A laundry basket is easy to ignore until you live somewhere with no utility room. In a small UK flat, the wrong one can steal a surprising amount of floor: a wide tub blocking the bathroom, a hamper that stops a wardrobe door opening, or two separate baskets taking up the only free corner because you like to sort lights and darks.
For small spaces, we care less about finding the biggest basket and more about how much laundry it holds for the width it occupies. Our top pick is the SONGMICS 65L Slim Laundry Basket because it is only 22.5cm wide, yet the tall 70.5cm body gives it a useful 65L capacity. It also has a lid and removable liner, so it works as a permanent dirty-laundry hamper rather than just a basket you carry to the washing machine.
Our quick picks
- Best overall: SONGMICS 65L Slim Laundry Basket
- Best rigid slim hamper: Addis Faux Rattan 40L Slim Laundry Hamper
- Best for sorting laundry: Joseph Joseph Tota 60L Laundry Separation Basket
- Best fold-flat carry basket: Addis Fold Flat 38L Laundry Basket
What matters in a small space
Width usually matters more than litres
Capacity is useful, but litres tell you nothing about whether the basket will fit between a washing machine and a wall. In a compact home, start with the gap and work backwards.
The SONGMICS basket is a good example. Its 65L capacity sounds large, but the footprint is roughly 42 x 22.5cm. By building upwards to 70.5cm, it uses substantially less width than many traditional laundry hampers. The Addis Slim is slightly wider at 26.5cm but still works well along a wall or beside bathroom furniture.
Measure skirting boards, pipe boxing and door swing as well as the obvious gap. A nominal 25cm space is not useful if the bottom 5cm is narrowed by a radiator pipe or the lid cannot open beneath a shelf.
Decide whether you need a hamper or a carry basket
The terms get used interchangeably, but the jobs are different.
A laundry hamper is where dirty clothes live for several days. It benefits from a lid, a tall footprint, ventilation and ideally a removable inner bag. A carry basket is what you use to move a wash load from the machine to an airer, washing line or bedroom. It benefits from wide handles and the ability to collapse when you are finished.
Trying to make one product do both jobs can be frustrating. A tall slim hamper is efficient beside a wardrobe but awkward to carry around the home. A broad 38L basket is convenient on your hip but wastes floor space if it stays open all week.
A removable liner can replace a second basket
In a small flat, every object that can do two jobs earns its space. A removable liner means the outer hamper can stay where it belongs while you carry the laundry bag to the washing machine.
The SONGMICS uses a removable liner with drawstrings that double as carrying handles. The Joseph Joseph Tota goes further: its two internal 30L bags lift out independently, so the hamper itself can remain in place while you carry one sorted load at a time.
Do not trap damp towels for days
A lid keeps the room looking tidier, but a laundry basket is not an airtight storage box. Damp gym kit, bath towels and children’s clothes should be allowed to dry before they sit in a pile for several days.
Ventilated plastic, as used by the Addis Faux Rattan hamper, is easy to wipe down and lets some air circulate. Fabric-sided hampers are softer and often lighter, but they are not the best place to leave genuinely wet laundry.
1. SONGMICS 65L Slim Laundry Basket — best overall
SONGMICS
SONGMICS 65L Slim Laundry Basket with Lid
LCB506G01
Editorial reviewAssessed from specifications, reporting and comparable products — not a long home trial. How we test
The reason this SONGMICS hamper wins is simple: 22.5cm is genuinely narrow. Its overall dimensions are about 42 x 22.5 x 70.5cm, yet the tall body provides a stated 65L capacity. That makes it easier to place in the sort of leftover gap that exists beside a wardrobe, next to a washing machine or at the end of a bathroom cabinet.
The lid helps if the basket lives in a bedroom or visible corner, where a pile of clothes is more distracting than it would be in a separate utility room. More importantly, the removable liner means you do not need to pick up the whole tall hamper when it is time to wash. The liner is secured inside and its drawstrings double as carrying handles.
The compromise is the construction. This is a collapsible, fabric-sided hamper rather than a rigid plastic bin. That keeps the basket lighter and easier to pack away, but it will never be as wipe-clean or as resistant to wet towels as a hard plastic model. It also has only one compartment, so it does not solve sorting on its own.
For most one- and two-bedroom flats, though, it is the best use of floor space in this group. You get more capacity than the 40L Addis while giving up only 22.5cm of room width.
Best for: narrow gaps beside wardrobes, washing machines or bathroom furniture where you still want capacity for several days of washing.
2. Addis Faux Rattan 40L Slim Laundry Hamper — best rigid slim hamper
Addis
Addis Faux Rattan 40L Slim Laundry Hamper
518146
Editorial reviewAssessed from specifications, reporting and comparable products — not a long home trial. How we test
The Addis Faux Rattan 40L is the better choice if you want a laundry basket that behaves like bathroom furniture rather than a fabric storage bag. It measures about 46.5 x 26.5 x 60cm, so it is still narrow enough for many small spaces, but the plastic body holds its shape and is straightforward to wipe clean.
Ventilation is the other advantage. The faux-rattan pattern is not purely decorative: the open sections allow more air movement than a solid-sided box. That does not make it a suitable place for soaking-wet towels, but it is a sensible design for everyday dirty washing in a bathroom or utility corner.
At 40L, capacity is noticeably lower than the SONGMICS. For one person that may be an advantage because a smaller hamper encourages more frequent washes. For a couple or family, it can fill quickly, particularly in winter when towels, jeans and jumpers bulk out the basket.
There is also no removable liner to carry to the machine, so you either move the whole hamper or transfer the washing to a separate basket. That is the main reason it sits below the SONGMICS for a genuinely space-constrained home: the rigid body is easier to clean, but it is less flexible as part of the whole laundry routine.
Best for: bathrooms and utility areas where a narrow, ventilated, wipe-clean plastic hamper is more useful than maximum capacity.
3. Joseph Joseph Tota 60L Laundry Separation Basket — best for sorting laundry
Joseph Joseph
Joseph Joseph Tota 60L Laundry Separation Basket
50001
Editorial reviewAssessed from specifications, reporting and comparable products — not a long home trial. How we test
The Joseph Joseph Tota solves a different small-space problem: how to sort laundry without putting two hampers next to each other. The 60L interior is divided into two removable bags, effectively giving you two 30L sections inside one outer basket.
Its footprint is about 39.5 x 39.5cm and it stands roughly 71cm high. That means it is not a slimline model in the same sense as the SONGMICS or Addis. If your only available gap is 25cm wide, it simply will not fit. But if you have one square corner and currently keep separate lights-and-darks baskets, the Tota can reduce the total amount of furniture dedicated to washing.
Each internal bag has handles, so you can lift out one load without carrying the whole 60L hamper. That is useful in flats where the washing machine is in the kitchen and the laundry basket lives in a bedroom or bathroom. The lid also keeps both compartments visually contained.
The obvious drawback is price. This is the premium choice here, and you are paying for the integrated sorting system and more furniture-like finish rather than the smallest possible footprint. We would only spend the extra if sorting is already part of your routine. If everything goes into one wash queue, the SONGMICS uses the room more efficiently.
Best for: couples and families who sort laundry before washing and want one neat hamper instead of two separate baskets.
4. Addis Fold Flat 38L Laundry Basket — best fold-flat carry basket
Addis
Addis Fold Flat 38L Collapsible Laundry Basket
518150
Editorial reviewAssessed from specifications, reporting and comparable products — not a long home trial. How we test
The Addis Fold Flat is the odd one out in this guide, deliberately. It is not the basket we would leave full of dirty clothes in the bedroom. It is the basket we would keep beside the washing machine, behind a door or inside a cupboard, then open only when we need to move a load.
Its 38L capacity is enough for a useful wash load, while the key small-space feature is that it folds to around 3cm thick. Addis lists folded dimensions of roughly 71 x 3 x 39.5cm. That still means it is a fairly broad object, but a 3cm profile is easy to slide down the side of an appliance or stand vertically at the edge of a cupboard.
This matters because a traditional rigid laundry basket is mostly empty most of the week but still occupies its full volume. A fold-flat design removes that dead space. It is particularly useful in homes where dirty washing already goes into a built-in drawer, bedroom hamper or bag and the missing piece is simply a way to transport clean wet laundry to the drying area.
The drawback is that it does not replace a proper covered hamper. It is open-topped, low and designed around carrying rather than hiding clutter. If you need one basket to contain dirty washing all week, buy one of the first three products instead.
Best for: carrying washing between the machine and airer when you want the basket to disappear afterwards.
Which laundry basket fits your space?
Gap under 25cm wide
Start with the SONGMICS 65L Slim Laundry Basket. At 22.5cm wide, it is the only permanent hamper in this shortlist designed for a genuinely narrow slot. Check height as well as width because it stands 70.5cm tall.
Bathroom or utility corner around 27cm wide
Choose the Addis Faux Rattan 40L Slim Hamper if wipe-clean plastic and ventilation matter more than capacity. The 26.5cm width is still compact, and the rigid shell is less fussy around everyday bathroom splashes.
One free corner but no room for two baskets
The Joseph Joseph Tota 60L makes the most sense when you already separate washing. Its square footprint is larger, but it consolidates two 30L sorting bags into one piece of furniture.
No permanent floor space at all
Buy the Addis Fold Flat 38L if you only need a basket for carrying laundry. At around 3cm thick when folded, it can live beside an appliance or inside a narrow cupboard gap between washes.
How much capacity do you actually need?
For a small home, bigger is not automatically better. A huge hamper encourages laundry to accumulate and usually needs a wider footprint. The better target is enough capacity to match how often you wash.
A 40L hamper is a sensible starting point for one person or a household that runs frequent small loads. 60 to 65L gives a couple more breathing room without automatically moving into oversized family-hamper territory. If you have children, bulky sports kit or several large towels in rotation, you may need either a larger basket or a second sorting compartment.
Remember that litres are not directly comparable with washing-machine kilograms. A basket full of light shirts takes up much more volume than the same weight of wet towels. Use capacity as a rough guide, then prioritise the physical dimensions that determine whether you can live around the basket every day.
Where should a laundry basket go in a small flat?
The best location is usually close to where clothes come off, not necessarily next to the washing machine. A hamper in the bedroom or bathroom is more likely to be used than one hidden in a kitchen cupboard at the other end of the flat.
If the washing machine is in the kitchen, a removable liner becomes especially useful. You can leave the outer hamper in the bedroom and carry only the bag to the machine. If you use a separate carry basket, a fold-flat model can stay beside the washer without claiming a whole cupboard shelf.
Avoid blocking airflow around heaters, placing a fabric hamper permanently against a wall that already suffers condensation, or trapping damp laundry in an enclosed cupboard. If indoor laundry is contributing to humidity, see our guide to how to dry clothes in a flat without a tumble dryer.
Our final recommendation
For most small UK homes, buy the SONGMICS 65L Slim Laundry Basket. Its 22.5cm width is the strongest small-space feature in this group, and the 65L capacity means you do not have to accept a tiny basket just because your available floor area is narrow. The removable liner and lid also make it practical as an everyday hamper rather than a simple storage tub.
Choose the Addis Faux Rattan 40L Slim Hamper if you would rather have rigid, ventilated plastic that is easy to wipe clean. Spend more on the Joseph Joseph Tota 60L if two-compartment sorting can replace a pair of baskets in your home. And if the basket itself is the storage problem, the Addis Fold Flat 38L is the one to buy: use it for carrying laundry, then reduce it to a 3cm-thick panel and put the floor space back to work.
