Plastics have porous surfaces which absorb smells, stains, bacteria or whatever. Like say as an example, if you microwave some baked beans in a plastic container a few times that plastic container will eventually end up stained orange and no matter how much you try scrubbing that container that stain will never come out because that stain is trapped inside the porous surface.
So smell is exactly the same you got rotten food in the bottom of a plastic garbage can the air born particles created are all trapped inside the bin for days they can't escape anywhere so they eventually get absorbed into the plastic over time. 乂ᴼ◡ᴼ乂
@MartinTheFirst I'm an engineer by trade and I understand a tiny bit about tensile strengths of industrial materials and malleability stuff like PVCs and metals mostly which is why it is just a very broad generalisation. I mean some plastics will cost a fortune to make and will be very impenetrable and flexible at the same time but yeah your standard working materials like UPVC window frames or drainage piping they don't suffer the same weaknesses like staining and trapping bacteria as when it's been Plasticised and it has more flexibilty movement.
But like I say many many factors in how well it gets made as to how good the plastic will be for the job. 乂ᴼ◡ᴼ乂
@MartinTheFirst And yes I have had a similar problem before like we got a dog I had my black bin bag just collecting the rubbish on the kitchen floor which he was interested in so got on ebay bought the cheapest trash can I could find at the time just to get it out of the way but unsurprisingly 6 months later it absolutely stunk, then I sat back and thought yeah it's the sh!tty plastic it's been made with. I mean it's not like I'd of just added it all this together off top of my head without having the same problem, lolz 乂^◡^乂
spray well with lysol disinfectant. sprinkle bottom of can with plenty of baking soda then put some newspaper on top before you put bag in it. change newspaper when it gets smelly
Clean with an organic acid like lemon juice or vinegar.
Most often those horrible smells are proteins. Acids are good at breaking up proteins.
Hydrogen peroxide can work too, it oxidises organic matter.(but i prefer using the citrus). You may have to soak it for a while to really let it work. You can do this by soaking paper towel, or toilet paper in the acid cleaning solution and sticking it to the inside of your bin. Spray it a little more so its drenched and leave it for a few hours or overnight.
@MartinTheFirst i have a favorite cleaning agent made from citrus oils. This stuff is like chemical warfare on proteins. Ive used it on milkshakes soaked into carpet, in bathrooms and toilets where kids 'have messes' , its amazing! Its my 'last resort cleaning agent....as it isn't cheap.
It also gets off paint, removes permanent marker, deters rodents and ants and leaves a strong citrus smell .
If you can find it, or a similar product , its worth its weight in gold.
