My trash can and kitchen always stank, until my neighbor told me of this ingenious and easy trick. I had no idea!

When I was little, my mom was determined and said that the kitchen's trash bin should be thrown every day. She wouldn't go to sleep until the person who had to throw in the trash that day wouldn't carry his chore.

I have to admit I hated when it was my turn to do it. The neighborhood's trash can wasn't far from home, but it was still an annoying routine. Sometimes the bag wasn't even full, which made me wonder why she couldn't dump the bin every two days.

Unlike me, where I throw the trash once in two to three days, and I don't even have a lot of food going in the bin, my mom would cook every day and she would use only natural ingredients. So at the end of each day, there were a lot of shells and other food scraps in the trash. As we all know, the longer this waste sits, the more it stinks.

We didn't have fancy trash cans or fragrant bags that can be purchased nowadays that help to eliminate the unpleasant odor so that the whole house doesn't smell. And we didn't even know the trick of the ingenious cotton balls you're about to learn today.

If you have trouble with a stinky garbage can, you don't have to waste time or energy and throw it away every day. This trick is all you need to keep your bin's scent nice and the kitchen fresh and cozy.

According to the Apartment Therapy blog, there are some tricks you can use to ensure your trash can always smell wonderful, including dumping a scented sheet from the dryer, adding cat sand at the bottom, or sprinkling in baking soda powder.

But the trick we really liked was the cotton ball and essential oil trick. Not only is it very easy to perform, it also smells the best.

So here's how it works:

You will need a one or two cotton balls and a few drops of essential oil. Dip the cotton ball in the oil and place it in the trash can, letting the magic work. Not only does it smell good to the trash already inside, it also gives a wonderful smell to the area around the bin.

You can use whatever essential oil you want, but there are some that do a better job of combating unpleasant odors.

Fresh scents like lemongrass are excellent against bacteria and balancing of odor, with stronger oils such as tea tree oil or mint removing insects and rodents, especially if your trash bin is outside.

How often to use this trick?

The frequency of use really depends on you. You can put the cotton ball with the oil as soon as you start to smell unpleasant odors from the bin, or you can make a habit of putting a cotton ball every time you replace the garbage bag.

You will use this trick better if you put the cotton ball at the bottom of the bin, under the bag, and replace it at least once a week.

I really like this trick because it's one of the things you just do and then forget about it for a while. Even though I don't produce half the amount of trash my family used to when I was little, I still use this trick in my trash because you never know when your trash will decide it wants to smell.

Share this ingenious trick with your friends on Facebook so they too can enjoy a nice smelling kitchen!