BEARS? OK, you win. My eldest sister has a foot-pedal bin and her adorable 10 yo Havanese has learned how to get into it, so, not a great solution. Sister #2 (in age only) has two trash cabinets - one under sink, the other on the island, and they work well. No one forgets to take out the trash.

following

we are going to get our first ever pull out trash bin in the cabinet. I’ve been wondering about odors even though we compost and don’t put too much in the trash. So Ive had the same concern

Well, Sister #2 doesn't have an issue with odors - the cabinet doesn't smell at all, and she has a family of five with teenage kids I adore, but I wouldn't call "careful," exactly. She has modern laminates mdf cabinets, and does occasionally wipe them down if someone is, well, not exactly "careful." I just don't think trash in a cabinet is an odor problem.

We have a pullout double garbage bin, that is integrated with the cabinets. It sits to the right of the sink, just below the large cutting board (which is never put away). Very convenient for scraping scraps, directly into the bins. Very clean. No odors.

Would never go back to having a free standing garbage pail!

Our garbage can is in a cabinet. We installed an Ikea Utrusta push opener on our garbage cabinet and we love it! It's incredibly handy when you have messy hands from prepping. Probably one of the most favorite things we put in our kitchen.

I asked the cabinet installers to add a board to seal off the top drawer from the lower trash cabinet, because it kind of squiked me out.

We never forget to take the trash out, because well, garbage collection day happens once a week, so on that day we make our rounds to the various trash cans in the house to collect the trash, and on the off chance that we fill the kitchen trash container between collection days, it's kind of obvious it needs to go out. If it stinks, your nose is going to tell you to take it out asap. It's not an out of sight, out of mind kind of thing.

I don't like in-cabinet garbage/trash cans. Somehow, cans get just stuffed and stuffed and eventually overflow before anyone empties them. That overflow inside a cabinet can make a real mess and be a pain to clean.

I have a Simply Human can at the end of my counter, one step from my kitchen sink. It has a foot pedal and the liner can is easily removed when changing out the bag. I've now had it for several years - my DD has a similar one - and we both love ours. Her family is notorious for overfilling cans and she sees this with an external one and insists one boy or the other or husband empty the can. She would have a smelly mess inside a cabinet.

I don’t see the big deal about smelly garbage, or overstuffing in a pullout. If we happen to have fish scraps, or other smelly foods in there, it gets pulled out, and sent to the large bins in the garage...which have covers. Problem solved.

There are two bins in our pullout, if one gets filled, we use the other. No need to overstuff. If we’ve entertained and have a lot of garbage, we move the full bags to the garage bins. No biggy.

i repeat, I’d never have fee standing garbage pails, ever again. They’re way less convenient, are messy, and don’t hold as much as a double pail pullout.

Actually that's a good question Isaac. Clearly, we are related : ) DH and I seem to create an enormous amount of trash, and on occasion, it can smell, particularly in the summer. We had a rather large kitchen trash can in the old kitchen, but we've since remodeled, and now have a cabinet trash bin like Cheryl Hewitt shows in the pic above - it holds 2 smaller bins. We empty them far more often, and it rarely smells, unless I clean fish scales or something along those lines, in which case I remove the bin that day. I use the first bin for anything that might cause odors, filling it faster, and the back bin for paper goods. We also compost, but that's neither here nor there as I don't compost meat trimmings, which can smell. Having 2 smaller bins I find is actually better. We love the undercounter too, finding that also neater and easier. So, like you, I worried about making messes or smells in the cabinet, but we are finding that it is no longer an issue with smaller bins and a little common sense. There are also no lids that get messy.

Cheryl mentioned the Ikea Utrusta push opener, whereas we installed a Blum servo drive on ours, and it's fantastic if you've got messy hands. A slight nudge of the leg or knee and it pops open easily. If someone leans against it, not realizing it's there, the drive motor shuts off so it won't burn out. You can adjust it to open to the first bin only, or to the 2nd bin.

I have a U-shaped kitchen. There is no place to put a free-standing can, even if we wanted one.

We have a trash/recycling pullout now; prior to our kitchen remodel, trash was under the sink. In neither situation is smelly garbage an issue - if something begins to smell, we notice it when we open the cab to throw something else away - and then we take the whole bag to the garage. I assume this is what people with stand-alone cans do as well? I honestly don't understand the difference.

I am also confused as to how a trash can in a pull-out can be filled to overflowing, while a stand-alone cannot. If a person in the household refuses to empty the trash from the pullout, what makes anyone think they will empty the stand-alone? This is a problem with a person, not the trash location.

As for stains - I assume this means spills on the door? Aren't spills also possible with a stand-alone can? How are these handled? In both cases, the spill gets wiped up, right?

Out of sight, out of mind? Our pull-out contains both trash and recycling, so it is opened frequently. If one or the other of the cans is full, it gets hauled to the garage. As for "out of sight" - that's a huge bonus in my book.

We have 2 bins in a pullout cabinet; one for regular trash and the other for recycling. I love that the trash is out of sight and out of the way, but we don't usually forget about it because after dinner, I decide if it needs to be taken out to the large trash bin that evening depending on the contents. There have been rare occasions it's been forgotten and smelled upon opening the cabinet door, but the smell seems to stay contained to that cabinet. The cabinet next to it is the sink cabinet and the drawer above it is the catch-all or junk drawer.

AnnKH, I understand your questions, but it sometimes becomes a mindset to not want to remove a heavy bag from a larger trash bin, thus it starts to overflow. Whereas the smaller in cabinet bins won't open if they overflow, therefore one must empty them. At least, it works that way with my husband, wink-wink : ) Aw, my evil plan worked!

@AnnKH, with our standalone can, the lid contains smells and if the trash spills it is onto the floor, where it is obvious and easy to clean. We have wood cabinets now, probably 60+ years old, and some of them have a permanent smell to them. I don't want a trash spill to make our new cabinets stink! But it sounds like it isn't usually a problem.

@2ManyDiversions, that is a great idea!

one smaller trash can under the sink. it's not covered btw. and it's pretty too:) I'm not sure it's a trash can. I just decided to use it as a trash can, because-why not. The shape and material are right..

we have a small U-shaped kitchen, no place for anything else there, but even if we didn't-I'd prefer not to look at the trash bin. Unless if it was some pretty trash bin. I guess I don't like anything that's purely functional..maybe it reminds me of how I'm not lol. I don't like also cars, appliances, electrical outlets, vents, gadgets, phones, you name it. I use them of course, I just would love if they were I don't know..colored pink, or painted with flowers, or very elegant in shape, or all sort of senseless stuff like that.

Together with that I don't want to spend money on them too. Because frankly some of them are more beautiful than others. Just comes with a price. Not willing to pay.

Back to the question-no, we never forget to take the trash out. Actually precisely 'cause it's small-it gets emptied very often. I'm careful not to make the area messy, ever. If something spills or there are crumbs-gets wiped immediately. No smell. if something is more smelly, like meat bones or sometthing, I wrap it in an additional small bag and tie it.

Now the garage where my DH is a ruling king, would benefit from some huge can (where half of that crap should go if you ask me)..but as he's the king there's no place for the can..)) we have two big plastic bags right next to the back door where big city trash cans are-one for recycables, one for non-recycables.

Here's a rough overview of my kitchen. I have a pullout with bins for trash and recycling; it opens from the short end of the island toward the sink. (Direction of the ^^^^.) This works well for me because when I prep, I keep the pullout open and I face the island with my back to the cooktop, and just throw things out as needed. When I clean up and stand at the sink, I just turn and scrape. The DW is actually more to the right than shown, so I can have the trash and DW open at the same time and I have room to scrape and load easily.

I don't get smells, at least not much and not often (maybe the occasional garlic odor!) I bring fish, chicken, and other meat scraps out to the garbage right away so horrendous stuff doesn't sit in there, and I empty the cans 2+ times/week. On occasion I spray some Febreze in there and I make sure to keep it tidy. Like I said, it works for me, but everyone's layout, requirements, and preferences are unique.

We actually use a trash compactor instead of a stand alone can or a cabinet pull out. We use it mostly because we are a larger family of seven and any other can situation just has us emptying the can multiple times a day... even with a compactor we still empty it every 1-2 days. We don’t usually have an issue with stinky smells, but sometimes the trash does start stinking. If that happens I have options besides just emptying the bag... obviously, my first step IS to empty the bag if the trash stinks, but next I have the option of flipping the little switch on my compactor (It’s a Kitchenaid) for the air filter and that helps rid the cabinet area of smells, I can also wipe down the inside of the part where the bag goes, underside of the compactor... the part that presses the trash down... or the outside of where the bag goes because all of those part can get stuff dripped or squished on them... but the nice part is that they are all metal so it’s not like the smells seep into wood or plastic. The compactor can’t get accidentally knocked over, and I don’t think it’s easy for a toddler to open for fun because you have to step on it with your foot but not like a flip lid can... it’s awkward for young kids. (And guests who have never used a compactor, lol! For large parties it’s kind of easier to bring out a separate can for trash... but I digress... LOL!) Anyways... we really like our compactor!

Our trash can is under the sink. All of our trash bins in every room are emptied every morning and taken to the trash can. If it fills up before then it is taken to the trash can, not stuffed to overflowing. Any potential stinky stuff like chicken is put in zip lock bags before being put in the trash.

We have a small trash can under the clean up sink that we use for scraping dishes, but the double can pullout in our island prep area is used much more. I am pretty religious about cleaning the cabinet and cans frequently but had to order new cans today due to the unpleasant smell that permeated them from trying the scented Glad bags with Febreze. I went back to the Costco Kirkland bags. I tried soaking the cans overnight with Dawn, baking soda and boiling water and when that didn't work they sat outside for several days. There was no way that I could bring the cans back inside. I never thought that the bags would cause more of a smelly problem than the garbage which is normally emptied every day. The cabinet itself also has a bit of a lingering smell so I am keeping baking soda inside and hoping that it eventually dissipates. I had a pullout for over twenty years in the old kitchen and it never smelled.

That's a great question. Like reading the comments.

A lot depends on the user's habits.

I currently have a stand alone trash can on wheels. It wheels around with me where ever I am currently prepping. I wheel it under a table island & hide when not in use. It works for me because when I cook, I run all over the kitchen with several prep zones.

I have a lot of clients who like their trash can in a pullout in a cabinet. I think that is fine as long as the trash can cabinet is contained for just the trash.

I have seen & smelled some bad trash cabinets where it was obviously not a good fit. For example, I rented a cabin getaway where the trash can was under the sink. The trash can was empty upon arrival but the cabinet itself smelled horrible from neglect. Trash juice soaked deep into the cabinet. I tried to clean it out, but there was no getting the stains & smells out. They should of least added a mat to help prevent that. I definitely would avoid that in a rental. Maybe for someone who is very tidy.

This sink mat is a good idea for protecting bottom of cabinet.

https://www.weathertech.com/sinkmat/

Here's a protector to protect top of cabinet door if needed in a busy home.

https://youtu.be/9Vc3LT5EVDo 

We got a Rev a Shelf wastebasket for our cabinet. 35 qt. The only frustration I have is how frequently I have to empty it. But it has never smelled. And that I can only find 50qt bags for it.

It is next to my sink. And the cats can’t get into it. A big part of why we got it.

If I ever get the opportunity to put in a kitchen of my own I may go back to 50qt, which was the size we had when it was a free standing wastebasket. But there would be a greater risk of odors.

We have double bins in a pull out cabinet at the end of our island. It’s convenient to the prep area and the cleanup sink We had this same set up in our previous house. Never had issues with smells. We do empty them frequently. As far as the cabinet getting dirty it has never been a problem for us. I’m not sure how other people live but we would never let them overflow so that stuff was falling back into the cabinet and we don’t throw stuff in there willy nilly making messes.

Nothing smells in our trash because odiferous stuff that does not go in the compost (meat wrappers, fish bones, etc) goes into a bag in the freezer until trash day.

We have a free standing Simply Human stainless can with a lid at the end of the island. We don't have a ton of storage space so I didn't want to put it under the sink. Plus, everyone I know that has one there has garbage under the sink that somehow doesn't make it into the can. The friends that have one in a pull out drawer have that cabinet door more worn down than the others from the amount of use it gets.

Our garbage is rarely smelly.

I have much the same setup as vinmarks with a similar experience . Very happy with this setup. No problems with odors. (I do have a magnetic child guard lock on it, installed by my contractor, to prevent my ever-curious pups from accessing the bins, LOL. So far it’s worked great!)

Have to agree with skmom. Our trash compactor is going on 18 years old. We only get one trash pickup per week and only one trash can. The compactor has been a life saver. I realize that compactors have gone out of favor, just don’t know why. Our compactor is to the left of the sink and dishwasher to the right. Scrape into the compactor, rinse in the sink and then into the dishwasher.

“Trash juice??!” What an appropriate and descriptive phrase! I’m going to add it to several other handy phrases I have gleaned here, like “urine spray.” Paints a picture, doesn’t it? :)

We have a space underneath the back side of our weirdly shaped island (not to be mistaken for the sit-on-these-stools-and-eat area on the other side) where our fairly large simply human kitchen trash bin goes. There's a small/medium sized but round/cylinder shaped same brand bin in the master bathroom next to the toilet (I'd love to have the space somewhere in the double sink bathroom vanity cabinets, but we don't have a medicine cabinet and there are only two cabinets, one on each end with two rows of drawers in the middle section). An even smaller one in the two other bathrooms, a regular white plastic non-lidded trash can in laundry room for lint/used dryer sheets/random trash and another is next to the sewing table between that and the work desk.

Everyone within city limits including all outlying suburbs not annexed gets one huge bin per household unless they agree to pay the additional cost for a second one, and for the time being a smaller one for recyclables is available upon request, but for how long is unknown. The city and the waste collection business responsible for trash pickup had to negotiate a new contract before the last one expired with the end of the last fiscal year.

If it were just myself and the mister, we don't produce much trash each week. With two adopted daughters and also currently having a set of twins that are foster placements? I was not prepared for the amount of trash our household suddenly has to deal with!

We have no trash pickup at all where we live. We have to bring our trash to the dump. We actually prefer it. Most places we go we pass one of the two dumps so we bring trash with us quite often. In our previous house we had a bin out in the garage with trash pickup once a week. There were many times it would stink up the entire garage.

Thanks to everyone; I would appreciate it if folks would keep in mind the original scope of the question, which was how to deal with kitchen trash cans, not larger household trash management.

Isaac, threads help not only the original poster, but also those who come along later, and sometimes people deviate a bit in discussion, which might help someone else - or even you. Not trying to upset you or admonish you, but it's just kind to consider all aspects sometimes : ) I see lots of answers to your questions : )

We have a full height pullout with this:

https://www.rev-a-shelf.com/showProduct.aspx?SEName=double-undermount-soft-close-waste-containers&ProductID=558

Rev-a-shelf pullout and are really happy. It's fully enclosed from other cabs. One for recycling, one for trash. Work's quite nicely. Cans are 50 quart.

We also have two pullout trash units from rev a shelf that we’ve installed under our double sink. It stores our trash, compost and recycling.

This pullout is compatible with a Blum electric servo drive unit allowing for hands free opening by pushing on the door with our feet. Comes in handy when hands are full, dirty or wet.

To fit under the sink, we used shorter bins so this requires us to empty the garbage more frequently, so odors are not a big issue. If your garbage starts to smell, it’s probably time to get it out of the kitchen anyway. Our city has a composting program so our organics are separated and taken to the city bin about every other day.