Hampers with LidsAmish Wicker Laundry Hampers & Baskets with Lids

A laundry hamper with a lid is the basket that stands in the bedroom or the bath all week with the laundry out of sight, then gives it up in one lift on wash day. Ours are handwoven wicker, rattan reed over a solid hardwood bottom about a half inch thick, with a solid wood lid. Old Order Amish families on the Iowa-Missouri border weave them, and each is signed on the bottom.

Some come with the lid. The Wicker Hamper with Lid (18 inches across, 26 1/2 tall) has a lift-off lid with a wooden knob and leather handles, and is the classic round hamper. The Corner Hamper (17 1/4 inches on each side, 26 1/2 tall) has a lift-off lid that one owner turns over for a corner table. The Large Hamper with Hinged Lid (21 x 17 1/2 x 22) has a hinged lid in two halves, so it opens from either side of the bed or lifts off whole. The Oval Laundry Hamper (25 x 17 x 25 1/2) has a lift-off oval lid.

Others come open and take a lift-off lid made for them, sold on each basket's page: the 2 Bushel Laundry Basket, the Vintage Wicker Laundry Basket, the Medium Wicker Laundry Basket, the Narrow Wicker Laundry Basket and the 2-Pack Laundry Storage Baskets. Every basket here takes a hand-sewn cotton liner made to its shape, sold on its page and on the basket liners page. The open carry baskets without lids are on the wicker laundry baskets page.

Hinged or lift-off

A lift-off lid is one piece of solid wood with a knob; it comes off in one hand and sets on the floor or the dryer while you fill the liner. A hinged lid is two halves on hinges, so you open the near half with one hand and drop in a shirt without moving anything; the Large Hamper with Hinged Lid has one, and its lid lifts off whole when you want it to. Both kinds close flat and keep the week's laundry out of sight.

What fits where

A bathroom corner takes the Corner Hamper, 17 1/4 inches on each side. Beside a bed or in a closet, the Wicker Hamper with Lid stands 26 1/2 inches on an 18 inch round footprint, and the Oval Laundry Hamper is the one for a family's week, 25 x 17 at the top. A 12 inch closet shelf takes the Narrow Wicker Laundry Basket with its lid on, and the 2-Pack Laundry Storage Baskets sorts lights and darks on top of the washer. Lengths and widths are the outside of the rim, the widest point.

The liner does the carrying

A hamper with a lid holds the load; the liner carries it. Each liner is sewn from pre-shrunk cotton to its basket's shape, lifts out full and goes to the machine, and washes by machine itself. It is sold separately on each basket's page and can be ordered any time after the basket arrives. A dusting and a light spray of lemon oil about once a year is all the care the baskets need.