exterior
Wheelie bin cleaning
Wheelie bin cleaning costs £6 to £12 a bin on a subscription and £15 to £25 for a one-off, with the second bin at the same visit always much cheaper than the first. It is done at the kerbside on collection day, and the whole trade is organised around that: the bin has to be empty and outside, which happens once a fortnight.
What this covers
What it costs. Wheelie bin cleaning costs £6 to £12 a bin on a subscription and £15 to £25 for a one-off. Full cost breakdown.
What the job covers
- Wheelie bins cleaned on the kerbside on collection day
- Recycling and food waste caddies
- Deodorising and a sanitiser applied after the wash
- Commercial bins and communal bin stores
- One-off cleans, and subscriptions timed to the collection round
What is involved
The round is the business. A van doing sixty bins in a street can charge six pounds each; the same van making a special trip for one bin has to charge more, which is why one-off prices look disproportionate and why almost everything in this trade is sold as a subscription.
The wash itself is a high pressure jet inside a closed unit on the back of the van, so the water and the debris are contained rather than going down the nearest drain. That containment is not optional: washing a bin on the street and letting the run-off into a surface drain is a discharge into a watercourse, and the Environment Agency treats it as one.
Timing is what the whole service depends on. The bin must be empty, which means the same day as collection, and it must be left out. A bin that is not out on the day is usually still charged as a visit on the subscription.
Choosing someone for the job
Ask how the waste water is contained. A proper service washes inside a closed unit and carries the run-off away in a tank on the van.
Ask which day they come and whether it is tied to your collection round. A service with a planned round can tell you the day before you sign up.
Ask what happens if the bin is not out. Most charge anyway, which is reasonable and is better known before the first invoice.
Common questions
When do they come?
Collection day, because the bin has to be empty. Most services run the same round the council does and will tell you the day when you sign up.
What if my bin is not out?
Most services still charge, because the van made the journey. It is worth knowing which policy applies before the first missed one.
Where wheelie bin cleaning is listed
Towns with a cleaner on this site who takes it on, and how many.