Paying someone to sanitise your dustbins?

[AnnaSewell]

Is this something people do? Or does it indicate a weird cleanliness obsession.

I mean that once the council has emptied the bin by tipping ou the bags, a private company then takes your wheeie bins away, then washes and fragrances them before returning them to your property.

I did power wash my bin a couple of years ago when a neighbour took our bin one week and tipped food waste directly into it for several weeks before i swapped them back. Haven't bothered since as I bag my waste, I wouldn't pay someone unless a very similar thing happened and I couldn't manage myself, it'd have to be something exceptional though.

I pay £34 a year for mine (only cleaned once a month though).

We couldn't be without it. Our waste bin is on a fortnightly collection & we often have maggots in the summer (live in one of the hottest places in the UK).

Most of our neighbours use them too.

Why are they so smelly/dirty? Everything is bagged. Nothing physically gets in the bin to make it dirty. Neither my rubbish black bag bin nor recycling have ever needed cleaning. They are clean.....
The only bin that does is the food bin, which I just chuck some bleach solution in every week after it's been collected.

You are in a very fortunate position.

Honestly it's a parallel universe on here sometimes. I live rurally and don't know anyone who cleans a container that lives it's whole life outside and yes birds love maggots so win win

Bins too close to back doors /windows for the birds to eat the flies before they enter the house.

Too stupid a husband to prevent bin juice.

Too long in-between council emptying the bin.

Jeyes fluid and a few buckets of hot water sorts ours out.

I pay a few quid for my general household waste one to be cleaned and they leave a nice smelling pink liquid in it which I assumed was sanitiser but 🤷‍♀️ I've never asked I never see them I just send money every fortnight

We've got 3 different wheely bins. They're emptied fortnightly (2 one week, 1 the next). I've never had them cleaned - there isn't anyone around here who does it, I've seen people ask on local Facebook. I think I once cleaned one of ours with a hosepipe, but that was about 5 years ago.

We started getting ours done when we had a puppy and we’re putting lots of poo bags in the bin….10 once a month.

stillget it done, the bin is less stinky …

My bestie has this done every couple of weeks, for her general waste bin. She sees it as value for money. I have to say, I'd love to know the disinfectant they use, it smells gorgeous! My DH does ours, jet wash and either bleach or pine disinfectant! There's no way he'd be paying for someone to do it! But then we are in Yorkshire!!! I would if I was on my own!

I think here it’s £18 for three bins

Bit off topic as I don't have an outside bin, but how should I clean my indoor kitchen bin. I use bags obviously, but it still smells a bit.

I use white vinegar in a spray bottle. But if it’s plastic / acrylic and thus porous it also helps if you try not to let it get too stinky in the first place: we put anything like packaging from fresh meat and fish, non-veggie food waste etc straight into the outside bin so that it doesn’t fester.

Our local one is £12.50 for a one off or £4.99 a month. I won't be paying but great business idea

We don't have a food waste bin. Our area only recycles paper, card, plastic bottles. Not even fruit punnets!
So lots of bagged waste, inc food etc. Often the bag could split or something. So another reason we pay to have cleaned

I can confirm it's a normal activity

I just clean the bins myself if they're looking really manky inside or smelling too much for my liking. I put j-cloths on the end of a broom and stick that it and wiggle it round with boiling water and washing up liquid. Do that a good few times and then upend the bin and empty the water down the drain. Finally I put dettol in and swish it about, pouring that down the drain too.

Only clean the bins maybe 3 times a year and wouldn't pay a company to do it.

I've watched them empty the swill out on the road leaving a little pile of rubbish there today out.

A scoop of washing powder in a smelly general refuse bin helps.

I don't see the point. Everything that goes into them is bagged, and they are never in your house.... and you are definitely not eating off of them. I have never had maggots in mine (and I chuck out food and dog poo).

Why do they need to be so clean?

I used to be a cleaner in a hospital. We did not clean bins (unless a room required a deep clean, and then it was just a wipe of the outside). Just emptied/changed the bags.

I don't my life is short and my money limited. I occasionally give them a clean with hot water and a brush. And seem to have saved myself circa to £120 a year and so £2400 since we moved in!

I pay for someone to clean my bins. He doesn't sanitise or fragrance them though. The bins get very disgusting quickly especially in the summer so need regular cleaning and it's an awkward thing to do yourself (plus it needs doing on a specific day which may not be convenient) and it's not too expensive, so a good thing to outsource if you can afford it.

Stops them smelling as they only get emptied ever 2 weeks.

I've never done this and don't see a need. We have four bins:

Garden Waste is collected fortnightly. Nothing is bagged but nothing is dirtier than a bit of soil stuck to roots etc.

Mixed Recycling: nothing is bagged but it's always washed before it goes in.

Food Waste: is bagged and there's never much of it (peelings etc go in the compost).

General Waste: is always bagged so outside bin doesn't get dirty.

I’d do this if someone local to me offered it. We wash them out a few times a year during the warmer months but it is a faff.