One thing you can do is wash out the worst offenders. Packaging from raw meat/fish/chicken has to be washed, or if you don't want to do that, stick it in a plastic bag in the freezer until trash day. Most food scraps like peelings and plate scrapings can go in the garbage disposal instead of the trash.

Great!! I will follow both of these tips. Yes, the cabinet needs painting with Kiltz (but my painter won't use it b/c of the fumes) I wasn't aware of Odoban. will pick some up.

Thanks!!

Simply explain to your painter to use the "fumes"(the Kilz) to rid you of the fumes. Or find a different painter.

How old is your trash can? Plastic trash cans absorb odors over time and can get horribly stinky.

I double bag my kitchen trash can. So much easier than having wash out the stinky can. I also bought one without a lid. I like that better. No places for 'gunk' to collect. The bag(s) fit over the top of the can and nothing gets dirty. Should one leak, the 'underbag' catches it.

Not sure if this will solve your problem, but I put a one inch or so layer of regular (not clumping) kitty litter in the bottom of my trash cans before I put the bags in. This will catch any leakage from the trash bags that are put in the can and I think helps absorb odors as well.

Since my bags fit well, I don't have to change the litter very often but it works AND any messes are absorbed into the litter making cleaning out the trash can a breeze!

Your painter is insane. At least, the Kilz I use is water-based.

Thanks so much for all of the tips. I will be trying double bagging, kitty litter, etc.

I went to Ben Moore store to buy Kiltz (was going to get another painter to do it), and they told me BIN is what I need. So I bought that. Anyone familiar?

I would suggest you to clean your trash once in a week with baking soda, water and mild detergent solution. This will surely help in eradicating odor from them.

I just had a trashcan cabinet put into my kitchen remodel, but haven't used it yet. I was worried about opening a drawer to access trash, but didn't even think about the odor. I am going to be careful of what goes in the trash, double bag and sprinkle baking soda or cat litter in the bottom bag. I also have seen some self adhesive activated charcoal pads in the pet department meant to adhere to the inside of those cat litter box dome containers. They also sell zeolite rocks in a mesh bag in the pet department at Walmart that absorb odors and you can "revitalize" them by placing in the sun for a few hours every month.

The 5 odor absorbing devices of various flavors may be your problem.

Our house was smelling bad and I could not find the cause. Our son came to visit and smelled a chemical smell. It was the sprays I had been using in the house. We stopped using the chemical sprays for odors and now our house smells normal again.

Maybe you should take out the odor absorbing items, blow a fan in the cabinet for a couple of days and see if you still have a problem.

In most cases it's not the can but the underside of the sink bowls in the cabinet. People tend to not empty the trash often enough and old food gets on the underside of the bowls and smells.

We solved this problem when we remodeled our kitchen about 20 years ago. Our Smart Contractor suggested a device that attaches to the inside of a cabinet door (we chose under-sink cabinet) and has two "arms" that hold the handles of a regular plastic grocery store bag. All you do is hang a bag, fill it and then remove and put in outdoor trash can at least once a day. Also, my organic wastes (coffee grounds, egg shells, vegetable peels,etc) go into my outdoor garden compost pile. So kitchen trash is mostly paper anyway. If something happens to spill, I wipe it up quickly using a cleaning product containing bleach, to sanitize.

Interesting. We bought a trash compactor when we remodeled 10 years ago. Most people on this forum had nothing good to say about trash compactors siting that the trash smelled and opted for built in trash pullouts. Hummm, and the trash in the built ins don't smell? :o But, I never questioned it. I'm very happy with my trash compactor. We rarely have a stink problem. We can't put food down the sink because of the septic system. We don't compost. Meat trays and milk cartons are washed out. Scraps are wrapped in plastic bags. Sometimes I'll put something in the weekly trash pickup trashcan outside.
I LOVE the idea about double bagging tho! Occasionally something will puncture the bag and I'll have some liquid at the bottom. What a great (and simple idea) Thanks!

For good odor ridding: Renuzit Solid "Super Odor Killer". Available for less than $1 at Walmart. The smell is not pleasant, (like linen) but definitely gets rid of musty & stinky smells and you aren't really aware of the air freshener smell. I place in trash cabinet to keep smell down. I tie up all moist food, such as, banana peels & rinse out or tie in grocery bags food containers I'm not recycling.I keep this air freshener under the sink cabinet that I bring out after cooking onions or other smelly foods, then return. I have one in my upstairs hallway where I don't want to smell "mountain breeze" or "linen", but it seems to get musty smelling.

When having a trash cabinet built make sure the cabinet maker places a wood panel between the trash cabinet & any drawer or other cabinet above. It will also keep smells down or help contain them. Good luck!

Someone mentioned your trash can may have absorbed the odors. I have never had that problem, but hey, the containers are cheap, replace it just in case.

Is it possible you have a dead mouse or rat under the floor of your cabinet. The first home we owned was not very mouse proof and I saw a mouse jump up and over the base board under the sink. I lifted the floor section and put Decon under it. Also I had a nasty smell near my trash cart in the garage, but it was clean I never put anything stinky in the trash. After further checking I found a dead rabbit under the steps going into the house. It was strange didn't really smell like a dead animal usually smells, but it stunk.

I second the use of pet stain cleaners for the inside of the cabinet... the enzymes break down virtually any organic material and are pretty darn safe. Nature's Miracle is one of the best. Get the one designed for cat messes-it's stronger!
Wipe any visible "stuff" off the cabinet and under side of the sink with a rag and water (no chemicals!). Then spray liberally with the pet stain cleaner and let it air dry without wiping. it takes some time for the enzyme to work but by the time it dries they should have done their job. Be careful with inexpensive cabinets made from composite wood-they will soak up liquids and swell, making the material very weak.

I put a box of baking soda in the bottom of my 'stinky trash' bin under the sink. Lay it on its side and poke a dozen holes in it with a sharp pencil. (gotta be firm) and then double bag. I just lift out the top bag and can easily check if it leaked into the second lower one. And sometimes some odd food item misses the 'can' and can sit unaware on the side somewhere in your cabinet....pull everything out and check for something stinky 'lost'.
We had salmon last night and the package was effervescent already this morning with the warmer spring temp. Warm makes rotten smells sooner.
Raw wood does absorb smells, so a sealer, like binn, will help. I used shellac and it is similar...binn is tinted white shellac. (wash and scrub down your inner cabinet first so you will get a good bond. Allow to dry! A pain, but in just a few hours all will be fixed for a very long time.)

I reto-fitted the Ikea pull-out bin but using my own can for wet stinky stuff and under the sink.. Love that i can slide it out with my foot. We compost and have a small stainless pail over our cutting board and i made a 'dry goods' garbage bin to match my teak cabinets attached to the end of the cabinets. (off the floor) and keeps the dogs out.

-i'm off to look for a dead field mouse in my basement. Ugh, i so dislike that smell.

My question is why didn't the sliding garbage can come with a lid? That would have solved everyone's problem, at least until the interior of the garbage can started to carry its own lousy smell. But then you could douse it in bleach or whatever you use to de-stink-ify stuff. Or you could simply chuck the old one and buy a new one.

In most cases it's not the can but the underside of the sink bowls in the cabinet. People tend to not empty the trash often enough and old food gets on the underside of the bowls and smells.

I have this problem too. We totally remodeled our dining room and kitchen 6 monhs ago. My cabinet maker suggested the trash pull-out. I love it... EXCEPT... for the odor. So... all of the suggestions about cleaning & painting don't really fit my case. The cabinets are new... the trash cans are new. I did use scented kitchen bags initially and quit using those when I thought JUST maybe that was the culprit. I've left the trash cans setting out in the sun for a day or so and that did seem to help a little bit. So I do think it is the material of the can itself. (Rubbermaid)
This morning, I pulled one of the cans out (I have two... one collects empty recylable pop cans.) I filled it with hot water and some good smelling Lysol cleaner. Will see if that helps. I am interested in trying the kitty litter idea... not for leaks, but for the odor absorbing effect. May buy some this weekend to try.

We have a trash compactor and just LOVE it! It cuts down so much on using up plastic bags, and with a family of 5, we only take our main trash out once per week. The only thing that bothers me about the trash compactor is that I feel gross knowing the "ram" part is touching all of our garbage, and then the ram just goes back up into the compactor and stays there forever! I have tried reaching up in there with cleaning products a few times to clean it off as well as possible, but that is nearly impossible to do properly. Anyone else have this problem or concern? Any suggestions?

Maybe lay a lysol wipe (or 2 or three) on the top of the pile so when the ram comes down it gets a press into a lysol wipe?

Could it be sewer gas? A friend had a similar problem--something to do with the p-trap.

Most of these cabinets are standard base cabinets that come with a shelf that fits pretty snuggly. I removed the trash bin assembly but left the rails in place. Then I removed the drawer above, again leaving the rails. then I put the shelf in and pushed it as far up as possible, so that it rested against the drawer's quiet-close rails. IT was snug enough that I could leave it in place while replacing the drawer into its rails. Tested functionality. The drawer was able to be opened and closed without interference and could be removed as designed. I removed it. Then I got some caulking and four (4) adhesive furniture sliders, the kind you put on the bottoms of chairs and such to protect wood floors. I have wood floors, so I had these and the caulking already. I used the adhesive sliders as pins which prevented the shelf from sliding downward while I worked. This was done by holding the shelf up against the bottom put the drawer rails. Then I placed two adhesive sliders on the back wall of the cabinet, right up against the shelf, and each about an inch away from the corner formed by the shelf, the back wall, and the side wall. One was placed near each corner. I repeated these steps for the front of the shelf. I how had a snuggly fitting shelf pushed as high up in the cabinet as it could go without interfering with the operation of the drawer. It was held in place by resting on four well placed adhesive furniture sliders. This allowed me to caulk the seams on the left and right side of the shelf to make them air tight and to permanently set the shelf in place. After three hours, I removed the four adhesive furniture sliders and I finished caulking the remaining two seams, I was left with a wood box that was sealed on top so that the garbage bin fumes could not get into the drawer space above. Thereafter, I replaced the trash bin assembly and I made sure to replace the trash bag often to keep the garbage from stinking up the kitchen just as you would do with any kitchen area garbage bin.

Slide-out under-counter trash storage is a great idea for cabinet manufacturers who make a lot of money on them but an absurd idea for anyone who actually cooks food in their kitchen. The pull-out trash cans push in, holding odors and, due to the warmer temperatures under the cabinet, effectively accelerating decomposition. I would not buy such a unit again. A simple, free-standing trash can in the kitchen is much better. Use the under-counter one for clean recyclables until you next redo your kitchen.

I suspect it’s not your trash! Do you have a garbage disposal? It could be that or a plumbing issue! Try moving your trash to another location, maybe by the back door or something for a week to test the theory. Get a long handled scrubber (think toilet bowl cleaner, but smaller) to scrub out the disposal, making sure you get the underside of the rim and rubber shield well. It’s gross, but cleaning disposals regularly is essential. Plumbing problems are even more serious. If you have sewer gas escaping the trap, it needs to be addressed. It could be a simple as being slightly clogged. But moving trash will help you locate the source.