Pull-Out & Slim Cans

The best bathroom trash cans

A bathroom can is a width problem before it is a volume problem. The top pick is the simplehuman 4.5L Round Step Can, and the specification that decides most of these is the one nobody prints on the box.

By Ryder M. · Last reviewed October 4, 2026

Double vanity in a bright bathroom with black fixtures

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 simplehuman 4.5L Round Step Can if the bathroom shares a wall with a bedroom — it is the only can at this size with a genuinely damped lid, and quiet is the whole point at two in the morning. Buy the Clorox Slim 2.6 Gallon if the only space is a 7-inch gap and you still want a lid, and the Umbra Skinny if you want that gap filled for a fraction of the money and do not need a lid at all.

#	Product	Best for	Price
01	simplehuman 4.5L Round Step CanA proper step can shrunk to bathroom size, with the same damped lid rather than the sprung flap most small bins use.	Best small bathroom can	$29.99 · View on Amazon $35.00 · 14% off · Price as of October 16, 2026. #ad How we make money
02	Clorox Slim 2.6 Gallon Step Trash CanA seven-inch-wide steel step can with a soft-close lid and a liftable inner bucket, for the gap beside a desk or a vanity.	Best for a narrow gap	$29.99 · View on Amazon $34.99 · 14% off · Price as of October 16, 2026. #ad How we make money
03	Umbra Skinny Trash Can, 2 GallonSix and a half inches wide, which is the number that matters when the only space is between the toilet and the wall.	Best narrow small can	Check price on Amazon #ad How we make money
04	simplehuman 16L Mini Step CanA proper step can at 16 liters — damped lid, steel pedal, and a footprint that fits beside a dorm desk or under a counter.	Best small step can	$110.00 · View on Amazon Price as of October 16, 2026. #ad How we make money

How we picked

Four criteria, in this order: width at the base, whether the lid is damped or sprung, whether the inner bucket lifts out for rinsing, and how the can behaves in a permanently damp room. Volume came last on purpose — a bathroom can gets emptied on a schedule rather than when it is full, so an extra gallon of capacity changes very little. Methodology, disclosure.

We ignored star ratings and review counts entirely, and we did not rank cans on finish. Every pick is a model we confirmed is currently sold.

Touchless bathroom cans are a real category and they are not here — they have their own page, because battery life and sensor behavior need comparing against each other rather than against a pedal. Touchless cans for bathrooms.

The picks in full

01 — Best small bathroom can

simplehuman 4.5L Round Step Can

A proper step can shrunk to bathroom size, with the same damped lid rather than the sprung flap most small bins use.

Capacity: 4.5 liters / 1.2 gallons
Lid: Soft-close, damped
Mechanism: Foot pedal

Small bathroom bins almost all use a cheap sprung lid that snaps shut loudly and eventually stops latching. This uses the same damped mechanism as the kitchen cans at a fraction of the volume. In a bathroom that shares a wall with a bedroom, quiet is not a luxury feature.

What we'd flag: 4.5 liters is genuinely small. If your bathroom bin takes diapers or a household's worth of cotton pads, you will be emptying it daily.

$29.99 · View on Amazon

$35.00 · 14% off · Price as of October 16, 2026. #ad How we make money

02 — Best for a narrow gap

Clorox Slim 2.6 Gallon Step Trash Can

A seven-inch-wide steel step can with a soft-close lid and a liftable inner bucket, for the gap beside a desk or a vanity.

Capacity: 2.6 gallons / 10 liters
Dimensions: 13.3" D x 7" W x 14.2" H
Weight: 4.5 lb empty
Lid: Soft-close, with a stay-open position
Bucket: Removable inner bucket
Material: Stainless steel

Small cans are chosen by footprint, not capacity, and almost every buying guide gets that backwards. This one is 7 inches wide and 13.3 deep, so it fills a gap a 13-gallon can cannot enter, and it still has the two things that make a can pleasant: a pedal, and a lid damped so it closes quietly rather than clapping. Push the lid back after stepping and it stays open for a cleaning job. The inner bucket lifts out, so emptying it does not mean carrying the whole can.

What we'd flag: 2.6 gallons is a two-day can for a kitchen, not a week's. Clorox's odor protection is a coating on the inner bucket surface rather than a filter, so it does nothing about what is in the bag — a small can stays sweet because you empty it, not because of the finish.

$29.99 · View on Amazon

$34.99 · 14% off · Price as of October 16, 2026. #ad How we make money

03 — Best narrow small can

Umbra Skinny Trash Can, 2 Gallon

Six and a half inches wide, which is the number that matters when the only space is between the toilet and the wall.

Capacity: 2 gallons
Dimensions: 13.5" x 6.5" x 13"
Material: Polypropylene
Handle: Integrated

Almost every small bin is round, and a round bin in a rectangular gap wastes most of it. This is a genuine slot-filler at 13.5" x 6.5" x 13", with rounded internal corners so liquid does not get trapped and an integrated handle so you can lift it out one-handed.

What we'd flag: no lid. In a bathroom that is usually fine; anywhere food goes, it is not.

Check price on Amazon

#ad How we make money

04 — Best small step can

simplehuman 16L Mini Step Can

A proper step can at 16 liters — damped lid, steel pedal, and a footprint that fits beside a dorm desk or under a counter.

Capacity: 16 liters / 4.3 gallons
Lid: Soft-close, damped
Pedal: Steel
Body: Stainless steel

Small bins almost universally use a sprung flap that clacks and eventually stops latching. This is the same damped mechanism simplehuman puts in its kitchen cans, scaled down, which matters most in a room where you also sleep. Sixteen liters is about right for one person emptying twice a week, and the closed lid keeps the room's smell down between trips to the hall chute.

What we'd flag: simplehuman sizes its liners by code letter, and a generic bag in a can this small overhangs badly. Either buy the coded liner or accept the fold.

$110.00 · View on Amazon

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

What makes a bathroom can different

It lives in a permanently damp room

Every shower puts moisture into the air, and it condenses on the coldest surface in the room — which is often a steel can. Painted steel chips and then rusts at the chip; polypropylene does not care. Stainless is fine but it shows every water spot, which is a cosmetic annoyance rather than a failure. If the can sits inside the shower's splash zone, plastic is the sensible answer and we would not be snobbish about it.

The lid matters more than in a kitchen, for a different reason

Kitchen lids exist to contain smell. A bathroom lid mostly exists to hide the contents and to muffle the sound, and a sprung flap lid — the standard mechanism on cheap small bins — fails at both. It clacks, and after a year it stops latching. A damped lid in a bathroom that adjoins a bedroom is not a luxury feature.

An inner bucket is worth more than it looks

Bathroom waste is wetter than people expect, and the thing that makes a small bin go sour is residue in the base rather than anything in the bag. A removable plastic bucket goes to the sink and rinses in thirty seconds. A can without one has to be carried to a tub. How to clean a trash can properly.

The bag is almost never the right size

A 4-gallon bag in a 2-gallon can hangs most of the way down the outside; a grocery bag is the right volume and looks like a grocery bag. This is the same nominal-sizing problem the whole category has, scaled down. Bathroom can sizes and what bag each takes.

Which one for which bathroom

If this is you	Buy	Why
The bathroom adjoins a bedroom	simplehuman 4.5L Round Step Can	The only one here with a properly damped lid
You have a narrow gap and want a lid	Clorox Slim 2.6 Gallon	6.5" wide, with a pedal and a removable bucket
You want the gap filled cheaply	Umbra Skinny 2 Gallon	6.5" wide, no lid, nothing to break
It is a shared or family bathroom	simplehuman 16L Mini Step Can	Four times the capacity, same damped mechanism

A word on size: the standard advice is to buy the smallest can you can live with, and in a bathroom that advice is right. A small can gets emptied on a rhythm; a large one gets emptied when somebody notices, which is later than you think. If the bathroom is the one the whole household uses, step up to the 16-liter rather than buying two small cans.

If what you actually need is a narrow can for a kitchen rather than a bathroom, that is a different list: slim and narrow kitchen cans.

Common questions

What is the best bathroom trash can?

The simplehuman 4.5L Round Step Can, because it is the only can at bathroom scale with a genuinely damped lid rather than a sprung flap. If width is your constraint, the Clorox Slim 2.6 Gallon is 7 inches wide and still has a pedal and a lid.

What size trash can is right for a bathroom?

One to three gallons for a single bathroom, and three to four for a shared or family one. Bathroom cans get emptied on a schedule rather than when full, so capacity matters less than width and lid.

Does a bathroom trash can need a lid?

It needs one if anything damp goes in it, if you have pets or a toddler, or if the can is visible from the door. In a guest bathroom where the contents are tissues and cotton pads, an open can is genuinely fine.

What size bags fit a bathroom trash can?

Most 1 to 3 gallon cans take a 4-gallon bag with some overhang, which is the only widely stocked small size. Cans with a removable bucket often work better with no bag at all plus a rinse.

Should a bathroom trash can be metal or plastic?

Plastic if it sits in the splash zone or the room runs humid, because painted steel chips and then rusts at the chip. Stainless is fine anywhere else but shows water spots.

How do I stop a bathroom trash can from smelling?

Rinse the base rather than just changing the bag. In a small can the smell is almost always residue in the bottom of the bin itself, not the bag, which is why a removable inner bucket is worth paying for.

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.