This £4 supermarket buy has made my bin smell like a spa

This summer, I’ve been testing out Febreze’s new Bin Fresheners (£5.99, Amazon), and I’m not lying when I say my bin actually smells good?! They’ve been brilliant at banishing bad smells from my kitchen bins.

In hot weather, it doesn’t take long until rubbish starts to smell and fruit flies flock to your home as a result. While we all should be cleaning a kitchen bin regularly during summer, sometimes this isn’t enough to stop the pong.

So, any product that promises to stop my bin from smelling, I’m more than willing to try. And I was genuinely left impressed with Febreze’s new Bin Fresheners. My bin has never smelled so good.

When I moved into my flat last year, I swapped out a standard plastic waste bin for Habitat’s 55 Litre Twin Compartment Pedal Bin (£70) as its space-saving design was better suited to my small kitchen. It’s proved incredibly easy to clean, and I’ve noticed fewer smells leak through than a kitchen bin.

However, during this year’s heat waves, I have noticed bad smells when I open the lid. So, when I got my hands on the Febreze Bin Fresheners, I was excited to try them. They’re incredibly easy to use. You simply clean and dry the lid, insert the fragrance capsule into the holder and stick it to the lid via its adhesive liner.

And from that moment onwards, there genuinely is a big difference between how my bin smelt before and after. I’d opted for the Outdoor Fresh scent, and every time I opened my bin it smelt almost spa-like. And no, that’s not a sentence I ever thought I’d write.

The fragrance pods last up to 45 days in a row, and in my experience, mask smells for that entire time. Febreze claims the fresheners fight up to 99% of common bin odours. I’m inclined to agree.

Having tested the fresheners out on my regular waste bin, I’m planning to pick up more pods and apply one to my food waste bin. I currently use the bicarbonate of soda hack to stop my food waste bin from smelling, but Febreze’s pods have proved more effective in my experience with my general waste bin.

Of course, you shouldn’t replace good bin hygiene with fragrance. Febreze’s pods are not designed to clean your bin, simply to mask poor smells. However, I have also noticed a reduction in flies this year compared to last year in my kitchen. Flies are attracted to decomposing food and rubbish, so your bin is a hotspot for attracting them. But while my bin now smells great to me, it’s less attractive for flies.

This handy little cleaning buy has earned a permanent place on my list of best cleaning products. It’s managed to make the inside of my kitchen bin smell like a spa retreat, and that is something short of a miracle.