We conducted strength, drag, jerk, and absorbency tests to find the bags that are less likely to puncture or tear, making your yardwork that much easier
Collecting leaves, dirt, and other debris becomes an easier task with the right equipment.
By Angela Lashbrook
One yard bag might seem as good as any other. Our recent tests, however, show significant variation in quality across different types and brands. And while you can certainly get by with any old yard bag, our top pick will ensure you’re less likely to have bags with punctures from sticks and twigs, holes if dragged across the pavement (not an ideal situation, but can happen!), or spillage—resulting in even more work.
But we must also offer this caveat: none of these bags excelled. “Compared with the 13-gallon kitchen trash bags we recently evaluated, these yard bags are mediocre at best,” says José Amézquita, who led the testing for both.
Mediocre, however, is better than bad, and choosing one of our top picks will help make the dirty, buggy, and uncomfortable task of yard cleanup a little less of a pain.
Sneak peek: We found that paper trumped plastic by a long shot, while Reli—a favorite from our kitchen trash bags test—had a lackluster performance in the yard.
Up&Up Lawn and Leaf Paper Garden Refuse Bags
These bags, from Target’s in-house home goods brand Up&Up, were the strongest across the board. They held out the best against sharp objects in our puncture test and were the most tear-resistant in our drag test (in which we dragged bags full of leaves and sticks across the pavement). They also had the lowest absorbency of all the paper lawn bags we tested; low absorbency is important because it helps ensure a bag won’t rip or otherwise sustain damage in wet conditions.
They were, however, difficult to remove from the packaging: We found we needed to remove them and unfold them with care to avoid ripping when opening.
Lowe’s Scent-Free Brown/Tan Outdoor Paper Lawn and Leaf Trash Bag
These were the second strongest in our tests, although they were more absorbent than the Up&Up bags, meaning they could get soft and dissolve in wet conditions more quickly than those from Up&Up. As with the Up&Up bags, they needed to be removed from their packaging carefully to avoid ripping.
Glad Quick Tie Lawn & Leaf Bags
Glad’s yard bag offerings were the best plastic yard bags we tested—but the difference in performance between paper and plastic was vast. They’re significantly weaker than both paper options (Up&Up and Lowe’s), so they won’t hold up as well when full of a heavy load of leaves and poky sticks. Still, they’re better than any of the other plastic bags we tested in that regard.
We found them somewhat difficult to remove from the packaging, and they needed to be shaken out to remove static cling before use.
Member’s Mark Heavy Duty Yard Trash Bags
Member’s Mark trash bags were the thickest plastic bags we tested (though not necessarily the strongest—Glad claims that accolade). After the Glad bags, they were the strongest plastic bags against blunt objects (as if it had carried something like a heavy ball) and sharp objects (as if filled with sharp twigs and leaves).
They proved the most resilient when dragged across pavement, however, and were the only plastic bags to resist perforation. They were easy to remove from packaging, too.
Other Yard Bags We Tested
Hefty Strong Lawn & Leaf Bags
If working quickly—i.e., removing bags from their packaging quickly and easily—is your priority, the Hefty Strong Lawn & Leaf bags are a good bet. Although they held up better against sharp objects than the Glad or Member’s Mark bags, they proved deficient against blunt objects, and their drawstrings were weak.
Amazon Basics Lawn & Leaf Trash Bags
Static cling fearers, this is the bag for you: We experienced zero static when removing these bags from their packaging and opening them up. They were stronger against blunt objects than most of the other plastic bags in our tests, but they had the weakest drawstrings and were middling against sharp objects.
Up&Up Extra Strong Lawn & Leaf Drawstring Trash Bags
If you’re shopping for lawn bags at Target, you’d fare better with the store’s house brand paper bags (our top performer) than its plastic counterparts. These proved quite weak against sharp objects in our tests, and had a pretty flimsy drawstring, too. They were, however, the strongest of all the plastic bags in our blunt-object test.
Webster (Costco) Earthsense Recycled Star Bottom Trash Bags
These were the thickest bags in our tests after the plastic bags from Member’s Mark. We found them to be quite difficult to remove from the packaging: “The perforated tab was difficult to open and the internal roll holder was useless, requiring the roll to be removed from the box entirely for dispensing,” says José. They were weak against both blunt and sharp objects.
Reli Drawstrong Trash Bags
This brand’s kitchen trash bags performed well; not so for the brand’s larger lawn and leaf offering. These super-thin bags spilled trash when dragged across the pavement (the only bags to do so) and were otherwise weak across the board. They were pretty easy to remove from the packaging, though.
How We Tested
We tested these bags according to a number of important criteria. José Amézquita led testing.
Absorbency test: We tested the absorbency of the two paper bags in our product list, as greater absorbency can lead to weakness, ripping, and tearing in wet or humid conditions. We submerged three 3×3-inch cutouts of each bag in room temperature water, then drained them for seconds. Each bag was weighed before and after submerging. We also left each paper bag outside for five days—during which time it rained—to further assess real-world strength in wet conditions.
Integrity test: We filled each (plastic) bag with water until it broke to check for leaks and evaluate the strength of the seal. To check the drawstring or closure strength, we attached the bag’s drawstring or closure to a force gauge and the other end of the bag to a fixed object, then pulled on the force gauge until the drawstring or closure mechanism broke.
Drag test: This test evaluated how well each bag withstands being dragged across pavement when full. We filled each bag with both wet and dry sticks and leaves, tapping at regular intervals to settle the bag’s contents before filling again, weighed, then dragged across a 25-foot stretch of pavement.
Jerk test: We dropped each filled bag, catching it before it hit the ground. We did this five times with each bag. This movement can cause a bag to burst more easily, so it showed testers how strong and capable the bag was when pulled off the ground or stopped in midair.
Strength tests: We used a force gauge affixed with a sharp and a blunt object to assess the strength of each bag against sharp objects (like sticks) and blunt objects (such as trash).
Ease of use: We carefully noted how easy or difficult it was to remove bags from packaging, unfold them, and open them before use.
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