Sandwich bags. Snack bags. Zippered bags. Slide-n-lock bags. Blue-and-yellow-makes-green bags. Is this a Science lesson or an exercise in decision making? Toss in the plastic containers still gracing my cupboards, stainless steel or glass (because plastic is neither “green” nor safe, you know), and I’m lost as to what to put my kids’ sandwiches in when we pack a lunch for the zoo.
I kept reading about cloth reusable bags and was deadly curious, but I wasn’t sure where to start. I think I’ve told you before that I’m the type of person who always asks for two flavors of ice cream on one cone, so figuring out what kind of reusable bag would work best for our family was a hazardous question for my sanity.
Testing four completely different versions at once is so very right up my alley. Don’t you agree?
You know I had them all lined up on my couch, taking notes on the differences in construction. (Two with nylon linings, two 100% organic cotton; two sandwich wraps, two sandwich bags; two had exactly the same shape, while the others were wild cards; the stitching was different on every bag, but they all used Velcro to fasten.)
And of course I used half a bag of leftover white bread from my husband’s camping trip to test a fake “sandwich” in each one on the table overnight, along with the poor control subject sitting out in the open air. (Can you think of a better use for white bread?)
My husband was kind enough to help me determine the relative staleness of pretzels stored overnight in the snack bags vs. a fresh pretzel and one that languished on the tabletop, unprotected.
I’ve washed them by hand, in the dishwasher, and with the laundry, and if there were other options for getting them clean, I’d have tried those, too.
We packed lunches in them, too, and my kids gave their opinions.
The results were as varied as the bags.
Note: Lots of giveaways going on for the Back-to-School Bonanza! You can win a $250 lunch packing package HERE, homeschool nutrition eCourse HERE, preschool curriculum HERE, or deodorizers and a cookbook HERE.
The Four Brands
I have been testing out both sandwich and snack reusable solutions from Eco Lunch Gear (found at Hazelnut Kids), Eco Ditty, Frugal Granola and Snack Taxi (pictured in top photo with Almond Power Bars, from my eBook Healthy Snacks to Go).
Here are some photos so you can see for yourself:
Sandwich
Snack
You can’t tell sizes very well there, but you get the general idea of the styles.
Paul and Leah are happy to show you how their new Frugal Granola sandwich wraps open and close.
Presentation
Each bag looks entirely different, which impacts aesthetics, but more importantly, usefulness. Here’s the breakdown:
| Property | Snack Taxi | EcoLunchGear | Frugal Granola | EcoDitty |
| Size (sandwich) | 7.5″x6″ | 13″x15″ (open) | 10″x10″ (open) | 7.5″x6″ |
| Size (snack) | 6″x4.5″ | 3.5″x6″ | 3.5″x3.5″ | 6″x4.5″ |
| How it opens (sandwich) | Velcro, folds over to enclose bag | Wrap opens flat, corners fold over completely | Wrap opens flat, open corners allow air in | Velcro, folds over to enclose bag |
| How it opens (snack) | same as above | opens flat, open corners allow air in | top folds down but leaves corners open | same as above |
| Material | Cotton exterior with polyurethane coated nylon interior. Inside feels like a winter coat’s exterior. | Organic cotton exterior with waterproof nylon liner. Inside feels like a thin spring coat’s exterior. | 100% organic cotton, lined with a durable heavy-weight fabric that is designed to be naturally water-repellent. | 100% Organic Cotton, printed with low-impact inks and dyes |
| Fabric Design | flashy! | earthy and classy | earthy, lots of cute pink options | classy, many same prints as ELG |
| Stitching | Serger stitch around outside | inside out stitches* | inside out stitches*, double hemmed | Serger stitch |
| Presentation/ Packaging |
Basic | Hazelnut Kids wrapped in brown paper, tied with twine; easy and earthy | In handmade bags from magazine pages. Personal touch! | Personal presentation, safety pinned tag |
| Price (sandwich) | $8.95 (seen as low as $6.99) | $9.00 at Hazelnut Kids | $12.00 | $8.99-13.99 (available at some online retailers) |
| Price (snack) | $6.95 | $9.00 | $11.00 | $8.99-9.99 |
*I’m no seamstress. “Inside out” means to me that the two layers were stitched together, then turned inside out so that the seam and stitching itself are on the inside.
Bonus Points to:
- Frugal Granola and Eco Ditty, for including washing instructions on the tag. The others assume I can remember from a card inserted into the bag.
- Eco Lunch Gear, for having two snack options. One is smaller with nylon lining, and one is quite large, 100% organic cotton (no nylon liner), with a drawstring top (shown at right). The smaller bag has room on the label to write your child’s name!
- Snack Taxi and Eco Ditty’s snack and sandwich sizes fold over completely, so nothing can fall out and less air gets in (in the case of Snack Taxi). Both of their sizes hold the most compared to others.
- Frugal Granola for cutest presentation (above) and Eco Ditty for looking so classy when new.
- All four, for being Mom-run companies made in the USA.
Drawbacks:
- Frugal Granola’s snack bag is so small, half the size of a plastic “snack” sized bag. It’s only good for a small snack for a small child. UPDATE: Duh, I have small children. Michelle pointed out that she has larger snack sizes for older kids and adults! My kids loved their little bags, I must say.
- Eco Lunch Gear’s snack size shows a lot of Velcro, which I think is unattractive.
- Eco Ditty’s new Gingko fabric has light-colored flowers on dark red, lined with cream. Although it looks gorgeous upon arrival, in the dishwasher, the colors ran.
The Real Test: How do Reusable Sandwich Bags Work?
It’s all well and good to tell you about how the bags are made, but you could determine that from each product’s website description and photo. I know what you’re really interested in is what happened when the rubber hit the road…I mean, the sandwich hit the bag.
How did the reusable cloth sandwich and snack bags work, in reality?
It’s been a while since I graded third graders schoolwork, but I’ll venture back into the world of the A-E scale to tell you what this teacher thought of the reusable lunchtime options.
| Performance | Snack Taxi | EcoLunchGear | Frugal Granola | EcoDitty |
| Sandwich 12 hours | A+ Perfect | A Soft | E Stale | D- Mostly stale |
| Crunchy snack 12+ hours | A Crisp | A Crisp | D Only slightly better than no bag | D Only slightly better than no bag |
| Crunchy snack a few days | E Stale | E Stale | E Stale | E Stale |
| Moist snack (cucumbers) | A Kept moisture in | A Kept moisture in | B Moist but not damp on outside | D Dampness goes right through |
| Getting crumbs off (sandwich) | B So simple to wipe with damp cloth | A So simple to wipe with damp cloth; opens 100% | A So simple to wipe with damp cloth; opens 100% | C Turn inside out and brush; peanut butter a problem |
| Getting crumbs off (snack) | B So simple to wipe with damp cloth | A So simple to wipe with damp cloth; opens 100% | C Tiny bags hard to turn inside out; crumbs in corners | C Turn inside out and brush; moist crumbs a problem |
| Can a child open it? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Ease of washing | A Love the damp cloth option! | A+ Love the damp cloth option; dries so quickly | B Machine wash, tumble dry. Wrap dries A+, bag takes a while | B I’d suggest machine washing or hand washing |
| Wear and tear after wash | B Almost like new | A Almost like new | B Holds up great, corners need poking to go back to right angles | C Edges immediately wrinkly and “not so new” looking |
Bonus Points to:
- Frugal Granola and EcoLunchGear, for the “mat” system, because it makes such a nice placemat upon which to eat lunch.
- EcoLunchGear’s mat, for being the quickest to dry.
- EcoLunchGear, for providing an extra Velcro tab to simply fold the scratchy side over so it doesn’t stick to your other clothes.
Drawbacks:
The pretzel had varied results after 12 hours, but everything lets air in after a few days.
Across the board, if you want to store food longer than 24-48 hours, you need heavier ammunition than nylon-lined reusable bags. If you want to pack lunches the night before, you can’t use a no-plastic version.
Care/Washing
Perhaps the easiest complaint anyone can make about reusable bags is the hassle of cleaning them. Yes, anytime you reduce your waste, unless you can stop using something altogether, you’ll end up with more dishes or more laundry. It’s part of being green.
One does need to balance the drive for less trash with the question: at what point are you going to use more water/energy to keep the items clean than you will save in landfill space? With plastic bags, particularly keeping in mind the energy and raw materials used and pollution created to manufacture new plastic, I’m guessing you come out well ahead with reusables.
If you machine wash the reusable bags, make sure they’re not only open, but inside out, and the crumbs have been brushed away. I tried just tapping the crumbs out of an upside down bag, then washing it with the Velcro closed, since Velcro tends to grab other fabrics in the wash and can cause problems. No good. I was able to attach Frugal Granola’s Velcro to each other without folding it up, and EcoLunchGear has a lovely extra Velcro piece so you can hide the scratchy side and protect your other clothing.
Don’t use the dishwasher, either. Both bags, one nylon-lined and one 100% cotton, came out grubbier than they went in, because food particles from other dishes would stick to them and not get washed off. Don’t blame my dishwasher, either; it does a fabulous job, and I have sung its praises before.
If you don’t have a load of laundry that needs to be done, I would recommend just washing the bags with your dinner dishes in the sink and hanging them to dry. After all, how many of us wash Ziploc bags to reuse them, anyway? These guys are a lot easier to get totally dry, and they’re made for reuse.
Either hang to dry from a clip or prop open by setting them upside down over kitchen utensils in the dish dry rack. They also dry acceptably laying flat on a laundry rack, but I found that turning them inside out, then right side out again after 12 hours or so speeds the process along.
The Bottom Line: Final Opinions
Reusable sandwich and snack bags serve an important purpose, but when deciding which brand to buy, you must decide what’s important to you: going “no plastic” or keeping food edible overnight.
If you need to pack a sandwich the night before for your kids, you either need to have a plastic liner or another way to keep it airtight. I’m wondering if an airtight lunchbox would do the trick, but I didn’t own one to try it out.
No food can be kept more than a few days, even in the most airtight (Snack Taxi), so you won’t want to purchase a reusable snack bag to keep crunchy diaper bag snacks readily available over an undefined period of time. (I’ve got something to tell you about tomorrow for that purpose.)
We had some controversy this summer at KS when Eco Lunch Gear was a monthly sponsor and I mistakenly called them a “no plastic alternative.” A reader wisely called me out that nylon, in fact, is plastic. Now that I’ve discovered the stale drawbacks of completely plastic free bags, however, I would choose a nylon-lined bag for our family’s regular use.
Eco Lunch Gear has the most versatile options, with the no-plastic drawstring bag and the sandwich and snack bags that open up all the way, which makes it easier to clean with a wet cloth and dry completely after machine washing. Even though Snack Taxi keeps things fresher slightly longer, Eco Lunch Gear gets props for using 100% organic cotton. My choice for an overall favorite is Eco Lunch Gear, found at Hazelnut Kids.
Your Turn!
What do you think, dear readers? Would you spring for reusable sandwich or snack bags? Have you used them already in your home?
One lucky reader will get to win a huge lunch-packing prize package, including most of what I reviewed here plus four other goodies (see that review HERE, including stainless steel lunch supplies and dried buffalo bars)! Be sure to sign up for a free email subscription or grab my reader feed to keep an eye out for the giveaway this week. You can also follow me on Twitter, get KS for Kindle, or see my Facebook Fan Page for updates.
Now, what are you going to put in your bags? Check out my Healthy Lunch Packing Ideas!
SAVE on Going Back to School shopping: Use the code CWAA5 to save 15% on CleanWell products, including CleanWell’s Natural Hand Sanitizer, until 12/31/2012.
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Kitchen Stewardship is dedicated to balancing God’s gifts of time, health, earth and money. If you feel called to such a mission, read more at Mission, Method, and Mary and Martha Moments.
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Disclosure: I received products for review without charge from Hazelnut Kids, Eco Ditty, Frugal Granola and Snack Taxi. Eco Lunch Gear is a former, not current, sponsor of KS. Frugal Granola is a current sponsor and also a blogging friend. No payments are accepted for reviews, but I do charge a small advertising fee to run giveaways. They’re posted separately because they’re completely unrelated. Clearly, the relationships between KS and these companies had no bearing on my final review, since nobody gets all As with this strict teacher! See my full disclosure statement here.
I have looked into reusable sandwich and snack packaging, even making them myself. For now, since my children are homeschooled, it’s not a big issue. For my husband, we bought snack size reusable plastic *gasp* containers and a sandwich container. (He hates how heavy glass is in his lunch cooler.) I’d love to win and try these out! Your review was pretty awesome, the way you were so organized about it and specific.
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Katie Reply:
September 13th, 2010 at 8:38 pm
Thanks, Stephenie! I hear you on the heaviness of glass, and honestly, we still use some plastic especially when the contents are dry, not liquids. You do what you can, you know? You might be interested in the other items I’m reviewing tomorrow, which include some stainless steel options – lighter than glass!
Katie
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How cool! Thanks for the review!
I haven’t been able to bring myself to splurge on something like this, though I’ve been eyeing similar products on Reusablebags.com for some time now.
I love how detailed your reviews are. When I finally do buy some, I’ll have a pretty good idea what characteristics to look for.
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I’m so glad you did this comparison! This is our first year of lunch at school and I am just venturing into what works and what doesn’t. Thanks for doing this!
.-= Jen @ BigBinder´s last blog ..Recipe Roundtable – Barbados Pork Chops with Black Bean Salsa =-.
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I just made my own reusable sandwich wrap this weekend. I’ve yet to try it out for keeping a sandwich from getting dried out overnight. That will be the true test as we will be packing lunches the night before. Thanks for the review in case I decide to buy something instead.
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i’ve been thinking about taking the plunge to reusable bags; thanks for a great review! do we need to “enter” the giveaway? i’m a subscriber….
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Katie Reply:
September 13th, 2010 at 8:37 pm
Coleen,
Katie
The giveaway is coming tomorrow; there’s more to be included!
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As usual – your dedication to really researching something is not only amazing – but so very helpful! I have researched (and I use the term very loosely compared to what you’ve done!) a couple of options online but to have your input on actual usage in so many categories (size, how long something stays fresh, laundry care, etc) is wonderful. Thanks so much!!
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Very helpful. I’ve started using small snack bags I made for quick grab & go snacks.
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I have used the same tupperware sandwich boxes and snack cups since my nearly 25yr old was in first grade. remember that anything you are buying now will eventually end up in a landfill, with the possible exception of the organic cotton if you compost it. look to see what you have already that might work. If you don’t want to go with reusable (other than washing out your ziploc bags), think in terms of waxed paper or something else that can biodegrade or be put in the woodstove or such. anything “new” has to be manufactured and shipped. It a ll comes down to thinking it through with some common sense and some research from Katie!
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I haven’t used reusable snack bags, yet, but I HAVE been wanting to try them. My kids have bento box style lunch boxes. The containers are reusable and about 1/2 have lids. I’ve found these a good option for keeping sandwiches, etc. from getting stale. The bags might be a nice addition for when we don’t need a whole lunch, though.
.-= Jennifer´s last blog ..FIRST Wild Card Tour- Song of the Silent Harp by BJ Hoff =-.
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We have been using reusable snack/sandwich bags from Kathi’s Kreations at etsy.com. We love them – not only are we saving hundreds of ziplocs a year but the fabrics are super cute and hip! We use these in conjunction with our Laptop Lunches (bento boxes) for packing healthy and waste free lunches!
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I love it, you always post things that you just can’t find on any other blog! That must have taken you 10 hours to write!
.-= Anastasia B´s last blog ..Guidecraft Mission Table & Chair Set Review =-.
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Nice job! I’m excited and inspired by this post. I’ve been using glass containers, but they are pretty clunky. Thanks for the product review!
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I decided to pass on the reusable sandwich bags for now. In the past, the corners of my kids lunch boxes would grow mildew after cleaning them with a damp cloth and letting them air dry, and I was afraid the bags with the nylon lining would mildew. This year we are using the ziploc 3 section bento like containers, which fit in the lunch boxes with room to spare. The kids are really liking these for taking taco salad, pasta salad, sandwiches, and pizza so far. They can be recycled when we’re done with them.
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Great review. I was unaware of all the options for sandwich bags. I have been making lunchbags for 25 years and we have always used a nylon liner because it is totally inert. That is why they use it for toothbrushes. Thus for the sandwich bags you reviewed, I think the Eco Lunch Gear was the best choice. In our lunch bag store we carry the Reusies Sandwich Bags which are also lined with nylon. I will contact the Eco Lunch Company to evaluate their product.
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My husband doesn’t like the reuseable sandwhich bags because he claims that don’t keep food from going stale. I’ll have to give him that based on your test (although he if he brings bread, it’s only in the bag for the ride to work and it he eats it for breakfast.) For now, we are washing out and reusing zippered sandwich bags and BPA free plastic containers because they are lighter than glass and don’t break. That’s what we have, so that’s what we use.
.-= Lazy Budget Chef´s last blog ..Making Blackberry Jam without Pectin =-.
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Great review!!!! Very helpful. I have also discovered the Food Kozy. I am liking it because it is not a predetermined shape – easily manipulated for the shape of the food.
Yay to no more plastic baggies!
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Thanks a TON for reviewing re-usable bags. I’ve always wondered if I ought to whip up a few — your fabric insight helps guide me.
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I recently made reusable sandwich boxes from plastic milk jugs. So far, so good. And they are easy to wash and dry.
.-= Julia´s last blog ..Menu Plan for the Week of 9-13 =-.
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My daughter uses them for school and absolutely loves them. She can wrap her sandwich (and doesn’t struggle to get it into a barely-fitting ziploc bag). It’s so user friendly!
.-= Robbie´s last blog ..Raspberry dessert – for diabetics! =-.
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Thanks for reviewing these so I don’t have to make the comparisons myself! I purchased the Snack Taxi at a local green boutique, but I’ve been wondering how the other options would stack up against it. Based on your review, I’m pretty happy with what I’ve got, so I’m no longer tempted to try out other versions just to compare! (I’m a two flavors on a cone kind of girl, too!)
.-= Ina´s last blog ..lazy morning snuggles =-.
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Very cute and creative. I like the idea for using this one and It’s so colorful that I’m sure the kids will gonna love it.
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LOVED the review. I’ve seriously come just short of doing this myself, although I don’t think my husband would be such a willing accomplice.
I’ve got to find a non-plastic solution that is cost-effective enough that I can buy multiples. I had even begun searching “organic cotton favor bags” online thinking those muslin bags would be fine for snacky items, and at least I could buy 25+ without breaking the bank!
Love what you’re doing with the blog and website, found you at a perfect point in my parenting/organizing/greening tirade in life!
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I have purchased GreenTime Bags, Reusies, and Snack Taxi. I must say that GreenTime Bags were my favorite. They fold over like the reusies and Snack Taxi but the food stays fresh longer. I left my food in the GreenTime bags for three days and the food was still fresh and crisp! I think that the lining is nylon and peva. GreenTime Bags are a big hit with my family!
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You mention that you washed these in the dishwasher. I thought I would share with you what Cheryl Mendelson says in her book, Home Comforts, about this. She mentions her friends were sanitizing kitchen cloths in the dishwasher. She goes on to say,
Dishwashers are not designed to clean soft, spongy objects. The objects they are designed for are hard and do not hold water or food particles. Sponges and cloths are left sopping by a dishwasher, for unlike clothes washers, dishwashers have no spin cycle.
She points out the problem with food particles that you mentioned.
Then she says,
If a germ or two manages to live through the dishwashing cycle … it will find itself in microbe heaven–a warm, protected environment with plenty of food and drink and not much competition. And if you then leave everything in the dishwasher overnight, the microbes will have plenty of time to multiply themselves a few million times.
For your consideration….
Leah
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Katie Reply:
October 14th, 2010 at 9:39 pm
Leah,
Katie
Excellent points! I knew it seemed fishy to pull out a sopping wet sponge or whatnot from the dishwasher. It always seems less “clean” than before b/c it still had to dry so much. Good to know my hunch was correct!
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I have purchased one a while back thru Etsy. I didn’t realize at the time the size and the one I ordered was the kind that opens up to make a place mat which I just loved but the lady that made it only took into consideration I think the normal cardboard tasting white bread size. Which I know was the original size of bread to begin with but we purchase the larger loaf and although I could get the cloth around it the velcro wasn’t long enough to secure it. I guess I need to purchase another one. Thanks for the review this was great !!
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Eco-Lunch Gear Product Review and GIVEAWAY! | Modern Alternative Mama // Dec 30, 2011 at 4:18 pm
[...] says this is because without it, bread gets stale. Katie at Kitchen Stewardship recently reviewed several reusable lunch bags and agrees that this is true. This originally made me hesitate, but then I realized that using a [...]
7 Ways to Avoid Using Plastic Wrap // Mar 5, 2012 at 12:33 pm
[...] Even if you use a plastic bag, at least it’s easier to reuse than plastic wrap. If you like the fancy reusable ones, check out my reusable sandwich bag review. [...]
Are the linings made of food safe material? I’m not sure either the polyurethane coated nylon or the waterproof nylon (what is it waterproofed with?) are any better than plastic in terms of coming in contact with your food.
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All coated nylons are not food safe. Nylon is inherently food safe, but the coating, once heated, migrates through the fabric and into your food. Thus loosing it’s air proof-ness and effectiveness and you are eating the chemicals!! Gross!
Check out LuauWraps.com for a safer option and better than the competition in closure styles, impact, wearability, durability , BPA, LEAD, PVC, Formaldehyde, and Phthalate free! They are the best ones on the market and sadly, not profiled here.
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Can You Pack a No-Waste Lunch? | Green Your Way // Aug 8, 2012 at 7:18 am
[...] 3. Try reusable bags for sandwiches and snacks. I reviewed four brands here. [...]
I read about the reusable bags by chance and because for my health and the health of the planet, I don’t want to be impacted by plastic. Thanks for the review. I care most about what works successfully in keeping the food the freshest, ease of cleaning, and for carrying purposes what’s not clunky, so I guess I can continue to reuse some plastic containers. I’ll investigate the bento boxes previous commenters have mentioned
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VERY helpful! Thanks for the thorough reviews!
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» My Ongoing Household Detox Resolution, Phase Three: Kitchenware Yankee Homestead // Dec 31, 2012 at 4:25 pm
[...] Kitchen Stewardship’s reviews of multiple reusable food bags [...]
15 Ways to Reuse Plastic Grocery Bags | Green Your Way // Apr 11, 2013 at 9:26 pm
[...] Reusable Sandwich Bags Review [...]