These Stackable Baskets Make It Loads Easier to Do Laundry
Annemarie Conte is an editor who writes the Ask Wirecutter column and trending-product reviews. She’d love to make you a friendship bracelet.
They might look innocent, but laundry baskets can be pretty menacing. If you’ve ever had to carry one, fully loaded, down a flight of steps to a basement laundry area, you know what I mean. One small misstep and you’re on your butt.
I lived for decades with cheap, flimsy-handled plastic laundry baskets. Their cracked sides poked me in the ribs as I tried to negotiate them to the washing machine. But all of that changed when the Sterilite Stackable Laundry Basket came into my life.
This lightweight-yet-durable basket is many times the price of a dollar-store basket and about the same price as a standard, thick-plastic basket. But it’s approximately eleventy-billion times better than all laundry baskets combined. I bought three of these to edge me closer to The Container Store’s free-shipping minimum, and I couldn’t be more thrilled that I did.
Our pick
This basket’s simple design, light weight, and durability put it above the rest of the models we tested.
Buying Options
The delight is in the details
The two big handles on the short sides of the basket rotate 270 degrees, making it significantly more comfortable to hold compared with laundry baskets that have standard, static handles. When you flip the handles to the outside of the basket, they sit flush, so you can nest multiple baskets inside each other for compact storage. If you pull up the handle on the bottom basket, it will lock into place so the attached baskets don’t separate when you pick them up.
And if you want to stack full baskets, all you have to do is turn the handles to the inside of the basket so they create a ledge for the next basket to sit on. Also, if you like to carry your laundry basket on your hip, the lip around the top of the Stackable Laundry Basket makes for an easy secondary handle. This basket is made to work for you.
Owning this amazing laundry basket (coupled with our LG washing machine pick, which sings to me when it’s done, rather than making the world’s worst buzzing noise) helped get me through the pandemic by making one small thing in my life easier. But mostly I’m just happy that I no longer feel like I’m going to take a tumble every time I haul my family’s dirty socks to the basement.
A genuinely better basket
After evaluating more than 30 laundry baskets, we determined that the Sterilite Stackable Laundry Basket is simply the one you’ll love too much to kick down the basement steps—but it would likely survive if you did.
- This basket weighs 2.2 pounds when empty. Our laundry-basket guide writer, Chris Heinonen, filled it with hand weights to reach 40 pounds—about double the weight of a single load of laundry. And it took the abuse, no problem.
- After years of inadvertent stress testing (compliments of small children), the Stackable Laundry Basket is the only one that’s survived multiple tumbles down staircases without cracking or breaking.
- At 23½ inches long by 16 inches deep by 11¾ inches high, and with a 1½-bushel capacity (about a week’s worth of laundry), this basket is narrow enough to maneuver through doorways and other tight spaces. Larger baskets obviously hold more laundry, but that also makes them more difficult to carry.
Read more in our guide to the best laundry basket.
It’s low maintenance
Taking care of this basket doesn’t require much effort. If it gets dirty, wipe it down with some spray cleaner and a soft cloth. If you don’t beat it up, it will last for years.
The current version of this article was edited by Rachelle Bergstein.
Meet your guide
Annemarie Conte is a deputy editor at Wirecutter. She has written and edited for multiple local and national magazines throughout her career. You can follow her on Instagram.
Further reading
The Best Laundry Detergent
by Andrea Barnes
We tested dozens of laundry detergents and found that Tide Ultra Oxi Powder and Tide Free & Gentle Liquid tackled the widest range of stains with ease.
The Best Laundry Baskets and Hampers
by Danna Lorch
After testing dozens of laundry baskets and hampers, we found the six best ones—from classic baskets to laundry sorters—to suit a variety of needs.
How to Do Your Laundry Better
by Jackie Reeve
After countless hours spent using washers and dryers, we have seven tips to improve your laundry life.
Stop Using So Much Laundry Detergent
by Elissa Sanci
Stiff, scratchy laundry can be a sign you’re using too much detergent. Our experts weigh in on how much you should actually use.
