Dwelling

Rubbermaid 45-Quart Dual-Action Wastebasket

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Lid swings in for quick disposal or lifts up for larger disposal items

I bought this seven years ago merely because I needed a covered wastebasket for my kitchen. I was unaware of the cleverness of the tilt-top mechanism it employed. But a day later I marveled at its niftiness. It has these advantages over the old foot-pedal style of kitchen garbage pail:

  1. Opening the lid requires no skill, unlike a foot-pedal, which is a smaller and more distant target.
  2. Opening the lid places ones hand inside the top of the bucket, making it impossible for a fluttery item like a piece of paper towel to drift off-target after it has been released.
  3. The lid closes itself noiselessly, unlike the crash of a foot-pedal cans.
  4. The lid stays open once raised to its fully upright and locked position. (The back edge of the can’s lid can must be 3/4 inch away from the wall for this to work. Rubbermaid should stress this out-spacing in its instruction leaflet, and include a picture, because some Amazon reviewers appear unaware of this quirk. Maybe the can should include a swing-up-and-lock spacer to keep the back sufficiently clear of the wall — the customer could fold it down out of the way if he doesn’t intend to fill the can beyond ¾ full.)
  5. The lid’s greater height means cats & dogs are less likely to nose around its rim.
  6. Clean-up is simpler, primarily because of the lid’s removability.
  7. Its plastic construction and simpler mechanics mean there’s no chance of it rusting or needing lubrication.
  8. It is the exact shape of a grocery store’s large paper bag. I put my bag inside a plastic grocery bag and use its handles to lift it out.
-- Roger Knights 12/15/15

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