The latest meme tool at Lowe’s is a teeny tiny branded blue bucket that costs just 98 cents.
I didn’t see this at my Lowe’s this week, but apparently they have a bunch in stock somewhere.
This is a 2-cup BPA-free polypropylene Lowe’s bucket. How would you use it?
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They show it off being used to hold paint brushes.
And also with small plants.
Lowe’s shared about the bucket on social media, calling it their viral mini-bucket. I haven’t seen it anywhere else yet, but it definitely looks to have the potential to go viral.
Part of me wants to hop in the car and find a store that has these, but that’d be silly. Shipping isn’t possible – there’s only a $15 store delivery option. I think it’s cute, but not that cute.
If you’re having trouble visualizing the size, 2 cups (1 pint, 1/2 quart) is about the size of a medium deli container.
Price: $0.98
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These will likely be gone by the time I can make it to a Lowe’s store. Or perhaps not; my store has 12, but the next store around 35 minutes away has 208 in stock. Maybe I’ll wait for the Home Depot Homer bucket version, I’m not driving that far for a bunch of $1 mini buckets.
I’ve had mixed experiences with Lowe’s inventory checker. Perhaps this is a good opportunity to test their online ordering for in-store pickup experience.
Update (January 31, 2025)
Lowe’s new PR reps let us know that the mini bucket us back in stock and available online and in stores.
TimL
Would be a fun way to hold stocking stuffers or gift-cards maybe too? Only store near me has two of them and it’s over an hour of driving…lol
Thanks for the idea though. Big orange might be more my speed too.
Chris
Great for
-pens, pencils, markers, etc
-half used welding rods
-Small parts bin
-spit your sunflower seed shells into it
-emergency backup spare 10mm sockets
-guitar pick holder
And a million other small bucket uses.
I’d grab a few next time I’m in a Lowe’s.
Michael F
If you used these to make WD-40 scented candles, you just MIGHT get away with having a candle in your shop without people making fun of you. Maybe.
Scott K
Ha! I know it’s BPA free, but I’d still discourage burning something in a plastic cup…
Michael F
I thought about that…it would definitely heat up the plastic but would it melt? Possibly.
BigTimeTommy
If the orange company put these out I’d buy a couple. I just never go to Lowe’s.
Ryan
Put the shavings from lee valleys mini veritas tool in them.
LE
Speaking of being a sucker for miniature things, I want that Lee Valley miniature tool set way more then I really should!
Angela
I actually work at lowes. I bought them for christmas gifts for my family.
I’m going to put small Stocking stuffers in them, Wrap them In
plastic and give it away as a gift.
LE
I’m not ashamed to say I alredy bought 10 of them….. and need a few more lol. Gonna give as gifts to my little neice/nephew/cousins and hang on people’s Christmas trees. I was a little disappointed to see they are made in China and not by one of the main bucket makers here in the USA that make all the 5g and 2g buckets, but it is what it is. I’m a sucker for miniature things.
Harbor Freight might have free buckets, but they don’t have mini buckets!
JR Ramos
I actually like this idea with the metal bail handle. Would you say they’re somewhat sturdy? If they’re too flimsy or flexible (rim or bottom) I may not get them but otherwise I have some uses these would be great for.
LE
The bucket and the handle are both very sturdy!
JR Ramos
Excellent…thank you! My stores went from having a few to everyone being out of stock so I’ll keep an eye out for availability.
Kingsley
Coffee/Beer
Angela
I expect a bottle would fit in here like a bottle of beer and then you could put ice around it to keep it cold
Saulac
Seriously. In my man cave. Are they food safe?
Stuart
No. I didn’t think so, and Lowe’s is now explicitly saying they are not food-safe.
JR Ramos
I would imagine that they are not overtly unhealthy but to be food safe they need to be certified and these definitely are not (probably why Lowes made that statement). They don’t have the recycling/plastic category symbol on them but they feel like the typical HDPE that most larger buckets are made from, maybe a little stiffer and glossier. I wouldn’t worry about it myself but maybe storing food in them or acidic items for long wouldn’t be wise. I also couldn’t see myself drinking from these or whatever else food-related, either, so.
Whatever plastic they are, they aren’t affected by acetone, alcohol, or white gas (coleman fuel) so far, the latter of which I had small parts soaking in for a couple days…seems fine.
A typical 12/16 ounce soda can will fit with about 3/16″ wiggle at the bottom. No room for crushed or slushy ice.
Plain+grainy
Menards sells food safe buckets(2 & 5 gallon I think). They are White in color. So I always assume any colored buckets aren’t food safe. Just my thinking.
Stuart
FDA-compliant food-grade buckets are available in a wide range of colors. Retail stores tend to only carry white pails, but you can find other colors online.
Food-grade buckets tend to have strict requirements regarding materials sourcing and additives, such as dyes.
Jared
I can’t think of how I would use it, but mini tools are fun and I still want one.
Michael Kubancsek
Lowe’s website said that my local
Store had 200+ in stock but I walked the entire store twice and couldn’t find them 😒
Shocked
I stopped at a local Lowe’s last night to pick up a few 5 gal buckets for a demo job. Some 5 gal buckets were in a display in the “main” corridor, and mini buckets were stacked next to their bigger brothers.
MattW.
They count in the stuff for buy in store pick up will call stuff in my store still in stock to buy. This means if a few are left there gone. I call this the margin of error.
LE
I couldn’t find them at first, but they had a display box setup with a bunch by the paint desk at my store.
Kilroy
I saw this post as I was near my local Lowe’s, and the inventory there showed 41 in stock, so I stopped in. Clerk at the paint desk said that baby buckets were still in the back (receiving area) and hadn’t been worked to the front yet.
Cute item and wish I’d been able to buy a dozen or two for future use, but glad I didn’t go out of my way to look for these. (shrug)
Doug
Home Depot used to have store branded merchandise such as their own Bubba-Keg, Mints, & Pen leashes, but they gave that all up and no longer believe in promoting their store name.
Bawmbah
I like it, but blue? Might have to hit up some 3d model sites and see if I can make my own in some better colors.
MattW.
Hd should make one! Also 3 lowes today on my rounds picking up supplies for jobs and all out. The story is one person bought 100s of them in one transaction so none left for us. Hoarding tiny buckets a new low.
Samuel VDot
I love how one of the “Better Together” items for this baby bucket is a 5-Gallon Blue Plastic Bucket Lid.
mattd
I have one of those coffee cup bucket boss things (https://bucketboss.com/products/mug-boss) that would probably go great with this little bucket
Wayne R.
If we didn’t already have way too many coffee mugs, I’d be inclined to get one for a pencil cup. But that gap was closed decades ago…
Steven Woods
Lowes is THEWORST. App said 140 in stock….so of course they had sold out days prior. How can any company bumble everything they do?
eddiesky
Two girls, one Lowes mini bucket!
Ahem…that’s not brown paint!
If it came with a lid, could use for storage or gifting.
Samuel VDot
10,000+ bought in the past week per Lowe’s website a few moments ago.
JR Ramos
Found these in stock today….said they had almost three hundred but there were only about a dozen on the shelf. They are indeed very stiff and sturdy, plastic and wire bail alike! Not anything like the usual small paint tubs/pails.
Also saw that they had really refreshed and reorganized the tool department. Several Toughbuilt products back in stock (four clip-tech pouches, and the StackTech boxes again, levels….no sawhorses or knee pads). Some Craftsman items seem like they’re getting closed out. Several of the brand new Bosch tools but all in the cage, nothing on display. The DeWalt power tool row was completely empty and void…signs of work in progress.
james
A while back, in unseasonably hot temps, a coworker told me about a drink he wanted to fix himself when he got home, based on an apple-flavored whiskey. I told him that I’d personally want my favorite, which is a good vodka and tonic with crushed ice and a bit of lime…in a 5-gallon bucket.
This looks like a little more responsible way to make that happen so I may be looking for a couple and hoping that the trend catches on: I tend to do more business with tractor supply or fleet farm!
Vards Uzvards
“This item is no longer sold on Lowes.com” :-/
Aaron SD
Pretty soon Lowe’s will be a meme themselves if not already. Seems these are the only things people interested in.
Jim Felt
Well there’s one other Lowe’s “advantage” I suppose. My nearby Lowe’s are never even close to as busy as the area Home Depot’s.
Hmm. I wonder why?
mattd
you could combine it with a mini bucket boss organizer for you pens and pencils
https://www.amazon.com/Bucket-Boss-Organizer-Brown-99981D24/dp/B000037X0F
Stuart
In theory, yes, but I have had that organizer before, and think it’s going to be too big for the mini bucket.
Tom
>If you’re having trouble visualizing the size, 2 cups (1 pint, 1/2 quart)
> is about the size of a medium deli container.”
I’ve never seen a “medium deli container” but I sure know how big a pint is.
eddiesky
So, I had picked up the real Lowes buckets to store salt and sand for Winter. About two years later, the salt bucket, half full, is leaking? I have to grab a tray and put on top to find the bottom split. I check the sand bucket… same thing! Crack from center out in opposite directions.
Piece of crap.
Would I want a mini-version to remind me of the poor quality? it just pails in comparison! …. LOL… Put a lid on it fella! LOL..
Plain+grainy
Some ways buckets crack. (1) sunlight exposure (2) small amount of liquid that freezes in bucket.(3) heavy weight of salt in a cold bucket, then slammed onto a concrete surface.
MM
There was, and maybe still is, a QC issue with Lowe’s 5 gal buckets. I purchased several about 4 years ago and about half of them have split in the bottom. None of these were due to weather or overloading. In fact Lowe’s brand buckets are the only ones I’ve ever had this issue with. None were exposed to large amounts of sunlight, no exposure to freezing temperatures, etc.
Just like eddiesky said, the split is in the bottom from the center out. Two of mine split sitting in a shed with nothing in them. Another split while storing about 2 gallons of coolant I drained from my radiator that was waiting to be recycled. A fourth that I filled up with kindling for my fireplace was also found to have split.
The funny thing is that I have a couple other buckets I bought at the same time which have been used several times for mixing cement and they’ve held up to that abuse just fine.
Plain+grainy
Thanks! That sounds like you both are experiencing a manufacturing or quality control problem.
Justin Richard
As someone who has been doing snow removal…and used the buckets for salt storage for months at a time over the summer and winter…I would propose that your issue was due to moisture in the sand expanding when it froze? Ive seen that happen occasionally.
FkxThis
Just picked one up while in store for my wife, it did come with a 20% off coupon to be used at a later date, just something to keep in mind for the next promo they offer.
Al
i was able to buy online just now. min $45 order for free shipping or $5.99. also avail in my store for pickup
Plain+grainy
Maybe hang a plastic coated wire cable. Then add some D -rings to hold multiple small buckets. Add bucket ID labels for items already in their own small containers, like nuts, bolts , screws, ect.