Over the years, many customers have had our company install pull-out trash cans in their kitchen cabinets. I realized the problems of having one of these pull down units when I included one in the design of my own closets. Although there are some pros, I think there are more cons than pros to having these slide-out units installed in kitchen cabinets.
Slider mechanism folds
One of the biggest issues we had with ours is kids (tweens and teens) crushing the trash in the can and the force causing the slider mechanism to warp. Although I would ask them politely not to do this they would inevitably push the contents down because they were too lazy to take out the full bag and replace it with a new one. I had even installed the heavy duty trash can and we were still having issues with the sliders bending. Well, when you have six to ten children on the weekends, something bends. The main thing is that the parents do not deform.
Odors linger in cabinets
It’s a pretty nasty smell when the trash hasn’t been taken out for a few days or maybe spoiled meat like chicken that was forgotten and left in the pull out trash can in the cabinets. Over time, even though the inside of the pantry is thoroughly cleaned with bleach, Lysol, Formula 409, or Pine Sol, there is still an unpleasant odor that begins to form as the pantry ages and the kitchen is subjected to a regular use.
Although the pull out trash can is a nice addition or extra to have in your kitchen cabinet design, I would consider finding a different place to put the trash can if that is a viable option. Even if you don’t have teenagers to break down the unit sliders, odors that build up inside the cabinets linger even after a thorough cleaning. Another issue is that sometimes the can doesn’t extend far enough past the drawer above it and every time you remove the can it tends to hit the front of the drawer.
