Best trash bags

If you’re left holding the bag, you want the bag to be holding the trash, not spilling it onto the kitchen floor. But in tests of 10 tall kitchen bags, the top-selling type, we found big differences in performance.

Best of all were Glad Drawstring Stronger with Less Plastic and Hefty The Gripper. Hoisted aloft by a pulley apparatus, they and other high-rated bags held about 50 pounds of barbells before stretching like taffy and dropping their load. The lowest-rated bag, Member’s Mark (Sam’s Club), failed with about 35 pounds. The top two have other advantages. The Glad bag is advertised as using less plastic, based on thickness: Its maker says the top section is 0.95 mils thick; the rest, 0.78 mils thick. Most other bags are about 0.9 mils throughout. The Hefty bag has a stretchable drawstring to help hold it to a wastebasket rim.

Don’t buy only by brand: Although Glad ForceFlex was almost as good as its brandmate, Hefty CinchSak did a bit worse than Hefty The Gripper. Paying more doesn’t get you a better bag: A 7-cent Kirkland Signature bag outscored a 23-cent Ultra Tuf.

Bottom line. For heavy use, try one of the Recommended products, for 14 to 16 cents apiece. If you use bags for light trash, as in a bathroom, consider the less-pricey Kirkland Signature.