(ABC 6 News) — It’s a dirty job, but we all have to do it: take out the trash.

The last thing you want is a wimpy bag that splits open, spilling garbage everywhere.

But garbage bags are expensive. Does spending more money ensure you’re not doing a messy clean-up?

Consumer Reports has surprising answers from its recent round of trash bag testing.

Imagine a trash bag is filled with banana peels, coffee grounds, last week’s leftovers, and who knows what else. Now, it’s now all over your floor.

To help you avoid this kitchen nightmare, Consumer Reports just tested unscented 13-gallon trash bags from nine best selling brands.

“Our testers used a special tool called a force gauge, which measures force against the bag. It was fitted with sharp and blunt tips to see how the bags resisted puncture,” said Consumer Reports’ Angela Lashbrook.

In a test to check the wall and bottom strength—bags were tied by the neck to the force gauge.

Water was added to the bags until they burst through the bottom or ripped at the top.

To test the strength of drawstrings, testers tied them to the gauge, added water and lifted them until the drawstring snapped.

“The bags that came out on top in our tests – Simplehuman Tall Trash Bags and Walmart’s Great Value Trash Bags,” Lashbrook said.

The Reli SuperValue garbage bags also did well in CR’s tests and were the least expensive.

The bags at the bottom of the heap include Glad ForceFlex and Amazon Basics’ Tall Kitchen Drawstring Bags.

“HoldOn Compostable Tall Kitchen bags. If you compost, you can consider these—but you’ll pay top dollar for them, and the quality is far below the others in our tests,” Lashbrook added.

CR notes that even though most Simplehuman trash bags are designed to fit their trash cans, they can still be used with other cans.