The recycle bin is really obvious. We've been seeing the same thing since Windows 95, so having text on the icon to tell us what it is seems a little unnecessary. With a little registry patch, we can easily remove the text.

Just download the registry patch, unzip, and then double-click on the file. You'll get a bunch of UAC prompts asking if you really want to do this.

After the patch has been added, right click on the desktop and choose Refresh, and you should see your new Recycle Bin icon without the text:

This is pretty sweet.

If you want to restore the Recycle Bin icon text, you can download this registry patch instead, unzip, and then double-click on the file. Your recycle bin text will go back to normal.

If you want to hide the text on regular desktop icons, you can follow this guide.