in it, use a disinfectant concentrate instead: OdoBan's EPA label names garbage cans specifically. Coat the walls, the base and the underside of the lid.

4. Step 04

   Let it dwell

   Ten minutes, longer if it is a disinfectant, and keep the surface wet the whole time. This is the step that does the actual work and the step people skip. Scrubbing a dry surface moves residue around; scrubbing after a dwell lifts it off.

5. Step 05

   Agitate, with a tool that reaches

   A long-handled brush with a pivoting head reaches the bottom of a 64- or 96-gallon cart without you climbing in or lying across the rim. Work the base, the corners where the walls meet the floor, and the rim channel under the lid - that channel is where the smell lives, and a hose never touches it.

6. Step 06

   Rinse, then dry it upside down

   Rinse from the top until the water runs clear, then tip the cart over - inverted, propped against a fence or a wall with the lid open so air moves through. An hour in direct sun does more for the smell than anything in the previous five steps. Do not put a bag back in until the inside is dry to the touch.

Three products cover every version of this job, and the right one depends on what went into the cart.

The three things we would have in the garage for this job: a degreaser concentrate with published dilutions, a disinfectant whose label covers garbage cans, and a brush that reaches the bottom of a 96-gallon cart.

Best concentrate value

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.

$8.78 · View on Amazon

Price as of October 16, 2026.  #ad How we make money

Best disinfectant

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.

$18.92 · View on Amazon

Price as of October 16, 2026.  #ad How we make money

Best for reach

OXO Good Grips Extendable Tub and Tile Scrubber

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.

$26.94 · View on Amazon

Price as of October 16, 2026.  #ad How we make money

Twice a year is enough for a cart that only ever sees bagged waste in a temperate climate. Four times a year is right for most households. Monthly in summer is right if you have pets, small children in diapers, or a long hot season - bacterial activity roughly doubles for every ten degrees of warmth, so a July cart is a different problem from a February one.

The honest version is that the cleaning schedule matters far less than whether the waste goes in bagged. A cart that only ever receives tied bags barely needs cleaning; a cart that receives loose kitchen waste needs it monthly and will still smell. That is the whole trick, and it costs nothing. Why bag fit matters more than people think.

• Double-bag anything wet or sharp. One split bag in the bottom of a cart undoes a cleaning.
• Freeze meat scraps until collection day. Fish bones and chicken carcasses in a 90-degree cart for six days are the single worst thing you can do to it.
• Keep the lid closed and the cart in shade if you can. Heat and moisture are the two inputs.
• Sprinkle an absorbent deodoriser in the base after cleaning. It will not fix a dirty cart, but it buys time on a clean one. Deodorisers that work.

In a lot of municipalities the wheeled cart belongs to the hauler rather than to you, which is worth knowing for two reasons. A cracked body or a missing lid is usually replaced free on request, and a cart so far gone that cleaning will not fix it can often simply be swapped. Call before you spend a Saturday on it.

There are also cart-cleaning services in most metro areas that come to the curb with a pressure washer and a reclaim tank. They are a reasonable purchase once a year if the cart is large, your back is not, or you have nowhere to do this that is not a driveway.

If the cart smells because animals keep opening it rather than because it is dirty, cleaning is the wrong fix. Raccoon-proofing and lid locks address that directly, and garage can smell covers the version of this problem that happens indoors.