How to clean outdoor plastic storage bins

How to clean outdoor plastic storage bins? I know , this can be a very daunting task, but quite enjoyable when done right.

people often wonder “how to clean outdoor plastic storage bins?”, “is it easy to clean outdoor plastic storage bins?”, I know that you have alot of questions, but don’t worry, that’s why im writing this article for you.

In this article I’ll take you from A to Z and tell you everything you need to know to clean your outdoor plastic storage bin.

There are the easy ways to do it, and there are the hard ways to go about it, but ofcourse, I’ll take you through all of the easy ways.

Table Of Contents:

#1: Use Vinegar to clean outdoor plastic storage bins
#2: Use warm water and toothbrush to clean bins
#3: Use water and bleach solution
#4: Use lemon
#5: Use baking soda and water
#6: Use Dawn Power Dissolver
#7: Dish washing soap and water
#8: Isopropyl Alcohol and water solution
#9: Salt water solution
#10: Hand Sanitizer

Table of Contents

So, How Do You Clean Storage Bins?

Tip#1: Use Vinegar to Clean Outdoor Plastic Storage Bin

The most easiest and the most cost effective method? Use vinegar. It’s that easy. All you have to do is follow along with the steps below and you’ll be good to go.

Things you’ll need:

A steel wire brush
1 cup of vinegar
Hot water

Instructions:

The first step is to discard everything in your Bin, clean it out and wash it with tap water to get rid of the gunk.
Next, heat some water, don’t let the water reach boiling point, take it off the stove before it starts to boil, and pour it halfway into your outdoor plastic storage bin.
After that, pour your vinegar inside the hot water and mix it with something.
And finally, start scraping, use your steel wire brush to clean the sides of your bin and clean it thoroughly, if you feel that the brush isn’t working, then simply add more vinegar.
Leave your bin for an hour after cleaning it and finally wash it with water and voila!, you have successfully cleaned your outdoor plastic storage bin.

But does vinegar really clean plastic stains? And can you put vinegar in plastic container? Ofcourse, vinegar can 100% clean plastic if used with the method above. And Yes! you can safely use vinegar in plastic containers.

Infact, its one of the safest methods to clean your outdoor plastic storage bins.

Tip#2: Use Luke Warm Water And Used Toothbrush To Clean Outdoor Plastic Storage Bins

This sounds pretty easy right? well it isn’t. but its a very cost effective solution. Incase you dont have a steel wire brush or vinegar, use this method.

This method to clean your outdoor plastic storage bin is an effective one. How to do this? Let me explain.

The first step is to obviously get some water and heat it up
bring it to almost boiling point, then pour it all the way up to the top of your outdoor plastic storage bin.
Let it rest for about 2 hours.
start using your toothbrush to clean the outsides of your Bin and you’re good to go.

Tip#3: Use Water And Bleach

This one sounds easy right? because it is. All you have to do is simply empty out your trash from your plastic storage bin.

Then heat up some water. Bring it to almost boiling point, after the water is hot enough, pour it into your plastic storage bin and add 3 tablespoons of bleach.

Then finally, let it rest for 2 hours. You have to be very careful with this method. Because handling bleach is something that’s a bit challenging.

Nevertheless, you can still very easily do this because you’re an adult right? so to clean your outdoor plastic storage bin, simply empty the water-bleach solution into your sink or somewhere that’s safe to dump it in.

Then wash it thoroughly with cold water and bam! there you have it, you have successfully cleaned your plastic storage bin with bleach.

Precautionary Tip: Use Eye Goggles And Gloves To Protect Yourself.

Tip#4: Use Lemon To Clean Your Outdoor Plastic Storage Bin

This one is a bit dirty and a bit more difficult than other methods, because this trick requires more manual work.

But hey, on the bright side, you only need a lemon for this 😉 SO, what you should do is get a lemon, get a toothbrush. Now, there are 2 ways to do this.

The first method is to get some lemons, squeeze the juice out of them and use a toothbrush, dip it inside the lemon juice and start scrubbing your outdoor plastic storage bin.
The second method is to first rub the lemon on the plastic stains on your bin, then use a toothbrush to scrub out the remaining stains.

If you ask me personally, then I’d recommend both of the methods, first you use the lemons and rub the juice on the stains.

Leave it for a while, then squeeze alot of lemon juice in a bowl, and then use a toothbrush to clean the remaining stains.

Tip#5: Baking Soda And Water To The Rescue!

This one is an easy method as well. To clean your outdoor plastic storage bin with this method, all you need is baking soda and water.

The first thing you need to do is get two tablespoons of baking soda, and mix it with half a gallon of luke warm water.

Then mix the solution and pour it into your outdoor plastic storage bin.

Let it rest for an hour, then finally take a clean piece of cloth, run it under cold water and start wiping the residue off of your bin.

Tip#6: Use A Commercial Solution To Clean Your outdoor plastic storage bin.

There are many commercial solutions out there that exist specifically to clean plastic stains.

So what you should do in this case is use something like a dawn power dissolver.

This will make the process much easier and quick. Just spray the dawn power dissolver over the stains , it will degrease the stains and will virtually make your plastic bin spotless.

After spraying it over the stains, simply use a cloth to wipe the residue and clean it with cold water then you’re all set.

Tip#7: Good Old Fashioned Dish Soap and Water

This one is an obvious method, if all else fails, then you can go ahead and try your luck with this method.

In my opinion the dish soap method is the most labor intensive and will probably require another partner, because when you use dishwashing soap and water , you’ll need to scrub your bin alot.

For this method, all you need is dishwashing soap and water, get a dishwashing sponge and a steel wire mesh. First use the dishwashing soap and your sponge to clean the insides and make them wet.

Then use your steel wire mesh to start scrubbing the actual waste and voila! after about 15 – 20 minutes of labor intensive scrubbing, your outdoor plastic storage bin should shine.

Tip#8: Use Isopropyl Alcohol and Water Solution

All you have to do in this method is mix 300ml of isopropyl alcohol into half a gallon of water, then you mix the solution and pour it into your outdoor plastic storage bin then let it sit for about an hour.

After that the waste should come off by itself.

Tip#9: Salt Water

This method works just like baking soda and water, just mix salt with water , dip your steel wire mesh into the solution and start scrubbing.

When you’ve cleaned most of your bin, make another salt water solution and pour it into the bin. Let it rest for 30minutes then pour out the solution.

Clean your outdoor plastic storage bin with cold water and start using it again.

Tip#10: Hand Sanitizer

This can get messy if not done the right way, first you should run cold water into your outdoor plastic storage bin and get all the garbage out.

After that, when you’re left with stains, use hand sanitizer on a soft piece of cloth and start rubbing it on the stains.

Then use your steel wire brush to rotate and scrub around the stains and finally, wash your bin and there you go, it’s clean.