A Tiny Luxury That Makes Taking Out the Garbage Less of a Chore

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Believe it or not, I love my trash can. It’s sleek and easy to wipe down, it has two compartments (one for trash, one for recycling), and its soft-close lid doesn’t bang shut. It’s made by Simplehuman, the same company that makes the top pick in our guide to kitchen trash cans, as well as some of our favorite toilet brushes, dish racks, and shower caddies.The only caveat about my trash can is that the Simplehuman model I chose is an irregularly large 58 liters, with one part for trash and the other for recycling. Its two compartments are in turn just irregular enough that standard garbage bags have a tendency to slip down into the bin or require jury-rigging (through my tightening and tying the drawstring) for a better fit.Although the can did come with a trial pack of custom liners, I scoffed at the notion of a specially designed garbage bag. So when the trial pack ran out, I switched to regular ol’ Glad ForceFlex bags. Standing on principle and the assumption that the custom liners were too pricey, I endured the minor struggle of using a standard tall kitchen bag (which usually holds up to 49 liters of trash) in my not-so-standard can for quite a while.My husband, on the other hand, was perpetually vexed by the ill-fitting garbage bags. He not only has more-frequent contact with the trash (he’s usually the one who galumphs down the hallway to toss it into our apartment building’s trash chute) but also lives with a trash masher (I do that annoying thing where I press the garbage down instead of simply taking it out). So he was more than justified in his irritation.After a year or so of grappling with those less-than bags, he ordered a box of 100 made-to-measure Simplehuman liners. And a year later, we’ve never looked back. If you also own a Simplehuman trash can and have been fighting to get generic garbage bags to stay put, this might be your sign to consider making the switch.