Tired of having to leave a rock on your bin so it doesn’t blow open during a storm? Afraid of animals making their way into your bins? If yes, the BinStrap from binstrap.ie might be what you are looking for. Douglas Tidy Towns received samples of these straps and we would like to share our experience with it here.
The BinStrap is an ingenious rubber strap that once fitted to your bin ensures that it stays closed even during the heaviest storms. It comes in two versions: a Drill-On Strap and a Bond-On Strap. More on the differences between the two below.
The packaging: We were very pleased that there was very little packaging. Just a small piece of cardboard that also contained the fitting instructions. No plastic wrapping etc.
The installation: The installation instructions were very clear. The Bond-On strap has a self-adhesive pad so all you have to do is to ensure that the location for the pad is clean, stick it on, hold for 15 seconds and the job is done. Installation of the Drill-On strap takes marginally longer as you need to drill a small 8mm hole in the top of your lid. But apart from the drill no other tools are required either.
The only thing that confused us a little in the installation instructions was the ‘Keep Bin Strap away from direct sunlight’ note. This might be hard to achieve as bins are usually outside – and if they are not you most likely don’t need the bin strap. However, the rubber material looks very durable and with the little sunshine we get in Ireland …
The product comes with a sticker to remind you to on-hook the strap before your bin-collection. This sticker didn’t withstand the Irish weather for long. It was barely readable after a month.
The only real down-side we found is that you can’t move the strap from one bin to another, i.e. when switching to a different bin collector, without either ruining the sticky pad or breaking the washer on the Drill-On strap. However, you can buy the needed spare parts for a very reasonable €2.20 at binstrap.ie.
Use: Operating the BinStrap is very simple. To open your bin you simply unhook the strap. And when you put your bin out for collection you do the same and rotate the bin strap out of the way.
The verdict: During our 6 month test period we experienced no problems with this product. We were delighted with the very small amount of packaging and the availability of spare parts. We would expect the Drill-On strap to last a bit longer but we found no problems with either products. For its very reasonable price of €9.95 (pack of two for €16.95) the BinStrap appears to be an excellent solution.
Disclaimer: Douglas Tidy Towns received a free sample of this product. Douglas Tidy Towns has no business relation with BinStrap. This review does not constitute a product endorsement.