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Welcome back to Niche Riches, your weekly dose of real businesses and side hustles that put extra money in your pocket!

This week, we’re rolling into one of the most underrated (and under-the-radar) opportunities out there - trash can cleaning. Yeah, it’s gross. But that’s also the beauty of it. Most people hate doing it, which makes it a perfect opportunity for someone willing to get a little dirty for a lot of profit.

Clean cans. Repeat customers. Subscription money hitting your account. Let’s dive in.

Let’s use $20 per house per month as the base rate. Most customers have two cans, and most services clean once a month or every other month.

Goal: $3,000 per month in revenue

At $20 per house, that’s 150 monthly customers.

If each cleaning takes about 10 minutes, that’s roughly 25 hours of work total per month and around 6 hours per week once your routes are optimized.

Goal: $4,000 per month

You’d need 200 monthly customers.

At that scale, you’re working 8 to 10 hours per week (maybe two solid days on the truck), plus some admin and marketing time.

Goal: $5,000 per month

You’d need 250 monthly customers.

That’s about 12 to 15 hours per week, which is still very doable for a solo operator running organized routes.

Ready to roll? Here’s how to get started.

Start by checking your local trash pickup schedule. You’ll want to plan routes right after pickup days when cans are empty.

Then look up local competition. Search “trash can cleaning” on Google Maps and Facebook. If nobody’s doing it, you’ve found a golden gap. If someone is, study their pricing, service areas, and marketing.

You have two main routes to start.

Budget Setup (DIY)
If you’re testing the waters, start small. Use a pressure washer, a 50 to 100 gallon water tank, and something to collect runoff like a containment mat. You can load everything into a pickup or small trailer.

Pro Setup (Full Business)
Once you’re ready to level up, invest in a professional bin cleaning trailer or truck system. These rigs use heated water and automatic lifts to clean cans in seconds and make you look professional when you roll up.

Here’s what most people charge, but this can be market-dependent:

Subscriptions are where the real money is. Once your route fills up, you’ll have steady monthly income you can count on.

Your best customers are the ones already standing by their stinky cans on trash day.

Start with:

Keep your branding clean and friendly. Wrap your truck or trailer, wear a hi-vis vest, and use before-and-after photos to build trust.

Show up after pickup, flip the can, and spray it clean inside and out. Use biodegradable soap and hot water around 200 degrees if you can.

Finish with a deodorizing spray and a sticker that says “Cleaned by (Your Company Name).” Every can you clean becomes a small billboard for your business.

Check local rules about water discharge. Some cities require you to contain and dispose of graywater.

Get insured in case of property damage or spills.

Keep simple records of customers, cleaning dates, and payments.

Once you’ve cleaned your first batch of cans, it’s time to think like a business owner, not just a cleaner. This is where the side hustle turns into a system.

Start by tracking your numbers:

Once you know your profit per stop, you can start optimizing your routes. The goal is to pack as many homes as possible on the same street or subdivision. That’s when your profit margins shoot up and your time spent driving / fuel costs drop.

After a few weeks, you’ll start to notice patterns. Certain neighborhoods respond better to ads, certain routes fill faster, and some customers refer like crazy. Lean into what’s working.

Once your first route is full, duplicate it. Add another day, another truck, or another cleaner. Use subscription software like Jobber or Housecall Pro to automate scheduling and billing so you’re not chasing payments.

The beauty of this business is in its predictability. Every new customer adds recurring revenue to your calendar.

If you told me a few years ago that people were making real money cleaning trash cans, I’m not sure I would have believed you. But now that I’ve seen how it works, I get it.

It’s one of those ideas that feels ridiculous until you realize how smart it actually is. Every single home has at least one trash can, they all get nasty, and nobody wants to deal with them. I’ve personally gone through this at my house with my own can at some point.

What really grabs me about this hustle is how it checks every box I look for. Simple process, recurring customers, low competition, and a result that people instantly appreciate. You show up, flip the can, spray it down, and drive away with clean bins in your wake.

A lot of the time, I like to start things on the leaner side, but this is different. If I were jumping in, I’d go big right away. A legit trailer setup with hot water, pressure tanks, and a clean wrap on the truck. It looks professional and builds instant trust when people see it roll through the neighborhood. This is one of those businesses where presentation sells the service as much as the result.

The work itself is quick. Most cans take a few minutes, and once your route fills up, your days become efficient and predictable. You’re not chasing random gigs, you’re serving the same customers over and over. That recurring model is what makes this thing shine.

I also like that the upfront investment keeps the playing field small. Not everyone’s going to shell out ten or fifteen grand for a setup like this, which means those who do can carve out solid territory fast.

There’s nothing fancy about cleaning trash cans, but there’s something honest about it. You’re solving a real problem and getting paid well to do it.

Would I try this one? Definitely. I could see myself starting one of these as part of the Mission Side Hustle series. It’s simple, satisfying, and a great reminder that sometimes the money’s sitting right there at the curb, you just have to roll up and get it.

Come back for the next one! Sign up here for free.

What side hustle should I try or research next? Let me know.