4 Great Hampers for Your Home

A few months ago, when I wrote a Coffee Break about a clothes hamper (after buying it for my son's room), I was struck by one reader's comment: “This hamper may have just solved an issue in my house! Definitely going to check it out.” While hampers aren't something we think about much day to day, switching to a nicer one can make life a tiny bit easier — or just rid your room of an eyesore.

We've previously talked about dry cleaning, washing workwear, and what to do with worn-but-not-dirty clothes — but never hampers, so we're rounding up a few today!

With clothes hampers, you've got tons of choices in terms of size, style, and structure (sections to separate clothing, for example), and wading through what's available online can involve WAY too much scrolling. Here's a cheat sheet of four great hampers.

4 Great Hampers for Your Home

The Container Store

A woven hamper with handles; it has a top blue stripe and cream lower part

It would seem wrong to do a hamper roundup without including The Container Store. This lightweight, smaller hamper is a good pick if you tend to do laundry frequently or don't have much room for something large. (Plus, having a smaller hamper can motivate you to wash your clothes more frequently … in theory!)

This hamper, which is one of the highest-rated at The Container Store, is woven from cotton and jute and has convenient built-in handles. It's sturdy enough to stand up but is collapsible in case you need to store it. The design and colors (pictured, plus cream/brown) are subtle enough to blend into your bedroom decor.

This hamper measures 16″ wide and 21″ high and is $39.99.

Brightroom from Target

A tan woven hamper in a room next to a white shelving unit with towels and cleaning products. There is a light pink towel draped over the hamper.

Why aren't there more corner hampers? It's a question for the ages. Anyway, especially if you don't have many places in your bedroom or bathroom that would work for a typical hamper, a corner style like this can be a smart solution. This highly-rated hamper is lightweight and has a woven paper exterior.

If you have cats, this is probably not the hamper for you, as they'd probably gleefully make it a scratching post as soon as you bring it home.

This hamper measures 14″ x 14″ x 22″ and is $35. With the AR feature on Target's website, you can see what it looks like in your room to get a better idea of its size.

{related: the best products for closet organization}

Best Choice

A brown woven hamper with a lid and two compartments

Want to keep your clothes out of sight and out of mind? Here's a two-compartment hamper available in five neutral colors. With its metal frame (and 13-lb. weight) it's sturdier than many other hampers, and it has two built-in handles. No need to carry the whole thing around your home, though — it also contains two removable, machine-washable, linen liners.

The hamper's two sections can either help you pre-sort your laundry or provide separate spaces for you and a partner to toss your clothes. (Fellow cat owners, beware: This is definitely another “Yep, looks like a scratching post to me!” item.)

This hamper from Best Choice measures 12.75″ deep x 24″ wide x 24″ high and starts at $69.99 at Amazon. (Looking for a higher-end version? This seems to be a dupe for hampers like this $269 option from Pottery Barn.)

{related: how to make your clothing last longer}

Colonial Mills

A light-green woven hamper with lid and top and side handles

Colonial Mills hampers are definitely worth a look if you're not into boxy styles. The Rhode Island company's hampers are made in the U.S.A. and have a softer look (and feel) than a lot of other options. (They also make baskets and rugs!) This wool-blend hamper is handmade and available in six solid colors, including light gray and teal. It also has handy, er, handles on the sides and lid.

The hamper is 16″ wide and “24” high and is $127 at Home Depot, which also has other Colonial Mills hampers available, including fun striped ones.

Check out Colonial Mills's website for many more hampers (and other items) and a 60%-off-everything sale.

Readers, do you have a favorite hamper? (Why are good ones so hard to find?)

4 Comments

  1. Not aesthetic, but I am going to specifically recommend these mesh cubes-
    https://www.amazon.com/Laundry-Portable-Collapsible-Foldable-Single-Layer/dp/B07TLC89L3?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&smid=A1AOWZ5MJIHVP5&th=1

    they hold pretty much exactly a load of laundry, makes it easy to keep 3 of them on the floor in the closet for sorting as you go rather than having to deal with it later, and you can then obviously grab just one at a time to bring to the laundry room.

    1. oooh these look maybe nice for travel, the simple laundry bag never seems to stay neat

  2. My husband and I tend to let laundry build up and we’ve broken a million mesh laundry hampers because they’re too heavy or cheap or who knows. We got this one and it’s really big and has wheels. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B7Z7P9BK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

    I also got this one recently in hopes of finding a mesh one that didn’t break after 2 uses, and so far it seems nicer than the other ones we’ve had:
    https://www.lowes.com/pd/Smart-Design-1-Piece-Polyester-Laundry-Hamper/1000915864

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