Some of us take ?cleanliness is godliness? to heart. Everyone knows, or is someone like this. The person who is fast and loose with the hand sanitizer, the one who insists on doing the dishes right after dinner, the one who washes his or her hands after using a tissue.

You know the type. The people who hold in their sneezes (at what cost to their brain I know not), or who distribute hand sanitizer at restaurants. These people are neurotic about their trash, and hate to be near it.

There?s a step available towards assuaging your neuroses, though. It?s called the infrared trashcan. If you can?t bear to have your hand near your trash, as it must be with lift tops and foot-pedal varieties (the latter of which always break after a few weeks, thus turning them into the former), then the infrared trash can is for you. It opens when your hand is a few inches over its lid, which completely removes you from the equation. You?re nowhere near your trash, and therefore don?t have to worry about being contaminated by all that bacteria.

There is not a lot of price difference in touchless trashcans. Cheaper ones are just under $100 while more expensive ones are just over $100. The main difference between these varieties is that the cheaper ones have lids that lift and the more expensive ones slide across. With a price difference of only $20-$30, you may as well spring for the sliding lid, as it conserves space and looks more attractive.

Price differences are not large, with some costing just under $100 and some costing just over $100. The difference is small but fundamental ? the cheaper ones have flip-top lids, while the more expensive ones have sliding lids. Unless you?re on a very tight budget, you would be best-served to splash out for the sliding lid. It?s less likely to break, looks classier, and conserves on space.

Finally, if you?re going for a futuristic interior design scheme, with stainless steel and the like, an infrared trash can can be just what you need to bring it all together and make your kitchen truly Jetsons-esque. All you need now is a robot.

Need a trash can? Check out this outdoor trash can and cabinet trash can guide.