IKEA SAMLA 45 L Box Review: Clear Stacking Storage, With the Lid as Its Own Decision

Clear IKEA SAMLA box with its lid clipped on, seen from a front corner against a white background

Product image supplied by the brand

In this guide

THE SHORT VERSION

SAMLA is the plain clear tub in IKEA's storage range, and the 45-litre size, 57 × 39 × 28 cm with the lid on, matches the 12 gallon box IKEA sells in the US. IKEA Australia lists the set as 394.407.67 at a regular A$10.99. That is the box (701.809.41) at A$7.99 plus the lid (804.550.82) at A$3, so buying them together saves nothing and the only choice is whether you want the lid yet.

A product page cannot say how the walls feel with a full load of books inside. What it does print is enough for a first cut: the box is polypropylene, recommended for indoor use only and not approved for food contact, and IKEA wants stacks kept under 90 cm with the heavy boxes at the bottom.

Our verdict

Good value for dry indoor storage at A$10.99, provided the lid is treated as its own A$3 decision and stacks stay under IKEA's 90 cm limit.

A good fit for: Wardrobe, linen press or garage shelving where seeing the contents beats matching decor, and where identical boxes will be added over time.
We would skip it if: You need food-safe storage, boxes that live outdoors or somewhere damp, or a published load rating before stacking heavy things.

Reasons to consider it

Box and lid have separate article numbers, and IKEA says the lid fits any 45 or 65 litre SAMLA box already at home
IKEA sizes the series for IVAR and BROR shelving, with all SAMLA sizes dimensioned to each other
IKEA asks only for a soft cloth with water and mild washing-up detergent

The compromises

Not approved for food contact and recommended for indoor use only
No load rating, only a 90 cm stacking limit with heavy things at the bottom
Airtight with the lid on, which IKEA flags as a hazard for young children

What we have not verified: How far the walls flex under a full load, how many full boxes a lid carries, whether the clear plastic yellows in Australian sun and whether the click lock loosens after years of opening are all unverified.

The things in this guide

A closer look at the products, who they may suit, and what to check before buying.

Clear tubs for a wardrobe or garage shelf

SAMLA Box with Lid · 12 Gallon

See-through walls and a click-on lid turn a shelf of unlabelled tubs into an inventory you can read at a glance, at a price that makes buying several in one trip reasonable.

Before you buy: Dry indoor goods only: not for food, not for the verandah, and no more than 90 cm stacked.

$10.99 at IKEA Australia

Price checked 5 November 2026. Retailer prices can change.

A set number that is just two parts added together

The A$10.99 set is two packages: the box under 701.809.41 at a regular A$7.99 and the lid under 804.550.82 at A$3. Bought one at a time they come to the same A$10.99. The set page is a convenience and nothing more, and the lid is worth leaving off only on a shelf where open-top access matters more than keeping dust out.

IKEA's lid page says it fits all 45 and 65 litre SAMLA boxes, including ones already at home. That is where the separate article number pays off: lidless boxes bought earlier can be closed for A$3 each. The lid ships flat in a package 57 × 39 × 2 cm and 0.41 kg, so a spare slides behind a cupboard door.

Measure the shelf depth before counting litres

With the lid on, IKEA gives 57 cm wide, 39 cm deep and 28 cm high; the box alone is listed at 56 × 39 × 28 cm, so the lid adds the extra centimetre of width. On a shelf shallower than 39 cm the box hangs over the front edge. That is tolerable on the floor of a linen press and annoying at eye level, where the rim catches a sleeve every time you reach past it.

The page says the series is made to fit IVAR and BROR shelving and that all SAMLA sizes are dimensioned to each other, so the smaller and taller boxes are meant to sit together in a mixed stack. KALLAX is not mentioned on the set, box or lid page. Anyone planning to slide this box into a cube unit should measure the opening against 57 × 39 cm before assuming it goes in.

Three restrictions printed in plain text

Under Good to know, IKEA Australia says the box is only recommended for indoor use and is not approved for food contact. The second point separates it from a pantry canister: fine for spare toilet rolls, wrong for flour or dog biscuits. The first rules out a carport, a garden shed or a verandah, where summer heat and sun work on polypropylene year after year.

The safety section adds two more lines. With the lid on, the box is airtight, and IKEA warns against letting young children play in it. To avoid tipping, the recommended maximum stacking height is 90 cm with heavy things at the bottom; at 28 cm a box that is three high, 84 cm. The description promises durable storage even for heavier items, yet no load per box is published.

Polypropylene, a damp cloth, and a weight only for the carton

Box and lid are polypropylene, and the care line is a soft cloth dampened in water with a mild washing-up detergent or soap if needed. That covers dust and the odd spill. It says nothing about dishwashers or solvents, so read it as the full permitted range. The boxed weight of 1.23 kg is the nearest the page comes to describing how substantial the walls are.

Clarity is the selling point and also the wear point. Clear polypropylene shows scuffs and can cloud with age, and IKEA makes no statement on UV resistance or how long the walls stay clear. In a wardrobe that stays dark this hardly matters. On a garage shelf under a west-facing window it is the property most likely to disappoint after a few summers, and nothing on the page lets you predict it.

Where this box is the wrong answer

Skip it when the contents are edible, when the box will live outside or in a damp laundry corner, or when the plan is to stack heavy tools more than three high. Each of those runs into a restriction IKEA states outright, and a low price does not change the plastic.

Skip it too when the shelf is a cube unit or anything shallower than 39 cm, or when a lidless box would do the same job for A$7.99; the lid earns its A$3 only when dust or stacking is the actual problem. If an opened box turns out to be the wrong size, IKEA Australia allows 60 days to return opened products for in-store credit, while the 365-day full refund covers only unopened items.

How we put this together

Built from the product pages and listings below, without test scores or results we have not measured. Specifications and prices change, so check the original page for the exact model, current price, delivery, and returns.

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