Best plastic hampers and plastic laundry baskets with lids

The Sterilite Ultra Wheeled Hamper suits most homes: a ventilated plastic shell with a flip-top lid, wheels and a pull-up handle, 13.75 inches deep. The other four are for a narrow bathroom (Mind Reader), a plain box with no wheels (CNEIESD), a family’s wash (HAIXIN HOME) and a small room (Superio).

On this page

1. At a glance
2. Plastic laundry hamper with lid, or fabric?
3. What to look for
4. Best plastic laundry hamper with a lid
5. Slim plastic laundry hamper
6. Plain plastic clothes hamper with a lid
7. Laundry hamper with lid plastic, for a family
8. Plastic laundry basket with a lid, for a small room
9. Which to choose

At a glance

The load figures are the makers’ own. Sterilite gives its capacity as 2 bushels, about 70 litres.

Plastic laundry hamper with lid, or fabric?

A plastic hamper keeps its shape empty or full and wipes clean: CNEIESD says a damp cloth is all its hamper needs. All five here are vented, with slots, hexagon holes or a cutout pattern, so air gets to what’s inside. HAIXIN says its PP plastic shell holds up to 220 lb without bending, which no fabric hamper here claims.

What plastic gives up is folding flat and a liner you can lift out and carry. If you want those, see collapsible clothes hampers or a woven laundry basket with a lid. The weak point owners report on plastic is the moving parts: wheels and handles on the Sterilite, and a lid on the Superio.

What to look for

• Vents. Every hamper here has them, in the sides and, on the Mind Reader, in a cutout pattern all round. A sealed box holds damp in.
• How the lid opens. A hinged or flip-top lid stays with the hamper (Mind Reader, CNEIESD, Sterilite). A lift-off lid has to go somewhere while you fill it, and it’s the Superio’s lid that one owner says broke.
• Its shape at the top. Mind Reader tells buyers to measure the space at the top as well as the floor, because its hamper is wider at the rim than the base.
• Wheels that lock, if it’ll stand on a hard floor. The HAIXIN HOME has two; Sterilite doesn’t say its wheels lock.
• Handles. Side handles (CNEIESD, Sterilite) or cut-outs in the rim (Superio) for carrying it up stairs.

Best plastic laundry hamper with a lid

This is the plastic hamper that rolls, which makes it the one for laundry in another room. A handle slides up from the back like a suitcase’s, so you tip it and pull it rather than lift it, and there are handles in the sides for stairs. At 13.75 inches deep, it also fits beside a washer where the 15.7 inch HAIXIN may not.

The wheels and handle are also where it’s weakest. Owners report wheels snapping off and cracks near the handle, some within months, while others have had theirs for years. Sterilite doesn’t say how many wheels it has or what they’re made of, so buy it for the lid and the handles rather than for rolling heavy loads every day.

What owners say

• Positive: Owners like how slim and light it is, and say the vents keep damp clothes from smelling musty.
• Negative: Several report a wheel breaking off or the plastic cracking near the handle, some within a few months.

Slim plastic laundry hamper

The Mind Reader is the best seller here, and the wicker pattern cut through it is why many pick it: it looks less like a storage box than the others. The hinged lid stays attached when you open it.

What to check is the taper. The base is only 10 by 14 inches, but the rim is nearly 4 inches wider each way. It fits a narrow spot at floor level and needs more room higher up. Measure your space at about 24 inches, the height of its rim. Some owners say theirs came without a lid, so check the box before you throw it away.

What owners say

• Positive: About 13,800 ratings average 4.6. Owners call it sturdy, with a firm lid, and some say it holds over a week of clothes for two.
• Negative: Owners like the colours, but some say it arrived without its lid, and one cancelled after it happened more than once.

Plain plastic clothes hamper with a lid

If you want a plain box that stays where you put it, the CNEIESD is the simplest here, with no wheels and no taper. Its hexagon holes let air through on every side, and CNEIESD says it wipes clean with a damp cloth. It takes a little less floor than the Sterilite and stands about 4.5 inches shorter. That lets it sit under a towel rail or a low shelf.

It’s here on its specs alone. The listing is new and has no owner reviews yet, CNEIESD doesn’t give its capacity, and Amazon showed only a few left when this was checked.

Laundry hamper with lid plastic, for a family

For a family, or for bedding and blankets, the HAIXIN HOME is the size to get. At 130 litres it holds about twice the Mind Reader, and its rating of 220 lb is the highest here. It goes together without tools and folds down when you don’t need it.

It needs floor to match, at 25.2 by 15.7 inches, and there are no dividers inside to sort the wash. With about 100 ratings, far fewer than the Mind Reader or Sterilite, there’s also less evidence on how it lasts.

What owners say

• Positive: Owners like the size and say it rolls easily, one on tile without scratching it, and wipes clean.
• Mixed: One owner found it a bit of a pain to put together. With about 100 ratings, there's less to go on than for the others.

Plastic laundry basket with a lid, for a small room

The Superio is the small one, for a child’s room, a dorm or a half bath where one person’s washing goes in. Its handles are cut into the rim, so it carries like a basket. At 40 litres it holds two-thirds of the Mind Reader’s 60, so expect to empty it more often.

Its ratings are the weakest of the five, 3.7 from about 140, with about a quarter at one or two stars. Owners mostly say it’s smaller than they pictured, so check its 19.5 inch height against your space before you buy.

What owners say

• Positive: Some find it sturdy and a good fit for a half bath or small room.
• Negative: It rates 3.7 from about 140 ratings. Several say it's smaller than they expected, and one says the lid broke off after a day.

Which to choose

• A narrow bathroom: the Mind Reader 60 L.
• Laundry in another room: the Sterilite Ultra Wheeled, gently.
• A plain box that stays put: the CNEIESD hinged-lid hamper.
• A family’s wash or bedding: the HAIXIN HOME 130 L.
• A small room: the Superio 40 L.

For more hampers that roll, see hampers with wheels.