13-Gallon Kitchen Trash Can: Honest Review
The moment I stopped apologizing for my trash can and started actually noticing how it sat in the room, something shifted in how I thought about the unglamorous corners of a well-designed kitchen.
It was a Tuesday night in November, the kind where the rain hits the kitchen window sideways and the apartment smells like garlic and whatever you threw out three days ago. I had a dinner party coming up on Friday. I was standing at the counter chopping shallots, half-present, half-cataloguing everything in the room that needed attention before guests arrived. The cutting board: fine. The open shelving: fine. The trash can: a dented, lidless cylinder in a shade of beige that could only be described as aggressively forgettable. That was the night I finally ordered the Glad Trash Can with Clorox Odor Protection, the 13-gallon grey plastic kitchen bin I’d been eyeing and dismissing in equal measure for months.
The First Time I Saw It
I came across it the way you come across most practical things you end up genuinely glad you bought: not while shopping for it. I was deep in a rabbit hole of kitchen countertop styling ideas when I noticed it sitting in the background of someone’s open-plan kitchen photo, looking almost deliberately placed. Grey. Solid. A clean silhouette with a lid that appeared to actually stay shut.
It stopped me because it looked like it belonged. Not like an afterthought, not like something you shove behind a cabinet door and hope no one notices. It looked like someone had considered it the same way they considered the faucet or the cabinet pulls.
I screenshot it. That’s usually where it ends. This time, it wasn’t.
How It Actually Lives in the Room
The grey is the right grey. That sounds like a small thing, and it is, but also it isn’t. In a kitchen with white subway tile and warm wood open shelving, the bin sits at the end of the cabinet run without demanding attention. The matte plastic surface reads closer to a matte lacquer finish than the shiny, budget-bin aesthetic you might expect at this price point. The lid has a step-pedal mechanism that feels firm and intentional, not the kind that half-opens and catches the edge of the bag on the way down.
“A trash can that makes you stop noticing it is doing exactly the job a trash can should do.”
The 13-gallon capacity is the sweet spot for a kitchen this size. It’s deep enough that a full week of cooking doesn’t require daily trips to the curb, but not so large that it dominates the floor space beside the counter. The Clorox odor protection is built into the lid’s liner channel, not a separate filter you’ll forget to replace. I’ll be honest: I was skeptical. I cook a lot of fish. But after several weeks of garlic skins, coffee grounds, citrus peels, and yes, salmon, the kitchen smells like the kitchen, not like the trash can. Apartment Therapy’s approach to functional kitchen design has long argued that the objects we use most should earn their place aesthetically and practically, and this bin is making a quiet case for that position.
The Vignettes I Actually Built Around It
Vignette 1: Sunday Morning, Coffee and a Clean Counter
Sunday mornings in my kitchen involve a French press, too many coffee grounds, and the particular pleasure of cleaning as I go. The bin sits to the left of the sink, which means it gets heavy use during that first hour of the day. What I’ve noticed is that the step-pedal keeps my hands free when they’re wet or covered in grounds, which sounds basic until you’ve spent years with a lidless bin you’re nudging open with your elbow. The grey exterior doesn’t show the ambient kitchen dust that collects on everything in a city apartment. It just sits there, doing its job, looking like it was always supposed to be there. That is, genuinely, the best thing I can say about a kitchen trash can.
Vignette 2: Friday Night Dinner Party
Six people around a table that technically seats four means the kitchen is in constant rotation all night. Someone’s always refilling a water glass, someone’s pulling another bottle from the fridge, and the trash can is working harder than anyone is acknowledging. By the end of the night, after two rounds of appetizers, a full pasta course, and dessert, the bin was nearly full and the kitchen smelled entirely of the candle I’d lit on the windowsill. Not the trash. The Clorox odor protection technology quietly did its job while I did mine, which was keep the wine poured and the conversation going.
Vignette 3: A Rainy Wednesday, Meal Prepping Alone
This is actually where I fell for it properly. Meal prep is the least romantic version of cooking, and it generates an extraordinary amount of waste: carrot tops, onion skins, chicken packaging, the plastic wrap from four blocks of tofu. By mid-afternoon the bin was half-full and the apartment was warm and a little steamy from roasting vegetables. I expected that particular smell that accumulates during a long session of cooking at home. Instead, the air just smelled like the roasted squash on the sheet pan. I’ve started leaving the kitchen window open less aggressively on prep days. That’s a small quality-of-life shift I did not anticipate when I ordered a kitchen trash can with odor control.
What Other People Are Saying
With nearly twenty-nine thousand reviews and a rating that sits solidly above four stars, this is not a product people are taking lightly. The sheer volume of feedback on the Glad Trash Can with Clorox Odor Protection suggests it has found its way into a lot of very different kitchens, from small apartments to full family homes, and the consensus on the odor protection is consistent: it works better than people expected it to.
What the reviews reveal, collectively, is that people are surprised by the quality of the finish and the lid mechanism relative to what they paid. That’s the thing about a product in this tier: the value reads above what you’d expect, which is the kind of detail that earns a four-plus star average across tens of thousands of purchases. For those looking to dig deeper into our editor’s top kitchen picks, this bin appears on several of our curated lists for good reason.
Who Should Skip It
If you are deeply committed to a full stainless steel kitchen aesthetic, the grey plastic is going to introduce a material note you didn’t invite. It’s a modern farmhouse-leaning piece, and it reads that way. It won’t look at home in a high-gloss, all-black kitchen or a very traditional space with warm brass fixtures and cream cabinetry. It will look slightly at odds.
If you’re working with a kitchen smaller than a galley, the 13-gallon footprint is worth measuring against your floor plan. It’s not oversized, but it’s not compact either. And if you’ve been shopping for something that functions as a best kitchen trash can for tight spaces, there are narrower profiles worth considering before committing to this one. You can explore our broader kitchen and dining room organization picks for a fuller range of options across sizes and styles.
What It Replaces in My Space
My previous bin was a white plastic cylinder, no lid, bought for approximately nothing at a big-box store sometime during a move several years ago. It was functional in the way that a paper plate is functional: technically it does the job, but it adds nothing to the room and it makes everything feel slightly provisional. Living with provisional things long enough makes a space feel provisional. That’s the real reason I replaced it, if I’m honest with myself.
This bin fills the same floor footprint but it fills the room differently. It contributes, in a small way, to the sense that the kitchen is a considered space. And now that the counter has a thoughtful countertop vignette and the shelving is properly styled, having a trash can that didn’t undermine all of that actually mattered more than I expected it to. I’ve also been pairing it with linen dish towels in the same grey-and-white palette, and the whole end of the kitchen feels pulled together in a way it never quite did before.
FAQ
What size bags does the 13-gallon bin take?
Standard 13-gallon kitchen trash bags fit the bin properly. Glad’s own ForceFlex bags are sized to fit without slipping, though most name-brand kitchen bags in this size will work well.
Is the plastic finish easy to clean?
Yes. A damp cloth handles most kitchen grime, and the matte grey surface doesn’t show smudges the way glossy white plastic does. A mild all-purpose cleaner is fine for anything more stubborn around the pedal mechanism.
Where should this bin be positioned in the kitchen?
Most efficiently beside or just below the main prep area, so you can sweep scraps directly off the cutting board without moving. The step-pedal means you never have to reach or reposition when your hands are full. For kitchen organization principles rooted in actual daily use, proximity to the prep zone is always the priority over what looks aesthetically pleasing on paper.
Is this piece worth it for what you’re paying?
Given the level of finish, the lid mechanism, and the genuinely effective odor technology, yes. The quality reads above what you’d expect in this tier, and it’s the kind of thing you buy once and stop thinking about, which is exactly the return on investment a kitchen trash can should deliver.
Is assembly required, and what is the return process like?
The bin arrives essentially assembled, requiring only that you attach the lid, which takes under two minutes. Returns through major retailers follow standard return windows, and the bin ships in packaging that makes it easy to repack if needed.
The Verdict
Here’s where I land: I will not think about this bin again. And that is the highest compliment I know how to give a kitchen trash can. It will sit at the end of my cabinet run through dinner parties and lazy Sundays and the long, fragrant afternoons of meal prep, and it will do its job without asking to be noticed. The Glad Trash Can with Clorox Odor Protection is the kind of purchase that makes you feel quietly competent, the way a good knife roll or a properly seasoned cast iron does: you made a sensible decision for a functional need, and the result is that one more corner of your kitchen operates the way it should.
It is not the most beautiful object in the room. It does not need to be. What it is, is correct in a way that took me longer than I’d like to admit to value in a kitchen. The grey reads neutral enough to live alongside almost any palette in the modern farmhouse or contemporary kitchen space, and the odor protection is real, not theoretical. For those building out a kitchen from scratch or refreshing a long-neglected corner, you might also want to browse our kitchen glassware and mug recommendations or check the home editor’s gift guide for more considered kitchen additions at a range of price points. And if you want broader context on how functional objects earn their place in well-designed interiors, the conversation happening at Architectural Digest’s design desk and across Dwell’s modern living coverage is worth your time.
Buy it, put it in the corner, and stop thinking about your trash can. That’s the whole point.
Every Angle
The piece as photographed for Amazon — front, side, back, detail.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.