How to Keep Garbage From Smelling Up Your Kitchen

Garbage won’t ever smell like a garden of roses, fresh ocean breezes, or pumpkin pies, but you can keep the bad odors from pervading your kitchen and traveling to other parts of your home.

The cause of that nose-wrinkling stench? Bacteria. Food spoils, and microbes grow and feed on decomposing food, converting amino acids, triglycerides, and other molecules into more odorous compounds. “The more you can do to keep those bacteria from thriving, the better,” says Elizabeth Wilder, principal scientist at Glad.

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Although smell is objective, and offensive odors are different for everyone, rotten eggs, spoiled starches like rice, and veggies like lettuce can be as bad as fish and onions. Depending on the temperature and food matter, it usually takes two to three days for the stinkiness to kick in, but the smell can be strong if food is already close to spoiling. “If you would normally keep an item in the refrigerator to prolong shelf life, it is more likely to spoil more quickly in the garbage where it isn’t being refrigerated,” says Morgan Eberhard, senior scientist at Febreze.

Here we present seven tips from experts who know a thing or two about trash and how to keep it from smelling up your kitchen.

1. Take out the garbage (obviously!)

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One way to keep garbage odors under control is to keep tabs on what you put into the garbage and when. “If you’re disposing of something smelly or know it will start to rot quickly, it’s best not to let it sit in your garbage can for too long,” Eberhard says. “The sooner you take out the garbage, the better. Once spoilage microbes start to grow and feed, the smell will only get worse.”

2. Buy a smaller garbage can

Ryan Wong, director of research and development at Simplehuman, recommends developing habits that will help encourage taking out the trash on a regular basis. His tip? The smaller the garbage can, the better. “One thing to improve the smell of garbage is to size the can so it fills, and you throw garbage out frequently enough to prevent the chance of sitting in there a long time and spoiling.”

3. Tuck the garbage out of sight

The next best thing from getting the garbage out of your house is getting it as far away from your nose as possible. “ If your kitchen space allows for it, try putting the garbage can in its own cabinet, drawer or other containment where you can close it away,” Eberhard says. Placing a physical barrier between the garbage can and your nose is a way to minimize any strong odors.

4. Choose the right garbage can material

Plastic may hold on to smells, and anything offensive left in a plastic garbage can has a tendency to linger. You have two options: Choose a garbage can that’s made of a less porous material, such as stainless steel, or keep up with regular trash removal. “It’s a good practice to clean the interior of your garbage can every one to two weeks with soap and warm water,” Eberhard says. “If your garbage bag rips, or there are any other spills into the garbage can itself, you should clean the garbage bag before replacing the bag.” Better yet: Avoid frequent washings by using well-fitting trash bags that can protect the garbage can.

5. Put a (loose) lid on it

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Make the trash can an unpleasant place for bacteria to grow. “Bacteria like a moist environment, so using a [garbage] can that has a loose lid, or no lid at all, allows some air flow to help dry out the garbage and keep bacteria at bay,” Wilder says. That said, some people may prefer a trash can with a tightly-sealed lid because they do a good job of physically preventing odors from getting out of the trash. If that’s you, make sure to take out the trash regularly.

6. Keep compost separate from garbage

“Organic waste, like food, is a leading source of odors in trash,” Wong says. For many people, it may be the only source. Dry waste, like packaging and other non-recyclable products, don’t have an odor. By using a compost bin, you’re diverting this waste, and the garbage smells that come with it.

7. Use odor-fighters

Until odor molecules are removed through surface cleaning such as sweeping or vacuuming, they can travel around the home, settle into soft surfaces such as sofas, and re-bloom into the air when someone plops down on the sofa. “This is why odors stick around in the home, and why it’s important to fight them at the source to keep them from lingering,” Eberhard says.

There are many products on the market beyond baking soda that can keep unpleasant scents under control. These odor-eliminators don’t just mask the smell of garbage, but also neutralize them by either re-arranging odor molecules into different molecules that don’t smell or trapping molecules to prevent them from going airborne and reaching your nose.

Simplehuman’s odor pod can be placed under a trash can lid and works through evaporated plant oils. The company also has garbage can liners with activated carbon that naturally adsorbs odor molecules and traps them inside the liner. Febreze air fresheners combine the odor-trapping cyclodextrin molecule with neutralizing citric acid and reactive perfume ingredients. Glad ForceFlex Plus with Clorox bags eliminates food odors before they get to the film of the bag, as well as when they penetrate the bag.

Source: https://gardencourte.com
Categories: Kitchens