Trash Bags

Glad ForceFlex vs. Hefty Ultra Flex

As you can guess from the product names, "flex" is the new byword in the otherwise staid garbage bag category. In the last few years, both Glad and Hefty have rolled out premium-priced, reinforced plastic trash bags that ostensibly reduce rips and tears and can handle heavier loads of garbage. The selling point of Glad ForceFlex (*est. $6 for a box of 20 13-gallon bags) is its diamond-patterned texture, which the manufacturer says stretches around giant chunks of trash and can be stuffed with "just about anything." Hefty, meanwhile, touts the "interlocking texture design" and "puncture protection" of its Ultra Flex trash bags (*est. $10 for box of 38 13-gallon bags) , and says they're 20 percent thicker than "most other" trash bags.

These are the kinds of fighting words that should make scores of reviewers rush to store shelves and test these claims for themselves -- but only Consumer Reports takes up the gauntlet, stuffing equally sized Glad ForceFlex and Hefty Ultra Flex bags with hardbound books and wire hangers and hanging them off the ground. One brand does much better than another, but Consumer Reports notes that (for most ordinary uses) house brands like America's Choice, which cost as little as 10¢ per bag, are just a better value.

Unfortunately, Consumer Reports is the only national publication that directly compares Glad ForceFlex and Hefty Ultra Flex. In its December 2004 roundup, Real Simple uses comparably severe methodology -- editors filled bags with trash and sharp-edged boxes, dragged them over jagged rocks and smooth concrete, and dropped them from a height of five feet. However, Hefty Ultra Flex (which seemed not to have hit the market yet) wasn't included. Glad ForceFlex emerges as a top pick; editors call it "surprisingly hardy for its size and light weight," an assessment that's contradicted in some other reviews.

Puzzled, we dug a bit deeper into the whole Glad ForceFlex vs. Hefty Ultra Flex debate. A test by KETV in Omaha pitted Glad ForceFlex against the Target house brand; the ForceFlex bags popped a few holes. On Associated Content, two separate reviewers, in two separate articles, compare these bags; one says Glad has "more sturdy" drawstrings, while the other says Hefty has "more reliable" drawstrings (both reviewers are positive about the bags overall, but they clearly didn't put them through any torture tests). A writer for The Impulsive Buy says he climbed into a Glad ForceFlex bag and hopped up and down "like a rabbit on crack" for several minutes (it didn't break), while a consumer reporter for an NBC TV affiliate asked a group of panelists to evaluate the Glad bags; seven out of nine profess themselves satisfied.

Finally, we turned to consumer reviews on Epinions and Yahoo! Answers. Here's where we found a possible explanation -- or, at any rate, a confirmation -- of the disparate results reported by Consumer Reports and Real Simple. Of the dozen or so owners (each) on Epinions who report their experiences with Glad ForceFlex and Hefty Ultra Flex, about two-thirds have nothing but good things to say, while the remainder gives one-star pans, complaining about punctures, rips and tears. Is it possible that some batches of ForceFlex and Ultra Flex passed inspection, while others have quality control problems?

Since the most credible review we found tips the scales in favor of Hefty Ultra Flex over Glad ForceFlex, we've included the Hefty trash bags in ConsumerSearch Fast Answers as the best "reinforced" plastic bag, with the proviso that many reviewers aren't convinced that its extra strength and flexibility justifies its price of about 30¢ per bag.

One other supermarket brand that receives attention from reviewers is Hefty Cinch Sak (*est. $6 for box of 22 13-gallon bags) . Real Simple rates this trash bag second to Glad ForceFlex in the 13-gallon kitchen category, saying it's not quite as strong and its drawstring handles stretch under heavy loads; however, the magazine does rate Cinch Sak trash bags tops for heavy-duty lawn and leaf bags. Meanwhile, a reviewer for Associated Content concedes that Hefty Cinch Sak is stronger than America's Choice (the house brand of Wal-Mart), but isn't worth the higher price. For these reasons, we didn't include Hefty Cinch Sak in ConsumerSearch Fast Answers.

Store-brand trash bags

The occasional (or even frequent) failure of reinforced trash bags like Glad ForceFlex or Hefty Ultra Flex leads us to believe that the main problem isn't with the garbage bags themselves, but rather with the people who throw trash into them. It's easy to wait until the bag is so overstuffed that the bag is more likely to rip or tear.

In fact, most reviewers who compare Glad ForceFlex and Hefty Ultra Flex to house-brand trash bags from Target, Costco and Wal-Mart say the slight increase in strength isn't worth the major increase in price, especially if you're careful not to overload the trash bag. In comparative tests, Wal-Mart's America's Choice trash bags (*est. $3 for box of 20 13-gallon bags) holds its own against Glad and Hefty, and it's also the pick of an Associated Content reviewer who compares it to the popular Hefty Cinch Sak. Based on these two mentions -- as well as its budget price and wide availability -- we've included America's Choice 13-gallon bags in ConsumerSearch Fast Answers.

Other house brands also receive positive mentions. We would have been more impressed by KETV in Omaha if it had gone into more detail about its comparison test of Glad ForceFlex and Target trash bags (*est. $6 for box of 45 13-gallon bags); Target wins thanks to its lack of punctures, but no other considerations are mentioned. Target trash bags are also included in a thread on Yahoo! Answers about Glad ForceFlex, along with garbage bags by Costco and BJ's, but with the lack of any additional details (or tests) we've decided to go with America's Choice as the budget pick in ConsumerSearch Fast Answers.

Biodegradable and "green" trash bags

A plastic trash bag (or anything made of plastic, for that matter) takes hundreds of years to fully decompose -- and every year, billions of these bags wind up in our nation's landfills. For this reason, many people have embraced "biodegradable" trash bags, which are able to decompose in a matter of months. These bags tend to be significantly more expensive than mass-market brands, and critics say they're only marginally better for the environment.

We say "marginally" because many environmentalists are unconvinced about the benefits of biodegradable trash bags. That's because these bags can only degrade quickly when constantly exposed to air circulation and sunlight. Since most trash bags -- including such "green" bags -- wind up buried beneath tons of banana peels and coffee grounds, most will never get enough air or light to degrade.

Biodegradable trash bags could be handy if you use a compost bin, however, and just want a convenient way to collect organic waste in the kitchen. BioBag Compostable Tall Kitchen Bags (*est. $20 for 20 bags) are an example. These are made of compostable corn. We found a handful of user reviews for these bags. All users say they are not nearly as strong as plastic bags, so you'll have to be gentle with them.

We were unable to find any convincing reviews of biodegradable trash bags that point to one brand or another. We did, however, find a prominent mention of Seventh Generation trash bags (*est. $4 for box of 20 13-gallon bags) , which are made of recycled, rather than new, plastic. This doesn't address the problem of biodegradability, but it at least it cuts down on some plastic that would otherwise head to a landfill. In its roundup, Real Simple says "most recycled bags do the job, and earn you a few angel points," pointing to bags by Seventh Generation and The Home Depot. We've included Seventh Generation trash bags in ConsumerSearch Fast Answers because this brand seems to be more widely available, but both of these appear to be good choices if you want to use trash bags made of recycled materials.

Important Features: Trash bags

Reviewers say the following about shopping for trash bags:

• Don't be too impressed by "extra-strength" claims. As detailed above, some reviewers say the claims of reinforced, "stretchy" bags like Glad ForceFlex and Hefty Ultra Flex may be oversold. In many cases, it seems, a sharp box will puncture a reinforced bag every bit as easily as a standard trash bag.

• Take "biodegradable" claims with a grain of salt. Biodegradable plastic bags are theoretically better, but they can't degrade in landfills. Rather, these bags are best for those who do their own composting and want a way to collect organic waste in the kitchen. For collecting regular trash, a greener alternative is to buy trash bags made of recycled plastic.

• Decide between drawstring and twist-tie. Some people like the convenience of drawstring bags, but strings can snap or stretch under heavy loads. If you don't overstuff your garbage cans, twist-tie bags can be easier to use and more convenient to dispose of. In the end, it's a personal preference issue. Most bags are offered in both styles.

Our Consensus Report shows how many times products are top-ranked by reviewers included in our
All The Reviews Reviewed chart.

# of Picks	Model (With Retailer Links)	Details from Amazon.com
2	Glad ForceFlex (*est. $6 for a box of 20 13-gallon bags)	details
2	America's Choice (*est. $3 for a box of 20 13-gallon bags)	-
2	Hefty Ultra Flex (*est. $10 for box of 38 13-gallon bags)	details
1 each	Target, Costco, Husky , Seventh Generation , Home Depot

Most of the reviews we found concentrate on Glad ForceFlex or Hefty Ultra Flex bags, with differing results. Due to the general lack of consensus, we chose to go with the opinions of the reviewers rated higher up in our All Reviews chart.

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