How Do I Stop My Garbage From Smelling in My Garage?
Homeowners frequently store large rollaway garbage cans in their garage, which can start to produce an unpleasant odor over time.
Some odors can linger and even spread throughout your home, making your garage garbage smelly. There are many simple solutions available to stop the issue of smelly garage trash; using a garbage disposal or composting are among them.
Baking Soda
Baking soda is one of the best natural odor eliminators you’ll find around your home, serving to deodorize trash cans, carpeting, pet odors and drains without harming anyone or the environment. Furthermore, baking soda helps reduce build-up in garbage disposals and other household appliances to keep them running smoothly and avoid clogs altogether.
Given that garbage cans can harbor moldy, spoiled and rotten food scraps that release harmful bacteria into the air, keeping them as clean as possible is crucial in order to avoid bad smells lingering for too long after food has been removed from them. If your garage contains stinky garbage cans that need some freshening up here are some effective strategies for keeping them odor-free:
At first, taking out the trash on a daily basis may be the most effective way to prevent garage odors from building up. But if this isn’t feasible for whatever reason, here are a few other strategies you can try in order to keep it smelling fresher longer.
Use baking soda cleaning paste to scrub both the inside and exterior surfaces of your trash cans to get rid of any built up grime or residue, or sprinkle some at the bottom before inserting a new trash bag to absorb any lingering odors.
If your garage lacks proper ventilation, consider investing in a fan to circulate air and eliminate musty smells. Another solution would be purchasing deodorizing garbage can liners; these special liners absorb and neutralize bad odors and are available at most grocery stores.
Baking soda can help mitigate unpleasant odors from full trash bags by neutralizing acidic molecules that cause them. Spread a thin layer at the bottom of waste bins and change out your layer every month for maximum effectiveness.
Garbage disposals can quickly become breeding grounds for harmful bacteria that cause unpleasant smells and illness. If yours has developed any foul aromas, pour a cup of baking soda down its drain before pouring hot water through to clear away any lingering odors.
Kitty Litter
One of the main sources of garbage can odor in garages is decayed food that contains harmful bacteria that could endanger both your health and release dangerous spores into the air. You can reduce these bad odors by always double bagging especially pungent foods and adding chunks of charcoal, cat litter, baking soda or dryer sheets at the bottom of your trashcans to absorb any bad odors that remain.
If you own a cat, consider using their litter to stop your garbage smelling in the garage. Clumping litter works especially well since it absorbs any unpleasant odors more effectively than non-clumping varieties. Or try natural litter made of plant materials; both options use less resources while decomposing quickly in soil environments.
However, if your cat has become used to using clumping litter and does not like its replacement, a gradual transition may be necessary to avoid an upset stomach. Unscented cat litter may be gentler on their paws while being more affordable than brands containing scents or chemicals that may irritate their skin.
Vanilla extract can also help your garage garbage can smell less. Available at most grocery stores, this remedy works wonders in dispelling foul odors trapped within its container. Simply pour a bit into the can once every few weeks as an effective deodorizer.
Make a sachet out of coffee filters, baking soda and floss to protect your garbage can from bad smells by placing the sachet at the bottom. That should do it!
Storing your garbage cans outside can go a long way towards alleviating the smelly trash in your garage, and is one way to ensure there are no animal droppings or debris lingering there. Also make sure that any gas leaks in your garage haven’t formed which may become extremely hazardous to both health and even cause severe illness or even death.
Dryer Sheets
Your garage’s smelly trash can is more than an inconvenience; it poses real health hazards. Rotting food in garbage cans can release bacteria harmful to humans, while moldy bread and cheese products produce harmful spores that release into the atmosphere. Luckily, there are easy solutions available to you for stopping your garbage cans from emitting offensive smells in your garage.
Off-the-shelf trash can deodorizers often contain harsh chemicals, but natural solutions exist which can effectively clean, deodorize and sanitize garbage cans without using harmful substances like chlorine bleach or baking soda. Most can even be found right in your own home! Some popular examples of homemade solutions for deodorizing cans are cat litter, baking soda, vanilla extract and dryer sheets.
Dryer sheets can be an indispensable resource for eliminating static electricity and keeping fabric soft, but they have multiple other uses as well. For instance, using one on an animal that sheds excessively will decrease how often you have to brush out their coat. You could also line your trash can with one and absorb any odors – keeping everything smelling good while keeping odor at bay!
An effective and simple way to control the smell of your garbage is placing newspapers at the bottom of the can. This will absorb odors as well as any leakage from bags and help clean up food spills if they occur.
Cleanliness of garbage cans should also be prioritized. This can be accomplished by regularly using a hose and scrub brush to rinse both interior and exterior of the can, or mixing 1/3 cup Dawn dish soap and 2 cups white vinegar together in a bucket as an effective cleaning solution which not only removes smells but will also leave them spotlessly clean.
Finally, it is crucial that your garbage cans remain out of direct sunlight to avoid musty and unpleasant odors escaping through their lids. Doing so will also ensure odor-preventing capabilities are maximized.
Composting
Garbage cans become stinky when filled with decaying food scraps, pet waste or diapers that produce foul smells that become particularly pungent in hot temperatures. Most households store their garbage cans in their garage to protect valuable cars or other belongings that don’t want to become polluted with offensive smells.
Composting organic material such as food scraps is one way to eliminate unpleasant odors in your environment, using microorganisms to break it down into compost for use on gardens or in place of mulching materials. Composting also helps reduce waste that ends up in landfills or waterways while returning nutrients back into the soil, providing long-term environmental benefits.
Many cities and towns provide curbside composting services to residents. Compost takes some time to fully decompose, eliminating odor and helping prevent runoff into streets, rivers and lakes. To maximize its effectiveness add leafy materials like grass clippings and vegetable peels along with hay, straw sawdust or wood ash into your mix by mixing with a shovel regularly using turns or rotation. Mix it frequently by turning regularly or you risk overheating!
An inexpensive alternative to waste disposal would be purchasing a backyard compost bin, which acts as a large container to store outdoor waste that will eventually be transformed by microorganisms into humus and mulch. To minimize odor, line the bottom of the bin with newspapers for optimal odor-control purposes.
Maintain a regular cleaning regimen for the garbage can to remove moldy materials that accumulate over time, such as vinegar and dish soap solutions. Scrub both its interior and exterior using these solutions once every month before rinsing it thoroughly with a hose before leaving its lid open for air drying before placing it back into storage in your garage – this will help eliminate odors while preventing mildew growth and mold growth.
