Garbage day is the chore nobody puts on the calendar and everybody dreads. You roll the can down, something knocks it over at 2 a.m., and by the time you drag it back up the driveway there are flies working the rim and a smell you can taste from the garage. These garbage day hacks are the ones that actually hold up in a Cincinnati summer, and every one of them is free.
Roll it out on garbage morning, not the night before
Raccoons work the overnight shift. A can parked at the curb from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. hands them ten quiet hours to figure out your lid, and they will. Taking it down in the morning takes the whole window away. If your hauler comes early and the night before is your only option, set it on the driveway instead of the grass, where a tipped can is a cleanup and not a scavenger hunt.
Strap the lid shut
Raccoons have hands. That is the entire problem. A bungee cord hooked from one side handle, over the lid, to the other side costs a few dollars and ends most of it. Skip anything that seals the can permanently. Your hauler has to be able to dump it, and a lid that will not open at the truck is a can that does not get emptied.
Bag it, and double bag whatever smells
Loose garbage in the bottom of a can is what turns into the sludge you smell in August. Meat trays, bones, seafood, diapers, and the produce drawer that got away from you all deserve their own tied off bag before they go in. Flies do not need much room. They need a smell and a way in, and a torn grocery sack gives them both.
Let your freezer do the waiting
This is the one nobody tries and everybody keeps. Put a bag in the freezer for meat scraps, bones and shrimp shells, and walk it out to the can on your way to the curb. Nothing sits and ripens for six days. It costs you a corner of the freezer and takes the worst of the smell out entirely.
Keep the can in the shade, and keep the lid down
Heat is the accelerator on all of this. A can baking in the sun with the lid closed turns into exactly the warm, damp nursery a fly is shopping for, which is why one fly on Monday is a real problem by Thursday. We walked through how fast that happens in our maggot guide. Park the can on the shaded side of the garage or the north side of the house, and close the lid after pickup. An open empty can catches rain, and standing water in the bottom is how the smell starts over.
When it is already turning, reach for the vinegar
Straight white vinegar in a spray bottle. Not watered down, not bleach, and please not a pot of boiling water hauled out to the driveway. Spray the rim, the underside of the lid and the inside walls. It knocks the smell back and flies want nothing to do with it. Fair warning: vinegar handles the surface. It does not touch what is welded to the bottom.
The honest part: none of this cleans the can
Everything above is odor management, and it works. What it does not do is remove the film on the inside walls and the black buildup in the corners. That buildup is mold, and it is the reason flies come back a week after you did everything right. A garden hose pushes it around. A rinse at the curb pushes it into the street.
That part is our job. Our truck washes at over 200 degrees with an eco friendly sanitizer and no harsh chemicals, on your garbage day or the day after once the can is empty. We remind you the day before and the morning of, and you do not need to be home. The whole promise is spelled out on our promise page. If you are wondering how often is actually worth it, we answered that in this post, and if your cans live in the garage, this one is about what you are breathing in there.
Ready to stop fighting your can
Ohio Clean Cans has been cleaning cans since 2018, more than 110,000 of them, across 284 neighborhoods and 59 ZIP codes around Cincinnati, with a 5.0 rating and 500+ five star Google reviews. Whether you are in Loveland or anywhere else on our routes, pick a plan on the service plan page or sign up in about two minutes at order.ohiocleancans.com. Then go put the bungee cord on.