Cleaning your wheelie bins is useless you may think. It collects rubbish anyway, why should it need to be cleaned? Well despite how unpleasant it is, there are a number of reasons why you should clean them. Your bins are basically a breeding ground for bacteria, microorganisms, pests and rodents. Without the proper bin cleaning maintenance, you’re basically inviting them over for dinner, and it will be quite hard to get rid of them after.
The moment you throw out your rubbish it starts to decay. The waste in Skip bins in Perth is usually collected fortnightly in Australia so, for any fly, rodent or microorganism this is a perfect place to make a home. Keeping your home clean and pest free should be one of your priorities, as they can carry diseases and cause health risks. The good news is that it’s not hard to clean your wheelie bins. Keep reading to learn how to properly clean those festy old wheelie bins, as well as learning about tips on maintaining them.
How to clean a dirty bin
If your bin hasn’t been cleaned in a long time, there will be a lot of build-up within it. You’ll need to make sure you get all of it out, and the best way to do that is with a pressure washer. If you don’t have a pressure washer, you can use a hose with a jet fitting on the end so it has the strongest stream possible. If you don’t have a fitting, they’re pretty cheap to get from a hardware store like Bunnings.
Safety first
Before beginning, you’ll want to protect your hands and eyes when cleaning, as you may need to break apart any of the hard build-ups with your hands. You don’t really want any of that stuff in your eyes, do you?
We recommend using nitrile rubber gloves, as you may need to use a bleach mixture to really clean out your bin, and generic safety glasses you can get from the hardware store. Also, this is quite a messy job, so wear some old clothes you don’t mind getting mucky.
Get to spraying
After you have your safety equipment on, lay the empty bin on its side, and blast the inside of it with the hose or pressure washer. You may notice that the water will collect up and blast, straight out back at you. Good thing you have those glasses on. Try to find an angle where you won’t be blasting yourself with rotten bin water.
Once clear water starts coming back out of the bin, take a look inside. Sometimes there may be some build up inside that won’t come off with a hose, so you’ll need to break this up a little with your hands, or perhaps a long instrument, such as a stick. Then once the majority of the heavy stuff is broken up, give it another blast of water to get the last of the debris out.
Time for a cleaning agent
The job isn’t over yet! Depending on the interior state of the bin, you may need to use a strong cleaning agent such as a bleach and water mixture, both in equal parts. If there is some odour left after hosing, you can use dish detergent to make it go away. Remember, using bleach can discolour your bin slightly, but that’s always better than it festering with rot.
There are a few ways to clean with an agent, some pressure washers have an inbuilt sump that you can fill with a cleaner. If you don’t have that kind of equipment, you can stand the bin back up and pour in your cleaning mixture, and then use the hose or washer to spray and mix it all together. Try not to fill the bin, as it’ll get too heavy.
Be mindful that both bleach and dishwashing liquid aren’t great for the environment. You can either use eco-friendly soaps or just make sure you dilute the mixture thoroughly before it runs into the drains.
Pour it out and rinse
Once that’s done, let it sit for about five minutes or so, and then you’ll need to tip the bin back over. Like we said, bleach and cleaning agents aren’t very good for the environment, so you need to make sure you’re diluting the water as much as possible while it runs out into the grass or down the drain.
Give your bin a rinse on the inside to ensure the suds from the cleaning agents are removed. Next, you can tip your bin upside down, or place a rock under one edge to let the water drain. If there is still an odour, give the exterior of the bin a clean, in much the same way you did with the interior.
Let it dry
You’ll need to let your bin dry before you start filling it with trash again. It’s a good idea to not leave water in a bin if you can avoid it. Water is a great place for bacteria to grow and let things rot. So give it an hour or so to dry out fully. A visual inspection should be enough to determine whether it is dry or not.
How to keep it from festering in the future
It’s bound to happen, your bins will start to smell and fester again in the future, but how do you prolong that from happening? We’ll list some tips for you to follow.
- Always make sure the lid of the bin is closed. Doing this prevents rodents and pests from getting into them.
- Cover all your food and waste. Make sure your biodegradable bin bags are tied up tightly before they go out to the wheely bin.
- If it’s a hot day outside, try to place the bin under some shade, such as a tree or open garage if you can.
- Don’t overload the bin. Bins can only take so much, and if you’re overloading them, you run the risk of not being able to close the bin, or even toppling it by accident.
If you are overloading your wheelies, try out a skip bin
Sometimes with a house full of people the wheelie bin just isn’t going to cut it. A great solution to managing your waste is by getting some more Skip bins! There are skip bins in Perth that are happy to take care of your waste. Perth skip bins waste removal services offer a range of commercial and domestic services that will take general waste, e-waste, and recyclables off of your hands.