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How to Get The Most Out of Your Heavy-Duty Trash Bags
Sometimes a job is just too big for an ordinary trash bag size and standard thickness. Using a regular bag for a heavy-duty job almost always leads to wasted time and money. A standard garbage bag can easily rip or leak, forcing you to double or triple bag your trash can. Often times, a standard sized trash bag is far too small, fills up too fast, and needs to be taken out more often which leads to inefficiencies. Whether it’s for a construction site, restaurant work, janitorial work, lawn maintenance, or an at-home project, you need a bag built tough enough for the job.
Size, thickness, and material are the most important factors to consider when determining what trash bag or contractor bag will be the best value and best trash bags for your business. This guide will help you make an informed, and cost effective decision on your next heavy-duty trash bag purchase for your business or home.
Finding the Right Size
Knowing what size trash bag you need is always the first step in choosing a heavy duty trash bag. To get you started, the easiest way to find out the trash bag size you need is to determine the gallon size of your current trash can. If you are unsure of your trash can size, note that you can usually find it printed somewhere on the trash can itself.
For reference, here are a few of our common sizes purchased for different industries and uses:
- Food Service Industry - 33 Gallon, 40-45 Gallon, 55 Gallon Trash Bag
- Hotels / Hospitality Industry - 2-4 Gallon, 13 Gallon
- Large Toter Trash Cans - 65 Gallon, 95 Gallon
A trash bag that is correctly sized for your can will fit all the way to the bottom, and around the top with about 3-4 inches of overhang.
If you have a uniquely sized trash can, or want a more precise way of finding the ideal trash bag size, you can manually measure your trash can to determine the dimensions. To find the ideal trash bag width: Use 1/2 of the outer circumference of the container for both round or square containers. To find the ideal trash bag length: Find the height of the container and add ½ the diameter plus 3-4 inches for overhang. If you have a square / rectangular container, measure the diagonal of the bottom of the trash can rather than finding the diameter.
For example, the ideal size of a contractor bag for a round garbage can that has a circumference of 66 inches, height of 37 inches and diameter of 16.5 inches would be 33 x 48 inches
How Thick Should My Garbage Bag Be?
Thickness plays a major role in how much weight the bag can hold, what types of contents it can hold, and the overall price of the bag. The thicker and stronger the bag, the more it will generally cost. Understanding what gauge is suitable for your needs is key when making a purchasing decision. Trash bag density is most commonly measured in two ways, mils and microns (mic). One mil is equal to one thousandth of an inch (10-3 in) and is often used in measuring low density trash bags. One micron is equal to one millionth of a meter (10-6 m) and is often used in measuring high density trash bags. Typically, trash bags are made with either low or high density materials. However, our trash bags are made with a unique blend to get the best of both worlds, strength and value. Choosing an effective and best heavy duty trash bags will allow you to dispose of garbage without worry of tears.
To determine the gauge your trash bags should be you must consider what types of contents are being thrown away. A heavy gauge trash bag or contractor bag of at least 2 mil is recommended when trash contents are heavy or sharp. These thick heavy duty garbage bags offer puncture resistance for broken glass shards, rough food waste, and items with protruding corners. They are often used for home improvement projects, construction sites, demolition & tough clean-up jobs.
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