I Didn’t Expect This Laundry Basket to Be Such a Game-Changer (I Wish I Got It Sooner!)

Despite living in a two-person household, my husband and I seem to do laundry every single week. And up until a few months ago, every time we’d do laundry, we’d complain about our laundry basket. It didn’t hold enough, the soiled clothes were clearly visible, and it just didn’t look nice. For a utilitarian household item that has one job, a good laundry basket is hard to find. 

Believe me, I’ve tried my share of laundry baskets — basic plastic baskets (which were unsightly), rolling versions (RIP to my hardwood floors), and even trendier rattan baskets (while pretty, snapped under the weight of a week’s worth of clothes). I didn’t have a lot of hope for my laundry day woes — until I started using the Joseph Joseph Tota Trio 90L Laundry Separation Basket. 

The Joseph Joseph Tota Trio was a winner in the Apartment Therapy 2024 Organization Awards. It’s a lidded canvas laundry basket with a generous 90-liter capacity, and it does a great job of holding and hiding dirty clothes — and lots of them — until laundry day. 

It has three washable, tote bag-style compartments, each with a 30-liter capacity. My previous laundry basket only had a 55-liter capacity, which is about half of what the Joseph Joseph Tota Trio can hold. The bags sit within a soft-shell fabric base and are covered by a lid, so everything is out of sight. 

For my two-person household, the compartments are perfectly sized for almost two weeks’ worth of clothes — without trying to jam everything in. They’ll also fit king-sized sheets and pillowcases, but not a duvet cover, so I just carry that to my laundry room instead. 

Still, the separate compartments are super useful because I sort my laundry by fabric type and weight (regular clothing, delicates, and linens); this way, thin T-shirts don’t get stretched out by thick towels. I rarely sort by color unless I’m washing brand-new clothes or linens for the first time and don’t want to risk the colors bleeding. 

We’re also constantly hosting family and friends overnight, which means a few extra loads of laundry for sheets and towels. Being able to separate these hosting essentials from our weekly laundry makes pre-hosting prep a lot easier. 

The compartments have two handles up top, plus an extra helper handle at the bottom to make it easier to carry and empty the contents into the washer. Anyone who’s had to unload a basket full of clothes in the washing machine knows how annoying it is to find a stowaway sock after they’ve already started the washing cycle. 

As functional as the Joseph Joseph Tota Trio is, it looks pretty great for a laundry basket. The fabric base is supported by a plastic frame, and the lid keeps dirty clothes hidden. There are three neutral colors so you can choose the one that best complements your space or the one that adds contrast. I have the Ecru colorway to add some depth to my mostly white primary bathroom, and if I need to move it into a guest bathroom it’ll look just as nice. 

For something that gets as much use as a laundry basket, the $130 price tag is a splurge — but it has been a worthwhile investment and a laundry-day game-changer. It holds almost twice the amount as my previous laundry basket, has multiple compartments for easy sorting, and looks great in my space. Instead of doing laundry every week (and complaining about it), now I can get some of my time back. I guess a good laundry basket actually has two jobs.

Buy: Joseph Joseph Tota Trio 90L Gray Laundry Separation Basket, $130

Want to see more award-winning products? Explore our 2024 Organization Awards for our top picks.