The best shower caddy you can buy for college dorm life

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The Insider Pick:

• Unless you're blessed with an amazing dorm room complete with its own bathroom, you need a shower caddy to hold all your products as you go to and from the communal showers. The InterDesign Orbz Shower Tote Holder and Organizer is the best one you can buy with its many compartments, cute design, and affordable price.

Sharing a bathroom with strangers is hard. Most college dorms have communal showers on each floor that you have to walk to every time you want to wash your hair. Other dorms have bathrooms right in the unit, but if you're sharing one bathroom with four other girls like I did during my first two years of college, you'll still need a shower caddy to carry all your products.

Most people just buy whatever shower caddy they see first during their last minute dorm shopping spree, but they often end up with a shower caddy that doesn't really fit their needs. You really only need to think about the shower caddy's design, so here are the main ones we cover in this guide:

• Plastic caddy: Plastic caddies are durable, sturdy, easy to clean, and they won't get water damage. We recommend the ones with compartments because the different sections make it easy to store everything from shampoo and conditioner to toothpaste and your razor. The main downside is that they're not flexible or easy to store.
• Mesh totes: Mesh shower totes are easy to carry, durable, and often less cumbersome than plastic caddies. Some have pockets to hold products securely, and others just have one big compartment. The downside here is that some bags fall over when set down on the floor and not all mesh is mildew resistant.
• Fabric toiletry bag: Toiletry bags are more subtle than other shower caddies because they zip right up to look like a piece of luggage. When you unzip them, several pockets are revealed with all your products inside. Often, you can hang them on a door hook for easy access to all your products. The downside to these bags is that they're not waterproof, so if you can't hang yours up or set it down in a dry space, it may be problematic.

No matter what style you prefer, we have a pick for you in our buying guide. Our picks include two plastic shower caddy options, two mesh totes, and one toiletry bag. Read on to learn more about our top picks.

If you're headed off to college, you can also find more great back to school content on Insider Picks along with our guide to all the school supplies your K-12 student needs and all the college dorm supplies your college kid could possibly want.

Although the InterDesign Orbz Shower Tote Holder and Organizer is our top pick, for various reasons laid out in the slides below, you should also consider the Sterilite Bath Caddy, the L.L. Bean Personal Organizer Toiletry Bag, the Handy Laundry Dorm Shower Caddy, and the Saltwater Canvas Mesh Dorm Shower Bag.

The best shower caddy overall

InterDesign/Business Insider

Why you'll love it: The InterDesign Orbz Shower Tote Holder and Organizer holds all your toiletries as you troop to the communal showers or shared bathroom.

The InterDesign Orbz Shower Tote Holder and Organizer keeps all your shampoo, conditioner, face wash, and so on in place so you can carry it along with you into the communal showers or shared bathroom.

It's important to have one of these and to remove it from the shared bathroom (if you have one) when you're done each time so that you're never without your toothbrush in case your roommate stays in the shower for ten years. 

The InterDesign caddy can hold all sorts of products, thanks to its two big side compartments and its smaller organizer in the middle. The handles are relatively comfortable to hold, and there are air holes in the design to help your belongings dry out after your shower.

Perhaps the best part is that you can get it in a few colors, including black, coral, lemon, mint, and white. Buyers love this shower caddy, and it has an average star rating of 4.5. The only criticism buyers make is that the small version wasn't big enough for their needs, so take note of how big it is: The InterDesign caddy measures 11.75 by 6 by 12 inches.

Pros: Dividers keep products in place, nice handles, easy to carry, multiple sizes

Cons: A tad pricey

Buy the InterDesign Orbz Shower Tote Holder and Organizer on Amazon for $9.99 and up (price varies by color — originally $15.73)

The best plastic shower caddy

Sterilite/Walmart

Why you'll love it: The Sterilite Bath Caddy has five compartments, a sturdy handle, and good drainage holes.

If you're not sold on our top pick, the Sterilite Bath Caddy is a great alternative. It's made of a tougher, stiffer plastic and it has a short handle in the middle, which is surrounded by five compartments.

The largest compartments on each side of the caddy easily hold shampoo, conditioner, and other large products. You'll also find two smaller compartments on one side of the handle and one medium one on the other side. The smallest sections are great for toothbrushes, toothpaste, and razors, while the medium one may hold a hairbrush or loofah.

Since it's likely to get a bit wet in the showers, the caddy has drainage holes at the bottom. You'll want to clean it from time to time, but plastic is easy to wipe down. It measures 15.2 by 9.8 by 9.5 inches, so it's a bit longer and wider than the InterDesign caddy.

Pros: Sturdy design, lots of compartments, good handle, drainage holes

Cons: Expensive

Buy the Sterilite Bath Caddy on Amazon for $27.99

The best toiletry bag

L.L. Bean/Business Insider

Why you'll love it: The L.L. Bean Personal Organizer Toiletry Bag is a discrete bag you can take with you to the communal showers on when you travel.

The L.L. Bean Personal Organizer Toiletry Bag holds tons of toiletries, but it zips them all up in a cool looking travel bag that you can take anywhere you roam. When you unzip it, it folds out to reveal all your products, and you can hang it up on the bathroom door.

You can store all your toiletries in the different-sized pockets. Some of them have zippers to keep your stuff in place. The largest section at the bottom should be able to hold full-size shampoo and conditioner bottles and then some. It also has mesh compartments to separate products better.

L.L. Bean sells it in several sizes, too, so you can pick whatever size is right for your needs. The large version measures 12½ by 11½ by 4 inches, and we expect it'll be the best size for most people. The medium version is good if you need something a tad smaller.

There's a removable mirror inside, too, and a hook for easy hanging on a door hook or rack. Some buyers say the large and family size bags are too big and heavy to hang properly without stretching awkwardly, so keep weight in mind when you buy the larger sizes.

One of the coolest things about the L.L. Bean Toiletry Bag is that you can use it later in life after college when you go on extended trips or vacations.

Pros: Attractive bag, tons of compartments, a hook to hang it, good for travel, multiple sizes and colors

Cons: Can be too heavy to hang, expensive

Buy the medium L.L. Bean Personal Organizer Toiletry bag on LLBean.com for $29.95

Buy the large L.L. Bean Personal Organizer Toiletry Bag on LLBean.com for $39.95

Buy the family size L.L. Bean Personal Organizer Toiletry Bag on LLBean.com for $49.95

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