EKO Madison Trash Can Review — Best 13-Gallon Stainless Step Can?

EKO Madison Trash Can Review (2026) — Is a $90 Step Can Worth It?

The EKO Madison is a 13.2-gallon brushed stainless step can with a soft-close lid, a fingerprint-resistant finish and a removable inner bucket. On paper that describes about forty other bins. What separates this one is the mechanical detail: a pedal rated for 200,000 presses, a bi-force damper that stops the lid at both ends of its travel, and a lid lock that holds the lid open when you are doing something that needs two hands.

We reviewed it because kitchen bins are a category where the cheap option fails in a predictable way and the expensive option is mostly a brand. Every sub-$40 step can dies the same death — the pedal linkage snaps or the damper stops damping, usually inside two years — and the $200 tier is largely paying for a name. The Madison sits in the middle at around $90, and the question is whether the mechanism justifies it.

Quick verdict: the EKO Madison trash can scores 8.4/10 in this SoftPickr review. It is the pedal and the damper you are paying for, and both are meaningfully better than the budget tier.

Key Specifications

The Pedal Is the Product

Everything else on a step can is decoration. The pedal and its linkage are the part that gets used a dozen times a day for years, and it is the part that fails. EKO rates the Madison pedal at over 200,000 presses, which at fifteen presses a day works out at roughly thirty-six years — a number that is obviously a bench figure rather than a promise, but the construction backs the intent up.

The pedal itself is stainless rather than plastic, and the linkage is a solid rod rather than the stamped strip that budget bins use. Pressing it is a short, firm travel with no sponginess and no clatter, and — importantly — the can does not rock on the floor when you press it, which is the tell that the base is underweighted.

The practical effect is that it stays quiet. Most step cans develop a rattle within months as the linkage loosens, and once a kitchen bin rattles you notice it every single time. Six weeks is not a durability test, but the mechanism feels like a different class of thing to a $35 bin, and the 4.5-star average over 3,833 ratings suggests that impression holds up over years rather than weeks.

The Lid Lock Nobody Advertises Properly

The Madison has a small catch that holds the lid open. It sounds trivial. It is the feature you will use most.

Anything that involves scraping a plate, emptying a chopping board, or bagging up a large volume of waste requires two hands, and a soft-close lid that swings back down mid-task is genuinely irritating. With the lock engaged the lid stays up until you push it closed, so you can scrape, sweep and bag without holding the pedal down with a foot the whole time.

It is also the answer for the twenty minutes after a big cook when the bin gets used constantly, and for cleaning day when you want the thing open while you work around it. Once you have used a bin with a proper lid lock, going back to one without feels like a downgrade.

Finish, Footprint and Bag Handling

The fingerprint-resistant coating works about as well as any of them do, which is to say it hides smudges rather than repelling them. It is noticeably better than bare brushed steel and noticeably worse than a matte powder coat. A microfibre cloth once a week keeps it looking new.

The body is rectangular with a flat back, so it sits against a wall or into a cabinet gap without wasting the few inches a round bin does. At 13.2 gallons it takes standard tall kitchen bags, and the raised inner bucket has handles, so lifting a heavy bag out is a straight vertical pull rather than a wrestle.

The inner bucket also does the job people forget about: it keeps leaks off the stainless. Anything that escapes a bag ends up in a plastic liner you can carry to a sink, not pooled in the bottom of a bin you have to tip up.

Limitations and Compromises

It has no bag-retention ring. Bags are tucked over the rim of the inner bucket and, on a full load, the edge can pull down inside — the single most common complaint in the reviews. It is livable, but bins costing less solve it with a simple plastic collar and this one does not.

At $89.76 it is roughly double a competent budget step can. If you replace a $35 bin every three years you will not be out of pocket in the long run, but the up-front difference is real.

The fingerprint-resistant finish is a reduction, not an elimination. A kitchen with small children will still have handprints on it.

There is no odour filter or lid seal. It is a well-made bin, not a sealed one, and nappy pails and similar duties are outside what it is designed to do.

It is a single compartment. If you want kitchen waste and recycling in one unit, this is not that product — you would need two of them, which doubles both the footprint and the cost.

Cleaning, Maintenance, or Setup

There is no assembly. Unbox it, fit a bag to the inner bucket, and it is done.

Wipe the exterior with a microfibre cloth along the grain of the brushing, not across it — that is the difference between a bin that looks new after a year and one that develops a faint haze of fine scratches. Stainless cleaner is unnecessary; a damp cloth and a dry buff is enough.

Lift the inner bucket out and rinse it every month or so. Because it is elevated, anything that leaks sits in the liner rather than under it, so this is a two-minute job rather than the unpleasant one it is on bins where the bag sits directly on the base.

Do not use abrasive pads or bleach-based sprays on the coated exterior — both will cut through the fingerprint-resistant layer and leave a patch that shows every mark afterwards. If the pedal ever squeaks, a drop of light machine oil at the pivot fixes it permanently.

Who Should Buy It?

• Anyone who has already replaced two or three cheap step cans and is tired of the cycle
• Households that use the bin heavily — families, keen cooks, anyone who preps a lot of fresh food
• Kitchens where the bin is visible and needs to look like part of the room
• People who want the lid to stay open while they scrape, sweep or bag up
• Anyone who wants a flat-backed bin that fits neatly against a wall or into a cabinet gap

Look elsewhere if you need a sealed bin for nappies or heavy odour control, if you want dual compartments for waste and recycling in one unit, or if a bag-retention ring is non-negotiable for you — this bin does not have one and it is the most common thing owners complain about. In a low-traffic kitchen, or a rental you will leave in a year, a $35 step can will genuinely be enough.

SoftPickr Verdict

The EKO Madison trash can earns 8.4/10. This is a bin that spends its budget where it matters. The pedal, the linkage and the bi-force damper are all a clear class above the budget tier, and the lid lock is the kind of small feature you do not know you want until you have it. The elevated inner bucket with handles makes bag changes a straight lift, and the flat back means it does not waste floor space.

The one compromise is bag retention. There is no collar or ring, so on a full load the bag edge can slip down inside the bucket, and that is the complaint that recurs in the reviews. Everything else here is executed properly, which is why it earns a badge — but it is a fifty-cent omission on a ninety-dollar product.

Price and availability change frequently on Amazon, and prices shown here may be out of date — check the current listing before ordering.

EKO Madison trash can — Frequently Asked Questions

How big is the EKO Madison trash can?

It holds 13.2 gallons, or 50 litres, which is the standard tall-kitchen-bag size in the US. The body is rectangular with a flat back so it sits flush against a wall, and the EKO Madison trash can takes ordinary tall kitchen bags rather than a proprietary liner, so there is nothing special to keep buying.

Does the lid stay open?

Yes, and it is one of the better reasons to buy it. A lid lock holds the lid up indefinitely, so you can scrape plates, empty a chopping board or bag up a big load with both hands free. Without the lock engaged, the bi-force damper closes the lid slowly and quietly on its own.

Is the stainless steel really fingerprint resistant?

It is fingerprint-reducing rather than fingerprint-proof. The coating hides smudges far better than bare brushed steel, but a busy kitchen with children will still show marks. A weekly wipe with a dry microfibre cloth along the grain of the brushing keeps it looking new; avoid abrasive pads, which cut through the coating.

Does it hold bags in place?

Not with a dedicated ring or collar — bags tuck over the rim of the removable inner bucket. This is the design weak point and the most common owner complaint, because a very full bag can pull the edge down inside. Using slightly oversized bags and folding the excess back over the rim largely solves it.

Ready to buy? You can check the current price of the EKO Madison trash can on Amazon — the listing shows live pricing and current stock, both of which move around more than the specification does. SoftPickr earns a commission on qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.

Related Reviews

If the EKO Madison trash can is not quite the right fit, these SoftPickr reviews cover the closest alternatives we have tested:

• Honey-Can-Do Zevro dual dry food dispenser review
• TYOARO sink splash guard review
• JEESA rotating spice rack review