It’s a dirty job, but we all have to do it—take out the trash. The last thing you want is a wimpy bag that splits open, spilling garbage everywhere. But garbage bags are expensive. Does spending more money ensure you’re not doing a messy clean-up? Consumer Reports has surprising answers from its recent round of trash bag testing.
Consumer Reports just tested unscented 13-gallon trash bags from nine best-selling brands. Testers used a special tool called a force gauge, which measures the force against the bag. It’s fitted with sharp and blunt tips to see how the bags resisted puncture.
In a test to check the wall and bottom strength, the bags were tied by the neck to the force gauge. Water was added to the bags until they burst through the bottom or ripped at the top.
To test the strength of the drawstrings, testers tied them to the gauge, added water, and lifted them until the drawstring snapped.
The bags that came out on top in Consumer Report’s tests are Simplehuman Tall Trash Bags and Walmart’s Great Value Trash Bags. The Reli. SuperValue garbage bags also did well in Consumer Report’s tests and were the least expensive.
The bags at the bottom of the heap include Glad ForceFlex, Amazon Basics’ Tall Kitchen Drawstring Bags, and HoldOn Compostable Tall Kitchen bags. If you compost, you can consider these, but you’ll pay top dollar for them, and the quality is far below that of the others in Consumer Report’s tests. That’s not something you want to find out the hard way.
Consumer Reports notes that even though most Simplehuman trash bags are designed to fit their trash cans, they can still be used with other cans.