Why Your Recycling Bin Deserves a Professional Deep Clean

When we think about smelly, gross household chores, your trash can may be the first to come to mind. After all, it’s where all of the dinner scraps, dog waste, and actual garbage go, so it makes sense that it receives the reputation as the stinky one.

Because of that, the recycling bin typically gets a pass. It’s usually seen as the cleaner bin, since it only gets paper, cardboard, plastic bottles, and aluminum cans. However, if you’ve opened your recycling bin recently, you’ll know the smell of this bin can get just as stinky as your trash can. Here’s a look at why your recycling bin gets so dirty, and why a quick rinse with a garden hose isn’t enough to fix it.

The Reality of “Empty” Containers

We all try to be good neighbors and recycle properly, but let’s be honest, hardly anyone gets their recyclables 100% clean before tossing it in the recycling bin.

That last half ounce of milk in the jug, the sticky residue at the bottom of a soda can, and the leftover sauce in a jar all find their way into your blue bin. Over the course of just a week, those tiny bits of leftover liquids pool at the bottom of the bin. When you mix sugar, dairy, and yeast residues together in a dark, enclosed space, you don’t just get a mess, you get fermentation.

Five-Star Resort for Pests

While flies and maggots love your trash can, pests like ants, roaches, and wasps are big fans of the recycling bin.

The sticky, sugary syrup created by soda, juice, and alcohol remnants is like a beacon calling your local pests to your recycling bin for a party. Once ants find a way into your recycling bin, it’s only a matter of time before they start exploring the rest of your driveway, garage, or even your kitchen. Keeping the bin clean is one of the easiest ways to keep these pests away from your home.

The Simple Hose-Down Doesn’t Work

When the recycling bin starts to look sticky or smell bad, your first reaction is to grab the garden hose, spray the can down, and dump it all out into the grass.

Unfortunately, this usually makes things worse. Cold water from your garden hose can’t cut through sticky, baked-on soda residue or grease. Instead, it just creates a warm, damp puddle at the bottom of your bin, which is the perfect environment for mold and bacteria to grow. Plus, dumping that sugary, chemical wastewater onto your grass or into the storm drain isn’t great for your grass or the local environment.

Why Professional Cleaning Makes a Difference

To truly get a recycling bin clean, you need two things that a standard garden hose can’t provide: extreme heat and serious pressue.

A professional deep clean doesn’t just move the dirt around, it actually sanitizes the container. Here’s a quick breakdown of what a professional service does that a DIY wash can’t.

• Blasts away the stickiness: High-pressure hot water melts away the stubborn, baked-on sugars and syrups that bugs love.
• Kills the bacteria: Temperatures reaching up to 200 degrees eliminates the bacteria and mold causing those sour, fermented smells.
• Protects the environment: All the dirty water is contained and safely disposed of, so none of that grime ends up in your yard or our local waterways.

Let Clean Cans Handle Your Bins

You shouldn’t have to hold your breath every time you go to toss something into either of your bins. Like your garbage can, your recycling bin also deserves to be fresh and clean.

At Clean Cans, we don’t pick favorites! We treat your recycling bin with the exact same high-pressure, sanitizing care as your regular garbage cans. Our trucks wash, deodorize, and sanitize your bins right at the curb on your regular trash pick-up day, leaving them clean and odor-free.

No need to hold your nose anymore! Sign up for our regular can cleaning service today and let us handle the dirty work.