I really like the size and function of this touch top wastebasket and it worked perfectly in my kitchen for about a year and a half, so I was really bummed when the plastic touch piece broke. I was considering buying another one, but reading other peoples reviews on this model and the touch tops for sale, I have come to the conclusion that all of these cheaper plastic garbage cans are designed to break so that the companies can make more money having us continually buy new stuff. But that sucks for the environment since plastic does not degrade and last for such a long time. So why can’t we have on wastebasket last us a long time without throwing it away. So since I did not want to buy another can or spend lots of money on a really expensive wastebasket (that could also break) I decided to see what when wrong and fix it. Here is how you do it when your touch peace brakes or looses its springiness to function. That is going to happen to you if you have any of these wastebaskets. So where it breaks is where where it connect into the can. To fix it use a peace of pliers to push the plastic holders from beneath to remove the button from the can. Then find a chopstick or other thin round thing which you are going to reconnect the button to the can in a way it is used as a study hinge. Its easy to figure out. You need to drill some holes where the chopstick will connect to the can at each side of the button. You can see where to put the holes based on where the button used to connect into to the can because that where it used to connect to the hinge. drill the holes using an electric drill is so easy on plastic just takes less than 1 minute. If you do not have a drill you can use a soldering ion to make the holes but melting plastic is unhealthy and smells up the house. But make the holes a but bigger than the chopstick so the chopstick can rotate as a hinge (or i cut the chopstick to the right length and used a pencil sharpener ti make the ends smaller and to use smaller holes because i only had a small drill bit). locate on the underside of the button where to glue the chopstick. I used epoxy from harbor freight but you can use any gel super glue or strong clear thicker glue from a dollar store or other brand. before gluing double check the place on the button where to glue the chopstick by putting the chopstick into the can holes and putting the button on top to see exactly how it lines up with the lid closed. Then remove the pieces and glue the chopstick to the underside of the button. Let that sit on a table until drying before installing on to the can. Now you will see the button can hold down the top but you need to also have some kind of a spring to return the button to level so it works automatically as before. There is about a 1.5 cm space where you can insert a spring to push the button back to level position where it holds the lid on. I did not have a spring but i had a small rubber ear plug that works as a spring. I also tried a small rubber suction cup and it worked too. Anything with a little give and bounce that can fit in that small space will work fine. it will no be visible in the finished product because it and the entire hinge mechanism you make is hidden beneath the button. Anyway the finished product will work great and for a short project you gained a trashcan that will last a lifetime. This hinge design using holds on the side is really strong. If they made it this way from the start they could last forever. but the companies make these cans to break. It might sound complicated but it is really not hard to fix it. Save your self another trip to the store and losing your hard earned cash. It was easy to do on the sterilite model. I do not know if the glad or rubbermaid or other model touch tops sold are as easy to fix, but i think they probably are all the same, in the reviews for them people also say the buttons break, so they probably break in a similar way. I got this sterilite can for like $9. so I think it is worth the money if you fix it.
Post time: Jun-30-2017