Make Filthy Outdoor Trash Cans Sparkle With A Dollar Tree Essential

Many homeowners don't think much about their outdoor trash bins — except for when it's time to take them to the curb — but we all know how grimy and odorous they can get. Trash bags leak into bins, leaving a smelly, sticky mess. Grass, dirt, and other outdoor elements can end up in them. Lured by the aroma of decomposing food, lizards and mice might crawl into them as well, and leave their excrement behind. Needless to say, outdoor trash bins can get pretty filthy pretty easily, but you can make yours look almost new again with one primary cleaning item from Dollar Tree: a broom. You'll also need some dish soap and a garden hose.

You likely already own a broom, but you shouldn't use the same one to clean your trash can; there are different brooms for every cleaning task in your home — as well as ones that you can use outdoors. Pick one up at Dollar Tree for $2.50; the plastic broom handle and angle broom head are sold separately for $1.25 each, so you'll have to assemble it yourself. You probably already have dish soap, but if you're running low, Dollar Tree sells that, too. You can purchase a single 7.5-ounce bottle of Dawn at the store for $1.25. For odor elimination, add a bottle of LA's Totally Awesome Cleaning Vinegar to your shopping cart.

The best time to clean your outdoor trash can is right after trash pickup day, or any other day when it's empty. Take your hose and rinse the interior of the can until all the walls and corners are wet. Then, turn the can on its side to dump all the water out onto your driveway. Just make sure there aren't any large debris clumps that can end up in the sewer. Do a second round of rinsing before adding in the dish soap. Apply the soap to each wall and add more water until a few inches have accumulated at the bottom of the can.

Now for the fun part: the scrubbing. Take your broom and use it to scrub all along the walls, corners, and grooves. Don't forget the handles and lid, too. Dump the dirty water out again and repeat these steps until the can is thoroughly cleaned. You can also clean the exterior of the can, including the tires. You can continue using the broom or grab a hand-held scrubbing brush.

Once the trash is nice and clean, you can either towel dry it or just let it dry out in the sun with the lid off. Even if the cleanliness of an outdoor bin isn't important to you, deodorizing your trash can to combat funky smells likely is, so taking a few minutes to give your can a deep cleaning should do the trick.