Brands

The best iTouchless trash cans

iTouchless sells one good idea in four bodies. The pick for most kitchens is the 13 Gallon SensorCan with the AbsorbX filter; the other three exist because your kitchen is a different shape than mine.

By Ryder M. · Last reviewed October 10, 2026

A kitchen with white cabinets and stainless steel appliances

Lid & Liner is reader-supported. If you buy through a link on this page we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It never changes which product we rank first — how we pick and how we make money.

The short answer

Buy the iTouchless 13 Gallon SensorCan with AbsorbX Odor Filter. It is the version of this can with the carbon filter built into the lid as standard, it takes an ordinary 13-gallon bag, and it is the one that makes sense in a normal kitchen. The other three are the same can in a different shape: the Large Lid Opening model if your trash is mostly boxes, the Oval Plastic if the can lives somewhere it will get knocked, and the Wheels version if you carry bags a long way.

#	Product	Best for	Price
01	iTouchless 13 Gallon SensorCan with AbsorbX Odor FilterThe touchless can that ships with a carbon filter in the lid and takes ordinary 13-gallon bags, at a fraction of the premium price.	Best touchless value	$79.99 · View on Amazon $89.99 · 11% off · Price as of October 16, 2026. #ad How we make money
02	iTouchless 13 Gallon Sensor Can with Large Lid OpeningThe slim-bodied iTouchless sensor can with the wide lid opening — for households whose trash is awkward packaging rather than food waste.	Best wide lid opening	$71.99 · View on Amazon $89.99 · 20% off · Price as of October 16, 2026. #ad How we make money
03	iTouchless 13 Gallon Oval Plastic Sensor CanThe plastic-bodied version of the same sensor can — lighter, cheaper, and immune to the two things that make steel cans look old.	Best lightweight touchless	$69.97 · View on Amazon Price as of October 16, 2026. #ad How we make money
04	iTouchless 13 Gallon Sensor Can with WheelsAn indoor sensor can on wheels, which sounds odd until you have carried a full one down a hallway every week.	Best for moving to the curb	$98.99 · View on Amazon Price as of October 16, 2026. #ad How we make money

The reason to shop iTouchless as a brand rather than shop the whole category is narrow and specific: it is the only touchless line that treats the carbon filter as part of the product instead of an accessory. On a simplehuman sensor can the odor pod is sold separately. Here it is in the lid when the box arrives.

What iTouchless actually sells

Every can in the line is the same engineering problem solved once: an infrared sensor in the lid, a battery compartment, a removable liner ring that hides the bag, and a non-skid base. What changes between models is geometry and material. That makes the brand unusually easy to shop, because you are not choosing between mechanisms - you are choosing between footprints.

Model	Why it exists	Buy it if
13 Gallon SensorCan	The default: 12.7" x 10.7" footprint, AbsorbX filter, lid lock	You want one can for a normal kitchen
13 Gallon with the Large Lid Opening	Same volume, wider opening, slim 10.7-inch body	Your trash is packaging rather than food scraps
13 Gallon Oval Plastic	Plastic body instead of steel	The can gets knocked, or fingerprints drive you mad
13 Gallon with Wheels	Wheels on an indoor can	The bags go to a garage or a bin store, not a chute

All four are nominally 13 gallons / 50 liters. The differences are shape, material and mobility.

Notice what is not on that list: capacity. iTouchless builds this line in one size because 13 gallons is the size a standard tall kitchen bag is cut for, and the brand's whole positioning is that you should be able to use the bags you already buy. If you need more than 50 liters you are out of the line and into XL automatic cans.

The picks in full

01 — Best touchless value

iTouchless 13 Gallon SensorCan with AbsorbX Odor Filter

The touchless can that ships with a carbon filter in the lid and takes ordinary 13-gallon bags, at a fraction of the premium price.

Capacity: 13 gallons / 50 liters
Dimensions: 12.7" L x 10.7" W x 27.3" H (35.7" with the lid open)
Power: 4 x D batteries, or an optional AC adapter
Odor control: AbsorbX natural activated carbon filter
Lid lock: Yes
Warranty: 1 year

iTouchless builds an activated-carbon AbsorbX filter into the lid rather than selling it as an accessory, which is the right call — the lid is where the smell sits. A 12-inch opening takes a standard 13-gallon bag, there is a lid lock to keep pets and children out, and the base is non-skid. It runs on four D cells, or an AC adapter sold separately.

What we'd flag: the warranty is one year, against ten on the Brabantia. That is a short warranty for a product with electronics in it.

$79.99 · View on Amazon

$89.99 · 11% off · Price as of October 16, 2026. #ad How we make money

02 — Best wide lid opening

iTouchless 13 Gallon Sensor Can with Large Lid Opening

The slim-bodied iTouchless sensor can with the wide lid opening — for households whose trash is awkward packaging rather than food waste.

Capacity: 13 gallons / 50 liters
Dimensions: 12.7" L x 10.7" W x 27.3" H (35.7" with the lid open)
Odor control: AbsorbX activated carbon filter included
Power: 4 x D cells, or an optional AC adapter (sold separately)
Bags: Standard 13 gallon, retainer ring

Capacity is rarely the constraint; the size of the hole is. This is the long-running iTouchless 13-gallon that pairs a large lid opening with a body only 10.7 inches wide, so a pizza box or a cereal carton goes in without folding while the can still sits in a 12-inch gap. The AbsorbX carbon filter is included rather than an upsell, the bag retainer ring hides the liner edge, and it takes ordinary 13-gallon bags.

What we'd flag: it runs on four D cells, which is a lot of battery, and the AC adapter is sold separately. If the can lives somewhere you cannot reach a socket, budget for alkaline D cells rather than the cheapest multipack.

$71.99 · View on Amazon

$89.99 · 20% off · Price as of October 16, 2026. #ad How we make money

03 — Best lightweight touchless

iTouchless 13 Gallon Oval Plastic Sensor Can

The plastic-bodied version of the same sensor can — lighter, cheaper, and immune to the two things that make steel cans look old.

Capacity: 13 gallons / 50 liters
Body: Plastic
Odor control: AbsorbX activated carbon filter

Stainless steel cans fail cosmetically long before they fail mechanically: a dent near the pedal and a permanent haze of fingerprints. A plastic body has neither problem, wipes clean properly, and is light enough to move with one hand while you mop.

What we'd flag: plastic scuffs, and over years in a sunny kitchen it discolors. It will look tired sooner than steel even though it will not dent.

$69.97 · View on Amazon

Price as of October 16, 2026. #ad How we make money

04 — Best for moving to the curb

iTouchless 13 Gallon Sensor Can with Wheels

An indoor sensor can on wheels, which sounds odd until you have carried a full one down a hallway every week.

Capacity: 13 gallons / 50 liters
Wheels: Yes
Odor control: AbsorbX activated carbon filter
Lid lock: Yes

Wheels on a 13-gallon can are for the fifteen feet between the kitchen and wherever the bags go — a garage, a back door, a bin store. Full kitchen bags are heavier and more awkward than people expect, and this removes the carry entirely.

What we'd flag: wheels on a kitchen floor mean the can moves when you lean into it. On tile it will creep away from the wall over a few weeks.

$98.99 · View on Amazon

Price as of October 16, 2026. #ad How we make money

How we picked

We have not run these cans on a test bench. What we compared is the specification each model publishes, the stated dimensions, the odor-control hardware that ships in the box, the power arrangement, and the warranty - then ranked on which of those a normal household actually feels. Methodology, disclosure.

The SensorCan wins because the filter is standard and the footprint is the most generally useful of the four. The Large Lid Opening model ranks second because the size of the hole, not the volume, is what stops most kitchen cans from swallowing what you put in them. The plastic Oval ranks third on honest grounds - it solves the two cosmetic failures of steel cans and costs less - and the Wheels version is last only because wheels on a kitchen floor are a trade rather than an upgrade.

The AbsorbX filter is the reason to buy the brand

Smell does not sit in the bag, it sits in the headspace above it, and the lid is what keeps it there. iTouchless puts an activated-carbon cartridge in the lid of every can in this line, which is the correct place for it. Carbon adsorbs the sulfur and amine compounds that make a kitchen can smell rather than covering them with fragrance, and a cartridge in the lid sits directly in the air it is treating.

It is a consumable, not a feature. Carbon saturates. Plan on replacing the cartridge a few times a year if the can takes food waste, less if it does not.
It does not replace emptying the can. A filter buys you a cleaner-smelling room between bag changes; it does not buy you extra days.
It is not a substitute for a seated lid. If the bag is proud of the rim the lid cannot close, and an open can with a filter in it is just an open can.

If you want to understand what carbon is and is not doing before you commit to a consumable, we wrote the filter question up in full.

The two we would actually buy: the standard steel SensorCan, and the plastic-bodied version for anywhere the can gets handled roughly.

Best touchless value

iTouchless 13 Gallon SensorCan with AbsorbX Odor Filter

The touchless can that ships with a carbon filter in the lid and takes ordinary 13-gallon bags, at a fraction of the premium price.

$79.99 · View on Amazon

$89.99 · 11% off · Price as of October 16, 2026. #ad How we make money

Best lightweight touchless

iTouchless 13 Gallon Oval Plastic Sensor Can

The plastic-bodied version of the same sensor can — lighter, cheaper, and immune to the two things that make steel cans look old.

$69.97 · View on Amazon

Price as of October 16, 2026. #ad How we make money

Where iTouchless sits against the rest of the category

Three brands dominate touchless cans in American kitchens and they are not competing on the same axis.

Brand	What you are paying for	Where it loses
iTouchless	Carbon filter as standard, several body shapes, standard bags	One-year warranty; plain industrial styling
Ninestars	A published battery figure - about 10,000 cycles per set of C cells	Fixed-timer sensor that closes on you mid-scrape
simplehuman	Build quality, a damped lid, fitted liners, long support	Price, and the odor pod is an extra

If you are weighing the brand against the premium option directly, the head-to-head is iTouchless vs simplehuman. Against the other value brand, it is iTouchless vs Ninestars.

Living with one

Use the AC adapter if the can is near an outlet

The line runs on D cells, and a can that gets opened thirty times a day eats them. An optional adapter is sold for most models and it turns the only recurring annoyance of a sensor can into a non-issue. Power and batteries, in detail.

The lid lock is for pets, not children

It is a catch that stops a lid being nosed open. It will defeat a dog. It is not a childproof latch and iTouchless does not market it as one. If a dog is the actual problem, the cans built for that do it better.

If the lid stops opening, check the sensor window first

Infrared sensors are defeated by a film of grease more often than they fail outright. A wipe across the window with a damp cloth fixes most dead lids on this line. The full troubleshooting order.

Common questions

What is the best iTouchless trash can?

The 13 Gallon SensorCan with AbsorbX Odor Filter. It is the model with the carbon filter in the lid as standard, it has a lid lock, and its 12.7 by 10.7 inch footprint fits a normal kitchen without modification.

Are iTouchless trash cans any good?

For the money, yes. You get a working infrared lid, a carbon filter in the lid rather than sold separately, and compatibility with ordinary 13-gallon bags. The weak point is the one-year warranty on a product with electronics in it.

Do iTouchless cans take normal trash bags?

Yes. The whole line is built around standard 13-gallon tall kitchen bags, and a removable liner ring holds the bag by the rim so the overhang is hidden. There are no proprietary code-letter liners.

How long do the batteries last in an iTouchless trash can?

iTouchless does not publish a cycle figure the way Ninestars does. In practice a set of D cells lasts months rather than weeks, and an optional AC adapter removes the question entirely if the can sits near an outlet.

Which iTouchless can is best for a narrow kitchen?

The standard 13 Gallon SensorCan, though the Large Lid Opening model is barely wider - 10.7 inches against 10.7. Both hold the same 50 liters, and in a galley kitchen the deciding factor is which one your gap takes, not which holds more.

How often do you replace the AbsorbX filter?

Carbon saturates with use rather than with time, so a can taking daily food waste needs it more often than one taking packaging. Treat it as a consumable you replace a few times a year and judge by whether the can still smells with the lid shut.

Sources

Every specification on this page traces to one of these, checked at the time of writing. Where a manufacturer does not publish a figure, the page says so rather than estimating it.

The short answer

What iTouchless actually sells

The picks in full

iTouchless 13 Gallon SensorCan with AbsorbX Odor Filter

iTouchless 13 Gallon Sensor Can with Large Lid Opening

iTouchless 13 Gallon Oval Plastic Sensor Can

iTouchless 13 Gallon Sensor Can with Wheels

How we picked

The AbsorbX filter is the reason to buy the brand

iTouchless 13 Gallon SensorCan with AbsorbX Odor Filter

iTouchless 13 Gallon Oval Plastic Sensor Can

Where iTouchless sits against the rest of the category

Living with one

Use the AC adapter if the can is near an outlet

The lid lock is for pets, not children

If the lid stops opening, check the sensor window first

Common questions

What is the best iTouchless trash can?

Are iTouchless trash cans any good?

Do iTouchless cans take normal trash bags?

How long do the batteries last in an iTouchless trash can?

Which iTouchless can is best for a narrow kitchen?

How often do you replace the AbsorbX filter?

Sources

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