Upcycle Old Toilet Paper Tubes To Keep Spare Trash Bags Neat & Organized

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If there's one thing that your kitchen will always need, it's the ability to grab a fresh trash bag at a moment's notice. Trash piles up every day in a busy kitchen, whether it's greasy paper towels or that uneaten meatloaf stinking up your fridge. You could quite easily head to the store and spend a few bucks on a trash bag dispenser. This ZhangyiHot Apricot Trash Bag Roll Holder costs just over $5. Or, hear us out, you could make your own for free? Crafty YouTuber Felt Like Home shows you how to do just that using a toilet paper tube. In this case, the dispenser loops over the top of a cabinet door.

Before you can try this simple tip to declutter your kitchen without going overboard, you'll need to gather a few supplies. In addition to an empty toilet paper tube, get a large piece of cardstock and a pack of DIYstore Heavy-Duty Stainless Steel Adjustable Hanger Hooks. As for tools, you'll need a craft knife, scissors, a ruler, a pencil, a glue gun, and a single-hole punch. If you wish to decorate your trash bag dispenser, get some Grabie Acrylic Paint Markers or any other decorative supplies you like.

This hack only works with small trash bags, such as 4-gallon bags that are typically around 19¹¹⁄₁₆ by 27⅝ inches or smaller. They're the bags often used in bathrooms. Why? Well, a standard toilet paper tube is about 4 to 4½ inches long with a diameter of about 1½ to 1¾ inches, so a roll of bags needs to fit comfortably within those dimensions. For example, these Teivio Small Colorful Clear Trash Bags would work well if you tear a few bags from the roll.

Ready to get started on this budget-friendly method to keep your home organized? The first step is to draw a rectangle in the middle of the toilet paper tube using your ruler and pencil. It should be about 3½ inches long and ⅛ inch wide. Cut out the rectangle with your craft knife. Next, insert your trash bag roll into the toilet paper tube to confirm that you can actually thread the bags through — you may need to shimmy the roll around a bit to get it in. If everything fits well, you're good to go. You can move on to the next step, which is closing one end of the dispenser.

Place one end of the toilet paper tube on the piece of cardboard and trace around it with your pencil. Cut out the cardboard circle using scissors and glue it to one end of the toilet paper tube. Once the glue has dried, punch a hole in each end of the tube about ¾ inch away from the rim. Make sure the holes are on the same side. If you're going to decorate your dispenser, now is the time to do it. Then push the mounting hooks through the holes — if they don't fit, you might have to widen the holes a little. Wrap things up by inserting the trash bag roll into the toilet paper tube. Thread one bag through the hole and then hang the dispenser from a kitchen cabinet door — inside or outside the door.

This trash bag dispenser DIY is a great addition to your spring cleaning checklist for the kitchen, especially if your under-sink cabinet is usually a tad chaotic. However, it does have some limitations. For example, if you tug on the trash bags too firmly, you could easily rip the dispenser in half — after all, it's only made of cardboard. Of course, this isn't that big of a deal given that it only cost the time it took to make.

As mentioned, this dispenser also only fits the smallest, slimmest trash bag rolls. You could switch out the toilet paper tube for a paper towel tube. The latter tube is longer and sturdier, but the diameter usually remains the same. If you can get your hands on one, you could also use a jumbo or mega toilet paper tube, which can have a diameter ranging from about 4½ to 12 inches.

Another alternative worth experimenting with is upcycled plastic containers. Anything tube-like should work — think soda bottles, bleach wipe containers, or coffee canisters. You should be able to fit full trash bag rolls inside these bigger dispensers. Plus, you won't have to worry about the dispenser ripping in half if you tug a bit too hard. Just watch for sharp edges when cutting off the ends of the bottles. And just as you decorated your toilet paper roll, there's no reason you can't go into full artist mode and adorn the containers to match your kitchen's theme.