| Misc domestic items | Will it Decay | Cold Compost | HOTBIN compost | Rate of decay in the HOTBIN | Comments |
| Beer and wine | Yes | Not Advised | No | Fast | Alcohol is biodegradable. The 95% water composition would add too much liquid to the compost. |
| Brown packaging tape | No | No | No | - | Take care with cardboard boxes that have been taped up - try to remove all of the brown tape as this will not decompose. |
| Car oil | Yes | No | No | Medium | Oil is biodegradable - but once used in a car, the oil contains metals from the engine and so should not be added. |
| Cat litter - paper | Yes | Not Advised | Yes | Medium | |
| Cellotape (cellulose acetate) | No | Not Advised | Yes | Slow | A 'plastic' that decomposes!! |
| Chewing gum | Yes | Not Advised | Yes | Slow | It is biodegradable and compostable. |
| Cigarette butts | Yes | Not Advised | Yes | Slow | |
| Coal | No | Not Advised | Not Advised | - | |
| Coal ash | No | Not Advised | Not Advised | - | Contains potash which is good for some soils, however, if you add too much, the air flow through the HOTBIN is blocked by large amounts of sulphur and iron. |
| Coloured inks | Yes | Not Advised | Yes | Medium | Modern inks are biodegradable and contain no heavy metal. |
| Cotton clothes, jeans | Yes | Yes | Yes | Medium | You can compost jeans and all cotton fabrics - but try to reuse them! |
| Dog hair, pet hair | Yes | Yes | Yes | Medium | |
| Fire ash (generally wood ash) | No | Not Advised | Not Advised | - | Contains potash which is good for some soils, however, if you add too much, the air flow through the HOTBIN is blocked by large amounts of sulphur and iron. |
| Human hair | Yes | Not Advised | Yes | Medium | |
| Left over dog and cat food | Yes | Yes | Yes | Fast | |
| PLA starch compostable cutlery | Yes | Not Advised | Yes | Medium | These are sold as compostable cutlery - ensure they are broken up into pieces before you add them. |
| Q-Tips (cotton buds) cotton ends only | Yes | Yes | Yes | Medium | Time consuming to remove a very small amount of cotton! |
| Soap pieces | Yes | Yes | Yes | Medium | |
| Tumble dryer lint | Yes/No | Not Advised | Not Advised | - | Depends on the types of clothes you have - synthetic fibres will not compost. |
| Vacuum cleaner bags | Yes/No | Not Advised | Not Advised | Slow | Hair and skin etc will compost, however, foil, plastic and carpet fibres will not. |
| Windowed envelopes (Acetate) | Yes | Not Advised | Not Advised | Medium | Acetate plastic is biodegradable but can you spot the difference between acetate and shiny non-degradable plastic? Don't try!! - You will drive yourself mad picking bits of plastic out of the compost if you get it wrong. |
| Wine corks (natural) | Yes | Not Advised | Not Advised | Very slow | Cork is nature's super bark - it is highly resistant to decay. Even when shredded, it will take years to decompose. Use these for other things, such as making some coasters. |
