The household waste item that will stop your bin from stinking in hot weather

If the heatwave has left your kitchen bin smelling like sweaty sewage, you’ll be looking for ways to mask the pong. Two words. Coffee grounds.

Knowing how to stop a bin smelling bad in the heat is an important summer job, as both the heat and a decrease in airflow in your kitchen can mean bad smells linger around your bin for longer.

If you’ve got one of the best coffee machines, then I doubt you’re in short supply of coffee grounds. While there are plenty of ways of using coffee grounds in your garden, in the heat, consider saving some for your bin.

While coffee grounds do not absorb bad smells, they are excellent at masking bad smells - here’s how you use them.

How to use coffee grounds to stop a bin smelling

The hack is simple; all you need to do is sprinkle coffee grounds in the base of your bin or place them in a bowl next to your bin and allow the coffee scent to do all the hard work.

‘It works for deodorising bins because its aroma is pleasant and fairly neutral. In fact, perfume shops will often give you a bowl of coffee beans to smell between perfumes to ‘reset’ your nose. This is because we find the smell of coffee pleasant, and it’s not considered particularly strong,’ says Michael Bogoyavlenskiy, CEO of Cleaning Express.

‘To use it in your bins, sprinkle coffee grounds inside the bin bag on top of the rubbish. Unused coffee grounds are far more effective than used, mainly because the aroma compounds are still bound in the grounds. Plus, wet coffee grounds will introduce moisture into the bin, which can make it smell worse.’

Is this a good hack to use?

If you love the smell of coffee, then this is a good hack to use. However, if you are battling a particularly stinky bin, Michael says the best thing you can use is bicarbonate of soda (£2 at Amazon).

‘It absorbs and neutralises odour compounds rather than just covering them up. So, if you want to actually combat smells, this is a far better option,’ he says.

Bicarbonate of soda is one of the best cleaning products you can own, as it tackles a multitude of different cleaning woes. Bicarbonate of soda is an alkaline substance, so when it comes into contact with acidic odours, it reacts and neutralises it, removing the smell completely.

Stop the stink

If you don't have coffee grounds to spare, or particularly like the scent lingering in your kitchen these other buys will keep your kitchen bin smelling fresh.

While coffee will create a gorgeous scent in your kitchen (who doesn’t love the smell of fresh coffee?) it will remove the smell. While an effective masker, if you want to eradicate the stench completely, reach for bicarbonate of soda instead.