Contractor Bags vs. Regular Trash Bags: Which Do You Need?

Contractor bags and regular trash bags can look alike on the shelf, but they are made for very different jobs. Buy the wrong one and you either pay for strength you don't need, or watch a bag split on the way to the curb. Here is how to choose.

The short answer

• Regular trash bags (0.7 to 2 mil) are for household, office and commercial trash: food waste, paper, packaging, light yard waste.
• Contractor bags (3 to 6 mil) are for heavy and sharp waste: drywall, wood scraps, roofing, broken tile, concrete pieces, branches and cleanouts.

What "mil" means

A mil is one thousandth of an inch, and it measures how thick the bag's plastic is. A 3 mil contractor bag is more than twice as thick as a 1.3 mil trash bag, which is why it resists punctures from sharp corners and holds heavy loads without stretching. For a deeper look, see our guide to trash bag thickness.

How to pick by job

• Kitchen and household trash: 0.9 to 1.5 mil.
• Outdoor cans and rollaway carts: 1.2 to 2 mil, such as our 100 gallon 1.3 mil bags for 96 gallon carts.
• Yard waste with sticks and branches: 2 to 3 mil.
• Construction and demolition: 3 mil, such as our 50-60 gallon 3 mil contractor bags or 65 gallon contractor bags.
• Very sharp or very heavy debris: 4 to 6 mil contractor bags, like our 6 mil contractor bags.

Size matters too

Contractor bags come in the same sizes as regular bags: 33, 42, 55-60, 64-65, 95 and 100 gallons. Match the bag to your can first, then pick the thickness. A 38x58 bag fits a 55 gallon drum, 50x48 fits a 64-65 gallon cart, and 67x79 fits a 95-96 gallon cart with room to fold over the rim. Not sure? Use our bag size calculator.

Black or clear?

Black contractor bags hide what is inside. Clear contractor bags are required on some job sites and by some haulers so the contents can be checked, and they make storage and moving easier to sort.

Save on bulk

PlasticMill takes bulk discounts off automatically when you buy 3 or more cases, and you can mix products. Every order ships free in the contiguous USA, and orders placed before 12 PM EST ship the same day. Shop contractor bags.