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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To tell you that I am totally fed up of the kitchen bin stinking.

106 replies

girlfriend44 · 03/08/2025 23:27

Probably the time of year.
The kitchen bin.often stinks and it's horrible.
Yes it's gets cleaned and the bags changed but ewwwww I hate it.

How do you cope with your smelly kitchen bin anything I'm missing?😚😷😫

OP posts:
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SmellycatSmelllycat · 17/05/2026 04:34

I didn’t realise this was a zombie thread till I saw someone mention that their bin is stinking “in this heat”.

I’ve just woken up shivering because I put the summer duvet on hoping the weather was going to change when we had a few warm days a couple of weeks ago.

I’ve had my heating on tonight and still woken up cold, this is miserable for May.

I had ordered a load of summer clothes from Next so apologies to everyone for jinxing it. My weather app said it was going to be 26c from Friday but has since dropped to 18c.

I need a holiday…

NameChangeScot · 16/05/2026 21:37

girlfriend44 · 04/08/2025 01:01

When it's full. Pedal Bin.

That's your issue, you need to empty it everyday. Don't use it for any food, use a separate food caddy, empty that daily too. Any meat/fish packaging needs to go straight into the outdoor bin.

Make sure the bin is completely clean, inside and out, give it a good scrub. Take it outside and hose it down with soapy water if you can.

Use something like bin buddy when you empty it.

Pistachiocake · 16/05/2026 21:35

Empty in the morning and at night, and if you're in at lunchtime, take anything smelly straight to the outside bin. Or some people just use carrier bags instead, and take them out several times a day, if they don't work outside the home (yes, even though carrier bags cost a lot these days, and some hate this idea for environmental reasons, some people still do it!)

Gettingbysomehow · 16/05/2026 21:30

My bin doesnt stink purely because I use much smaller bags to prevent it. I have cat food and stuff in there which smells if left too long. I then empty it much more often and put it outside.

Kinfluencer · 16/05/2026 21:11

DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen · 04/08/2025 00:56

Ours gets emptied every evening.

Same
Large really tough bin bag as the liner and smaller pedal bin liner inside that DH cant cram it full
Bin emptied after dinner every evening and wiped down
Its spotless,like new

Absolutely nothing smelly goes in,its wrapped and taken straight outside

AntikytheraMech · 16/05/2026 21:05

Our council only collects black bags every three weeks and really bins are not allowed and after three weeks the kitchen bin is rank. Nowhere else to store the bin bags other than in the house. It's a shit labour council.

canthavetoomanylights · 16/05/2026 21:01

I have had several bins over the years, each one started with good intentions of keeping it clean and smell free. Failed every time and binned.
Haven’t had a bin in the kitchen for years. I just take stuff out to the wheelie bin

Dublassie · 16/05/2026 21:00

Empty our compost bin three or four times a day and the waste bin at least twice .Could not bear a bin kept overnight . Of course it smells !!

Tinmanwalkedpastwindeh · 16/05/2026 20:59

Never had my bin stinking, ever
You clearly do not empty it often enough 🤮

S3mple · 16/05/2026 20:57

Ours never smell.

Black bin has very little in, recycling is washed and compost caddy is emptied every day

shellyleppard · 16/05/2026 20:56

I put a liquid air freshener thing in the bottom of the bin.....it helps

Ireallycantthinkofagoodone · 16/05/2026 20:53

Isitreallysohard · 04/08/2025 00:46

How can you put food in the recycling bin?

My LA collects food waste weekly in a separate (small) bin. I don’t use the service, as I am vegetarian and put my peelings/egg shells etc. in my compost bin.

FurForksSake · 27/08/2025 16:48

Only putting clean and dry stuff into the recycling and minimal into waste is the way to go. I don’t understand how the uk has so many different kerb side recycling schemes, ours takes food and garden waste weekly. I also compost compostable stuff. Stretchy plastic goes back to Ocado once a week, milk comes in glass bottles. We try to put less than one black bin sack into the rubbish as possible.

Breathejustbreathe01 · 27/08/2025 16:35

We hang a bin bag up on a hook, fill it then put it out in the wheely bin before bed. No smells really. Works for us. We haven't got a physical bin in the kitchen.

Gettingbysomehow · 27/08/2025 16:31

I use biodegradable dog poo bags for smelly stuff. I don't have a dog.

rosiebl · 27/08/2025 16:21

I have a very small bin, same size as my recycling bin (side by side) and empty both every couple of days. Never smells.

Oldraver · 27/08/2025 16:20

Isabelle70 · 03/08/2025 23:52

I had a food waste caddy that only has uncooked vegetables peelings or teabags in it. Any cooked food waste goes in a bag in the freezer. Any recyclable items are rinsed in the last bit of dish water so my kitchen bin only has clean waste in it. Never smells and the dog takes no interest in it so it can’t smell!

I do exactly the same. Any leftover food that has the potential to smell goes straight into a plastic box in the freezer. Bread veg peelings are ok in the waste caddy

I hate maggots and after getting the fuckers in my bin I started doing this

randoname · 27/08/2025 16:16

Bad housekeeper but no smells here.
Food waste caddy is weighted down. Only dry things go in the bins and they're emptied well before they're filled. Anything super smelly goes straight outside.

swampwitch0 · 27/08/2025 16:13

I use bin buddy granules

RafaistheKingofClay · 04/08/2025 17:42

Isitreallysohard · 04/08/2025 10:46

Oh I see, thanks for clarifying, I thought you were putting food in with your plastics 🫠

😂 That would almost certainly lead to the bin men refusing to pick up the recycling.

momager1 · 04/08/2025 13:03

birdling · 04/08/2025 08:31

Oh my word! Where do you live????

Dominican Republic, in Punta Cana, very hot all the time, so grateful that our garbage is picked up daily. In our community it is just a large pick up truck.

TeeBee · 04/08/2025 11:07

I have a Joseph Joseph totem bin that has a filter and that helps a lot. However, I compost most veg waste and I don't leave meat lying in the bin for long.

SophiaSW1 · 04/08/2025 11:01

In the summer we empty it daily

TheFormidableMrsC · 04/08/2025 10:57

I use a small food scraps bin with a compostable liner, that goes straight into our food waste bin when full. I put cat food pouches out immediately because they reek. My kitchen bin is largely just packaging, crisp bags or whatever so it doesn’t smell. I think a lot depends on your LA recycling rules. We have a lot of bins so can avoid having smelly stuff in the house.

Isitreallysohard · 04/08/2025 10:46

RafaistheKingofClay · 04/08/2025 10:15

Food waste recycling. Ours gets collected weekly with the other recycling. The rubbish bin gets collected 3 weekly and never smells.

The food waste indoor caddy is tiny so stiff doesn’t stay in it long. Anything going into the rubbish that has food waste gets rinsed first.

Oh I see, thanks for clarifying, I thought you were putting food in with your plastics 🫠