Outdoor Trash Cans

The best trash can lid locks and straps

The cheapest thing that works. Four compared on fit range, materials and whether they survive a winter — because ordinary bungees perish in about a season.

By Ryder M. · Last reviewed September 27, 2026

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

The Blazer Brand Strong Strap if you want one that lasts, because it specifies an EPDM rubber core with polycarbonate hooks and stainless fasteners — the three things that fail on an ordinary bungee. Encased for the cheaper nylon option, in the size that matches your can.

#	Product	Best for	Price
01	Blazer Brand Strong Strap Lid Lock KitA 48-inch strap built from materials chosen for weather: an EPDM rubber core, polycarbonate hooks and stainless fasteners.	Best built strap	$34.95 · View on Amazon Price as of November 14, 2026. #ad How we make money
02	Encased Trash Can Lock, Bungee Cord (30-50 gallon cans)A tensioned nylon bungee that holds the lid down on a can you already own, for a fraction of the cost of replacing it.	Best cheap raccoon fix	$16.99 · View on Amazon $19.99 · 15% off · Price as of November 14, 2026. #ad How we make money
03	Encased Extra Large Trash Can Lock (50-96 gallon cans)The long version, sized for the 64 and 96-gallon wheeled carts a standard strap will not reach around.	Best for wheeled carts	$19.99 · View on Amazon Price as of November 14, 2026. #ad How we make money
04	simplehuman 50L Semi-Round Step Can with Slide LockThe same semi-round shape with a slide lock that physically holds the lid shut against a determined dog.	Best for pets	$49.98 · View on Amazon $55.00 · 9% off · Price as of November 14, 2026. #ad How we make money

How we picked

This is a category where the products are simple and the failure modes are well understood, so the criteria are short.

Fit range, stated by the manufacturer. A strap for a 30-55 gallon can will not reach around a 96-gallon cart, and this is the commonest buying mistake here.
Materials that survive UV and frost. Ordinary bungee rubber goes chalky in sun and the hooks go brittle in cold. EPDM and polycarbonate are specified for exactly that.
Fastener material. Plain steel fasteners rust and then stain the can. Stainless does not.
Whether it needs tools or drilling. Most households want a no-tools fit, and anything requiring a drilled cart may void a warranty.
Whether it stays attached to the can. A strap that lives on the can gets re-fitted; one that has to be fetched does not.

Methodology · disclosure.

The picks in full

01 — Best built strap

Blazer Brand Strong Strap Lid Lock Kit

A 48-inch strap built from materials chosen for weather: an EPDM rubber core, polycarbonate hooks and stainless fasteners.

Length: 48 inches
Fits: 32-96 gallon cans
Core: EPDM rubber
Attachments: Polycarbonate with stainless steel fasteners
Installation: No tools

Ordinary bungees perish. The rubber goes chalky in UV, the hooks go brittle in frost, and the strap fails in about a season. This one specifies an EPDM core — the rubber used in roofing membranes — with polycarbonate attachments and stainless fasteners, and fits anything from 32 to 96 gallons. It is the strap to buy if the last one broke.

What we'd flag: it stops raccoons, squirrels and crows. It is not a bear product, and the manufacturer does not claim it is.

$34.95 · View on Amazon

Price as of November 14, 2026. #ad How we make money

02 — Best cheap raccoon fix

Encased Trash Can Lock, Bungee Cord (30-50 gallon cans)

A tensioned nylon bungee that holds the lid down on a can you already own, for a fraction of the cost of replacing it.

Fits: 30-55 gallon round or square cans
Material: Heavy-duty nylon bungee
Installation: No tools

Before you buy a new can, try the strap. A raccoon opens a bin by lifting the lid with its weight on the rim — a bungee under tension defeats that directly, and this one is sized for the 30-55 gallon cans most households have. It fits round or square bodies and needs no tools.

What we'd flag: you have to re-fit it every single time you use the can, and everyone in the household has to. One person who cannot be bothered undoes the whole thing.

$16.99 · View on Amazon

$19.99 · 15% off · Price as of November 14, 2026. #ad How we make money

03 — Best for wheeled carts

Encased Extra Large Trash Can Lock (50-96 gallon cans)

The long version, sized for the 64 and 96-gallon wheeled carts a standard strap will not reach around.

Fits: 50-96 gallon cans
Material: Heavy-duty nylon bungee
Installation: No tools

Municipal carts are the cans most likely to be raided, because they sit at the curb overnight with a hinged lid a raccoon can lever. This is the size that actually fits them, with the same no-tools fitting.

What we'd flag: check whether your hauler's automated arm can handle a strapped can. Some will not empty one, and a strap left on collection morning means a full cart for another week.

$19.99 · View on Amazon

Price as of November 14, 2026. #ad How we make money

04 — Best for pets

simplehuman 50L Semi-Round Step Can with Slide Lock

The same semi-round shape with a slide lock that physically holds the lid shut against a determined dog.

Capacity: 50 liters / 13.2 gallons
Lock: Mechanical slide lock
Pedal rating: 150,000 steps (manufacturer figure)
Body: Plastic
Lid: Soft-close (Lid Shox)

Dogs do not defeat trash cans by cleverness, they defeat them by weight — nosing the lid until it lifts. A mechanical slide lock removes that possibility entirely, and unlike a strap it does not need re-fitting every time you empty the can. The plastic body also survives being knocked over, which a brushed steel one does not, cosmetically.

What we'd flag: the lock is a conscious action. You have to slide it every single time, and the first week you will forget. If you know you will not do it, buy a can with a heavier lid instead.

$49.98 · View on Amazon

$55.00 · 9% off · Price as of November 14, 2026. #ad How we make money

Match the strap to the can

Your can	Strap size	Products that fit
20-30 gal free-standing	Standard	Encased standard (30-55 gal)
32 gal round or cart	Standard	Encased standard; Blazer (32-96 gal)
45 gal wheeled	Standard or universal	Encased standard; Blazer
64 gal cart	Extra large or universal	Encased XL (50-96 gal); Blazer
96 gal cart	Extra large or universal	Encased XL; Blazer
Kitchen can with a dog problem	Not a strap	A can with a built-in slide lock

The last row is worth stating: straps are an outdoor product. For an indoor can that a dog raids, a mechanical slide lock built into the can is a far better answer — it is one action as part of closing the lid rather than a separate fitting step, and a strap across a kitchen can looks exactly as bad as it sounds.

Fitting one so it actually works

Step 01
Anchor it under the rim, not to the handles
The handles on most cans are molded plastic lugs and they are not designed for sustained tension — they are the part that shears. Hook the strap under the lip of the rim where the body is thickest, or to a purpose-made anchor if the strap provides one.
Step 02
Tension it properly
A slack bungee is decorative. It should take real effort to unhook and the lid should not lift at all when you pull on one edge. If the strap has adjustable length, set it so it is under tension with the lid fully closed rather than just resting.
Step 03
Leave it attached to the can
Unclip one end rather than removing the whole strap. A strap that lives on the can is a strap that gets re-fitted; one that lives in the garage is not. This is the difference between a working defense and a product in a drawer.
Step 04
Secure the can as well as the lid
A raccoon that cannot lever the lid will often tip the can and work on it horizontally. A second bungee to a fence post or a wall bracket removes that route and costs almost nothing.
Step 05
Check it after the first frost and the first heatwave
Those are when cheap materials fail. If the rubber has gone chalky or a hook has cracked, replace it before it fails on a night you needed it.

What a strap will not do

It will not stop a bear. Bears crush and tear; they do not lever. No strap on the market is rated for them and none of these manufacturers claims to be. What actually works in bear country.
It will not stop rats. Rats get in at the base, through a gap or a gnawed hole, not past the lid.
It will not stop the smell. A sealed lid contains a little more, but the fix for odor is emptying, washing and keeping the wet fraction out. The sequence.
It will not compensate for putting the can out overnight. Putting the can out on collection morning rather than the night before is free and more effective than any hardware.

If a strap is not enough — because the household will not fit it, or because the animal is not a raccoon — the next steps are a latching can or an enclosure. Cans and enclosures compared. A strap is the right answer on a can you already own. If you are replacing the can anyway, buy the latch instead: the best trash cans with locking lids covers the cans that latch out of the box. And if the problem is that the lid itself is cracked or gone, trash can lid replacement explains what is actually available as a spare part. Wind rather than wildlife? How to keep trash cans from blowing over puts the strap in the right order among the free fixes.

If the problem is weather rather than animals

A strap holds a lid down; it does nothing about rain filling the bag or a can that looks grim from the kitchen window. The best outdoor trash can covers and pads covers the fabric covers and under-can mats that handle those two jobs, and is honest about what they cannot do.

Common questions

Do trash can lid locks work?

A tensioned strap does, because it directly defeats the lever-with-bodyweight technique raccoons use. The failure mode is human rather than mechanical: somebody in the household stops re-fitting it.

What size trash can strap do I need?

Match the manufacturer's stated fit range to your can. Encased sells a standard version for 30-55 gallon cans and an XL for 50-96 gallon carts; Blazer's 48-inch strap covers 32 to 96 gallons.

Why do trash can bungees break so fast?

UV makes ordinary bungee rubber chalky and frost makes plastic hooks brittle, so a cheap one lasts about a season. An EPDM rubber core with polycarbonate hooks and stainless fasteners is specified to survive both.

Where should I attach a trash can strap?

Under the lip of the rim where the body is thickest, not to the molded handles — handles are what shear under sustained tension. Tension it so the lid does not lift at all when you pull one edge.

Will the garbage truck empty a strapped can?

On automated collection, often not — the arm cannot open a strapped lid and the cart may be skipped. Ask your hauler before fitting one. Some will hand-empty on request.

Is a lid lock better than a new can?

Usually, as a first move — it costs a fraction as much and defeats the same technique. A latching can is better if nobody in the household will reliably re-fit a strap.

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.