Best Trash Bags

CR evaluated nine brands, including those from Costco, Glad, Hefty, Target, and Walmart, to find out which ones could endure our various strength tests the longest

Angela Lashbrook, Consumer Reports Senior Home & Trends Writer.

By Angela Lashbrook
Senior Home & Trends Writer

Updated by Kala Herh

Updated July 14, 2025

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A trash bag is tested by hanging it over a bucket, filling it with water, and seeing how much force it takes to break it. — To test trash-bag strength, we hung test bags from a force gauge, then lifted them about 36 inches over a large bucket. We added water to each bag until it burst through the bottom or the top ripped.

Perhaps trash bags are not the product you give the most attention to when shopping, but a mishap resulting from an overburdened bag can make quite a mess. If you’ve ever ended up with eggshells, half-eaten sandwiches, coffee grounds, or worse spilled all over your kitchen floor, you’re likely familiar with this particular trauma.

In this article

Best Trash Bags
How CR Tests Trash Bags

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Angela Lashbrook

Angela Lashbrook is a senior multimedia content creator at Consumer Reports. She has been with CR since 2021 and covers a wide range of topics, but she is particularly interested in anything health- or parenting-related. She lives with her husband, their son, and her dog, a Libra named Gordo.