How to Clean a Wheelie Bin

The best time to clean a wheelie bin is straight after collection, when it's empty. Most households only need to do it every month or two, but general waste and food waste bins benefit from a clean every few weeks in hot weather, when smells, flies and maggots are worst.

Check your council's rules on where you can wash it. Washing water from a bin is dirty and shouldn't go into roadside drains, which usually lead to rivers and streams. Wash it on a lawn or gravel, or tip the water down an outside drain connected to the foul sewer, such as a yard gully by the kitchen.

A garden tap or buckets of hot water, plus:

Make sure the bin is completely empty and scrape out anything stuck to the bottom with a garden trowel. Hose or pour water around the inside to loosen dirt, then tip it out.

Add a bucket of hot water with a good squeeze of washing-up liquid or a capful of disinfectant. Scrub the inside walls and bottom with the long-handled brush, paying attention to the corners and the underside of the lid, where flies lay eggs. Rinse thoroughly, tip the bin on its side and let it drain.

Leave the bin upside down or with the lid open in the sun to dry. Moisture is what makes the next lot of rubbish smell, so a dry bin really does stay fresher for longer. Finally, clean the outside, handle and lid top, which everyone touches.

Maggots are fly larvae that hatch from eggs laid on food waste. To clear them, pour boiling water from a kettle over them – carefully, and only on the bin, not on plastic you want to keep soft – or sprinkle with salt or a mixture of salt and vinegar, then rinse and clean as above. Insecticide powders and sprays for bins are also available.

Prevention matters more. Bag all food waste and tie the bags, keep the lid fully closed, and keep the bin in the shade if you can. Rinse out food packaging before putting it in the recycling, and use your council's food waste caddy if one is provided – it's usually collected weekly. Our guide to cleaning to prevent pests has more on keeping flies and rodents away.

Sprinkle a handful of bicarbonate of soda in the bottom of the bin after cleaning to absorb smells, or put a few sheets of newspaper or cardboard in the bottom of a general waste bin to soak up liquid. Commercial bin fresheners that clip under the lid help in summer. Double-bag nappies and pet waste.

Many areas have local bin cleaning businesses that come on collection day with a van fitted with hot-water jets and wash the bins on the spot, collecting the dirty water so nothing runs into the street. They usually charge per bin per clean, with lower prices for a regular monthly or four-weekly round.

It's particularly popular for blocks of flats with large communal bins, holiday lets and households who simply don't have the space or water supply to wash bins. If you manage a building, bin store cleaning is often part of communal area cleaning. Some general cleaning companies offer it as an add-on; specialist exterior cleaners usually include it with patio and driveway cleaning.

Bin stores – brick or timber enclosures for wheelie bins – get dirty underneath where liquid leaks. Sweep, then scrub the floor with hot soapy water and rinse. Don't forget the doors and handles. In flats and HMOs, a dirty bin store attracts rats and foxes, so it's worth including in a building's cleaning schedule.