7 Great Ways to Get Rid of the Rotten Meat Smell in Your Garbage Can

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You don’t really expect your garbage can to smell fantastic, but it can still be quite annoying when it smells horrible.

When you place rotten meat in a garbage can, it’s going to make it smell particularly foul. This smell even has the potential to linger for a long time after you have thrown the garbage out, and this can be problematic.

It isn’t necessary to just put up with an incredibly stinky garbage can, and you also don’t need to throw the garbage can out to get a new one. There are some things that you can do to get rid of the rotten meat smell in your garbage can.

Keep reading to learn exactly how to deodorize your garbage can so that you can stop smelling all of those foul scents.

1 – Clean the Garbage Can Well

Of course, the first thing that you should do is take the time to actually clean your garbage can. It might be tough to clean a foul-smelling garbage can, but it’s going to be easier if you wear a mask of some sort.

Cleaning the garbage can with something strong such as a bleach-based cleaner should allow you to get things smelling fairly normal again.

It’s also good to clean the garbage can because you want it to be fairly safe to use aside from just getting rid of the smell. If your garbage can smells that bad right now, then the rotting meat could have left behind some bacteria that will need to be dealt with.

Taking the time to give your garbage can a good cleaning could be a good idea when you want to keep your home as clean as possible.

Even your outside garbage cans should be cleaned now and then. You can use a hose and some cleaner to get your outdoor garbage cans cleaned up.

It’s still going to be best to do some actual scrubbing, but you can do whatever it is that you find to be the best option.

2 – Kitty Litter

If you have some kitty litter at your house that you can utilize, then it might work out very nicely to get rid of trash can smells.

Your cat’s litter is specifically designed to neutralize odors, and this makes it a particularly effective tool for deodorizing your garbage can. Sprinkling a little bit of this kitty litter in the bottom of your garbage can should do the trick.

You can place some cat litter at the bottom of the garbage can and then just let it sit outside for a day or so.

Over time, you should notice that the rotten meat smell has been completely neutralized. It should make it possible to start using the garbage can again without feeling like you’re being assaulted by offensive smells.

It might be even better if you use cat litter that is scented in certain ways. Some cat litter is made to have pleasant smells, and this could freshen the garbage can up significantly.

Either way, using kitty litter as a method for getting rid of bad garbage smells is a great idea that you should jump on.

3 – Baking Soda

Baking soda is going to be an idea that will work somewhat the same as the kitty litter idea described above.

People use baking soda all the time to keep odors from getting out of control. You regularly see people placing baking soda in their refrigerators to neutralize fridge odors, and the same thing can be done for your garbage can.

This is another situation where you just need to sprinkle baking soda at the bottom of the trash can. It’ll work much in the same way that the kitty litter did earlier.

You can count on the baking soda to make your trash can smell less, and it should become completely fine over the course of time.

The one issue to be aware of is that this might not work well for metal garbage cans. If your garbage can is made out of plastic, then you’re good to go and you do not need to worry.

However, baking soda could cause some level of corrosion when you’re using it with metal garbage cans, and you’ll need to be more careful.

4 – Scented Garbage Bags

Stinky garbage is certainly a nuisance, but you can make things less annoying if you choose to buy scented garbage bags.

Scented garbage bags do a good job of covering up strong garbage odors, and you can buy them at pretty much any department store or grocery store. You can buy scented garbage bags that actually smell quite nice, and they should keep you from having to smell odors that are too terrible.

This isn’t going to completely solve the odor problem that you’re dealing with, but it could prevent odors from being too strong in the future. This is more of a suggestion for those who want to neutralize normal garbage smells.

If you want to get rid of rotten meat smells, then you’re going to need to use the methods above.

If you want to buy scented garbage bags, then know that it’s a pretty easy thing to do. They don’t really cost that much more than standard garbage bags, and in some cases, they’re the exact same price.

Look into the scented garbage bag options that are available at your local stores so that you can see if it will make a difference.

5 – Layering Garbage Can with Newspapers

One more preventative measure idea is to layer your garbage can with old newspapers.

Basically, this can help to prevent your garbage can from getting dirtier than it should. The newspaper is also going to absorb a lot of smells that will leak down from the garbage bags that you place in your garbage can.

What you need to do is change out the newspapers every time you change your garbage bag. Of course, the practicality of this idea might depend on whether you have newspapers around that you can use.

If you still receive a physical newspaper in the mail each day, then you’ll probably have plenty of them to use, but not everyone does.

It likely isn’t going to make you want to start subscribing to the local newspaper just so that you can line your garbage can. If you don’t have newspapers that you can use, then go with one of the other ideas above.

The kitty litter idea is probably more effective anyway, and the main concern is neutralizing the strong odor.

6 – Make Things Smell Better with Scented Oils

Some people go the route of trying to make the trash can smell better by using scented oils. You could spray some scented oils in your trash can to try to overpower the negative smells that are bothering you.

Overall, this has the potential to work, but it might not be strong enough to get rid of rotten meat smells.

If you want to use scented oils after getting rid of the rotten meat smells, then that might be more practical. You can scent the garbage can using the oils to ensure that your normal garbage smells won’t be too bothersome.

This will work the same as using scented garbage bags, and it’s up to you to decide if this is a worthwhile step to take.

You might already make use of scented oils in your home to make things smell nice. Putting some of those scented oils to use won’t harm anything, and you can definitely enjoy having better smells near the garbage can.

It isn’t something that will solve all of your problems, but it can make things smell nicer overall.

7 – Dryer Sheets

Dryer sheets have been known to help things smell better, too, and you could put some in the bottom of your garbage can to see if it helps.

As usual, you should make sure that you have cleaned the garbage can first for this to be a practical solution. All you need to do is place a few dryer sheets at the bottom of the garbage can to allow them to make things smell better.

You probably have extra dryer sheets at your house that you can use, and this makes this idea very easy. It could be something to try in lieu of using kitty litter or baking soda.

It might not neutralize odors like those options will, but it can provide a nice smell that will take away from the negative smells of the garbage.

There are many different types of dryer sheets on the market that you can buy as well. You can easily pick out dryer sheets that have a very pleasant scent that you enjoy.

For the most part, dryer sheets are rather inexpensive, and that could make this a cost-effective way to make your garbage less stinky.

Now that you know lots of ways that you can deodorize your garbage can, you’ll just have to think about which ones will work the best for your situation. You will be able to get rid of that rotten meat smell so long as you clean and make use of some of the methods above.

Once your garbage can smells better, you should have an easier time preventing strong odors in the future.

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