Why I stopped buying generic trash bags after seeing the difference 6 months made

I used to grab the cheapest 13 gallon bags from the dollar store, figuring a bag is a bag. But after switching to a mid-range brand called Simplehuman last January, I noticed my kitchen trash stopped leaking and breaking open all the time. Over 6 months I saved about $12 because I used fewer bags per week since they didn't tear. Has anyone else found that paying a bit more upfront actually works out cheaper in the long run?

3 comments

3 Comments

mila_murphy2118d ago

My friend had this exact experience but with the Simplehuman bags too, except she tested it with a scale and weighed the plastic. She found the cheap ones actually had way less plastic so they stretched thin and snapped at the seams. The mid-range ones were thicker by a few grams but that tiny difference meant they didn't rip when you had a heavy coffee can or a full jug of milk. The leak factor is the real hidden cost though, because when one of those dollar store bags split open in her kitchen it leaked onto the floor and she had to mop plus it stuck to the bottom of the can and got gross. She calculated that cleaning up one big mess from a torn bag basically ate up any savings from buying the cheap ones for a whole month. So yeah I think there's a sweet spot where spending a little extra saves you time and hassle but you don't need the super fancy ones either.

derek_perez18d ago

I had the exact opposite opinion for years, always grabbing the cheapest ones at the dollar store. But after swamp water leaked through a bag and all over my kitchen floor last month, I finally get what @blair_martin said about gambling with your floor. The math changed for me when I realized one bad cleanup costs way more in time and stress than upgrading bags for three months.

blair_martin18d ago

The whole "leak factor is the real hidden cost" line you said, @mila_murphy21, that's the part that gets people. I heard a guy on a podcast talk about this same thing with contractor bags. He said cheap bags are basically gambling with your floor. One blowout and you're scrubbing coffee grounds out of your baseboards at 10pm. That's time you don't get back. The math is simple to me. A few extra dollars a month is worth not having to clean up a mess that makes you want to throw the whole kitchen away.