DIY: Reusable Sandwich Wrapper
By Jenn (TinyChoices.com) | September 4, 2008
I’ve seen reusable sandwich wrappers before and have always thought they’re a great idea– they eliminate the need for resource-intensive disposable packaging (plastic baggies, aluminum foil) while fulfilling two important functions: lunch transporter and portable placemat. And if you DIY it, you can make different sizes for all your different lunch needs. But I never purchased one because the original Wrap-n-Mats were made with a PVC liner — the part which touches your food– and what with PVC being the worst plastic around (which is no light statement), I prefered to avoid the situation entirely. While the company now makes wrappers with an LDPE liner (purportedly safer than PVC), I’m still a bit wary of flexible plastics touching my food as some plastic wrap has been found to leach plasticizers into the food it contains.
The Small Object has evaluated how to make [[see Editor's Note below]] your own sandwich wrapper — her first one was modeled directly on the Wrap-n-Mat version and used a PVC liner. After being told about the potential PVC health risks she then got fancy and made a version using a repurposed potato chip bags for the liner. Potato chip bags are most often made of Mylar, and Mylar, as we know, is polyethylene terephthalate (boPET) polyester film which will never biodegrade into anything but smaller bits of polyethylene terephthalate (boPET) polyester film.
I’m of two minds with the use of Mylar– on one hand, it repuposes material which already exists (discarded chip bags) and diverts them from the landfill, albeit temporarily. On the other hand, I have trouble believing it’s a benign material when wrapped around food, although I can’t find anything online to back this up (and seeing as how I love Lara Bars, which are merrily wrapped in Mylar, I’m not really sure how deeply I should be pondering this). She also made a version using baking/parchment paper, which seemed to work well.
So! I love this idea and am wondering what other safe food-proof materials could be used as a liner. Thoughts?
[Image by Larskflem]
[[Editors note: The Small Object once had tutorials listed on her website, but these have been removed at the request of the Wrap'n'Mat president and patent holder Bonnie Stromme. TinyChoices has been contacted by Ms. Stromme asking us to remove all information about how one can DIY a sandwich wrapper to avoid inducing others to infringe upon her patent. We have removed the links to the tutorial (which were already "broken," as the tutorials had alredy been removed) at Ms. Stromme's specific request, as well as the original photograph of The Small Object's sandwich wrap. 12/8/08]]
Topics: Crafts/DIY, Food | 46 Comments »
Hmmmm…. I wonder if leather or rubber sheeting would work?
Oooh, rubber sheeting! I never knew such a thing existed… does it come in a thin and flexible fabric-type material?
You betcha! Check out http://www.aerorubber.com/sheet.htm, or just google “rubber sheeting” to get a list of manufacturers.
Love it. Think it would make food taste rubbery? :)
Excellent! We are still in love with our wrap-n-mats but have been trying to use other options for the last 18 months due to the plastics issue. This post will really push me to find alternative wraps!
What about flexible silicone mats? If silicone-coated parchment is OK… wouldn’t the mat be more long-lived?
You know, I’ve always been curious about silicone… I know it’s used in all kinds of cool cooking/baking applications but am just not clear on what silicone really *is*… and thusly am not sure how I feel about its safety factor. What are your thoughts?
I guess it depends on how sloppy your sandwiches are, but since mine aren’t full of mayonnaise or anything, I think just cotton fabric would work. You use it for napkins, so why not this? A double or triple layer, maybe some interfacing in the middle. Have a handful of them so you can put it in the laundry. Seems like it would work.
I think this is a good idea, but I don’t do laundry very frequently, so would have to make a bunch of them to last me a week or two. I think I like the idea of the wrapper being wipeable, instead… but I’m not sure what liner material would hold up best for this.
This is perfect timing. I was just thinking today about making my son’s lunch for school and how I hate to use/waste plastic baggies. But with limited room in a little lunch box I find it difficult to know how to pack his food. Also, he has little fingers and I am not sure that he could open the lids of containers if I used them, or if the containers were reused ones would he even open them to see what’s inside. What to do you think about wax paper/baggeis?
In the tutorial I think she (or maybe a commenter) mentions using a cut-up baggie for the liner, which would be a good option if baggies have made it onto your all-clear list!
what about using a reusable bento sandwich size container? I use easy to open snap lids found in asian food store. The sandwiches can also be cut to size.
my fave site for bentos and lunch ideas:
http://lunchinabox.net/
Love bento boxes, but don’t always love toting around yet another container (in addition to my water bottle, travel mug, etc)… which is why I think these wrappers are a handy option. I do want to get a bento for certain situations though!
Personally, I just a PET Tupperware container. They last for years, especially if all you’re keeping in them are sandwiches. I’m going to switch to a glass or aluminum container when this one has finally had it. Then it can be readily recycled if it ever breaks.
This is a cool project, but it seems like they’d be hard to wash, and not dishwasher safe by any means.
I prefer to not get caught up in the details. What’s important is that we use containers that last as long as possible, and that the materials don’t harm us in the process.
Hey Nimic– I’d definitely use a sandwich-size container if I already had one, but I don’t– which means buying more plastic, which I try to avoid if/when possible. Also as I commented above, it’d be nice to not have to tote around yet another container every day (sometimes I feel like a Sherpa…) But overall, yes, just reuse what we’ve already got, as long as we’re happy with the materials.
while the kids were little we got a lot of mileage out of reusable containers, however they reached an age where it just wasn’t cool anymore. They now use paper bags, and we use wax bags for wrapping, and we reuse the heck out of those, it took alot to get my busy teen to fold the wax bags and paper bags and get them into the back pack but she and I both marvel at the mileage we get out of them
what ever is used it has to keep the sandwich yummy – nothing worse than dry bread for lunch
I’ve been writing about and exploring these same issues recently!
I like the idea of reusing unbleached wax paper bags over and over – that makes sense …you can also compost them when they finally give out.
I also wrap sandwiches in napkins or dishcloths as much as possible. You can pick up napkins for really cheap at a discount store and they actually are so small, I’m not sure if laundry would really be an issue…depends on how many lunches you’re packing I guess!
I’m thinking now…I guess you could re-use just about any processed food packaging if you felt comfortable with the material…how about the zipper bags that dried fruit and nuts come in at Trader Joe’s…seems maybe we could get one more use out of them…no?
Hmm, I wonder if you could back a piece of cotton (decoration) with nylon. Maybe thrift something nylon and then cut it up for the fabric. Not sure how safe is nylon.
Rubberized canvas? If you want to buy something new, that is. Though a rubberized canvas tarp could make about a billion sandwich mats.
Or real oilcloth!
http://www.moscowfood.coop/archive/oilcloth.html
Real oilcloth! Fascinating! I’ve always wondered about that stuff, and am tempted to make some! Do you really think that painting canvas with linseed oil is all there is to it? Seems too easy…
Nylon is considered food-safe, and is used to line reusable snack bags. However, I’m not impressed with it as a waterprof layer, and my stuff eventually dries out in it.
What about the bags that come inside cereal boxes…is that plastic? Seems like they would be somewhat wipe-able, and durable…since I can never get them open :)
Hey Jessica– yes, those bags are plastic– and depending on your stance on plastics, might very well be food safe. Me, I’m just not sure either way…
I am planning to make some of these using just fabric. I think a sandwich all wrapped up and in a lunch container should make it to lunch time without drying out. We use all cloth in my house, so I do lots of laundry anyway. I think a waxpaper liner (not sewn in) for especially fragile sandwiches is a great idea, and compostable. Hey, if you compost, remember to throw in butter wrappers!
maya
http://thegamblelife.blogspot.com
Butter wrappers into compost?! Does waxed paper really biodegrade?
What do folks know about the safety of Tupperware?
[...] sandwich wrappers at Tiny Choices Posted by meagan Filed in sage [...]
I’m going to try using nylon rain coat fabric. The rubber type might work well too, but may not be so durable.
I have made several wrappers with rip-stop nylon on the inside – it is not totally air tight, but seems to keep the sandwiches from drying out by lunch time. Depending on how messy lunch gets sometimes I can use them 2 days in a row otherwise just close the velcro and through in the wash.
We just made 19 of them for my son’s birthday “treat” for kindergarten – no food allowed in class and I didn’t want to put together treat bags with cheap c*#p from the dollar store.
I am curious about silicon always but I think the cotton would also do fine for me anyways thank you sharing the blog with all of us
what about using oilcloth? it is shiny and u can wipe it clean.
[...] DIY: Reusable Sandwich Wrapper | Tiny Choices tinychoices.com/2008/09/04/diy-reusable-sandwich-wrapper – view page – cached I’ve seen reusable sandwich wrappers before and have always thought they’re a great idea– they eliminate the need for resource-intensive disposable packaging — From the page [...]
Shrink Wrapping Machinery…
MacDue provide complete turnkey production lines and really do have the most technologically advanced machinery of it’s type…
[...] Is there a better way to transport your sandwich/wrap than using disposable aluminum foil? (how about a DIY sandwich wrapper?) [...]
I use these sandwich/snack bags that I found on etsy. They’re really great and probably easy to make too. I just rinse them out every couple of days and they’re ready to go again!
The URL didn’t go through:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=31141298
Wrap-n-mat thinks they can stop everyone from making wraps, but they only hold a patent for a 3 layer wrap. Their patent is for a wrap using 2 layers of cloth and 1 layer of clear plastic. As long as you are making wraps that have 2 layers of material, you are not infringing. You can make them for personal use, share patterns or sell them. They are abusing their patent and have been for a long time. They are going to get sued for it and risk loosing their patent if they keep it up.
Also, they are threatening people with their ‘international patent’. 1, there is no such thing as an international patent, it does not exist. 2, The patent they claim as such, is their patent application which is not valid nor enforceable. They hold a US patent for a THREE LAYER WRAP and that is all that is covered.
All you have to do to make one like wrap-n-mat, even 3 layers, is to modify the fabric, shape, and/or fastener. Copyrights are very specific, they do not apply to the idea. I am going to try to make one with real oilcloth.
PUL and oilcloth are NOT food-safe products! Be sure you check them out before you use them next to your food.
Where did you find the rip stop nylon??? I have been looking around and i can’t seem to find it :/
PUL, oilcloth, rip-stop, some nylon, raincoat fabric, and others are NOT food safe choices. People, call the manufactures and do your research before trusting what others say. Yes, the goal is to keep things out of the landfill and give love to our planet in the process, but if you are putting your health, your family’s health, and other’s health at risk due to not checking out your fabric with the manufacturer’s recommended uses, wisen up. Even sellers on Ebay and Etsy misquote what is in (or isn’t in) their sandwich wraps.
I am all for people making these, but let’s make good choices with the fabrics we are planning on using.Happy sewing!
While PUL, oilcloth, rip-stop, nylon, raincoat fabric, etc., may not be healthy to come in contact with food, they may be used for other purposes.
How about repurposing an old raincoat into waterproof carrying cases – layered with some other fabrics, would make a good waterproof, protective case for your laptop, jewelry, etc.
Can also be used to make soft insulated lunch boxes, totes, etc.
Point is: with landfills filling up, increased digging up of resources and the subsequent pollution, and the U.S dollar bubble about to burst, nothing should go to waste.
I didn’t read all the comments as there were so many. I have 4 kids so we have had this long fight of not using plastic bags. Reusable containers are still plastic and can leech. The wrap-mat uses plastic as well. So I made my own and they are 2 layers thick. The outside is cotton and the inside is a thin fleece fabric. This keeps the sandwiches fresh for the kids at school and they don’t leak. Also I do laundry constantly so it’s no big deal to wash them for me and I have made tons over the years now. However if you are concerned about the amount of wash then try doing what they did way back in the day to clean cloth. They boiled it on the stove. I don’t think that would take as much energy as a full wash cycle and then hang dry. Good luck and I hope this helps.
Hey Angie, thanks for the comment, and love that you’ve made some sandwich wraps of your own! It sounds like you’re trying to avoid plastic contact with your food, so I just want to point out that fleece is made from plastic. Just fyi, if that is of interest to you.
I recently read another blog that made similar reusable bags. She used 100% natural beeswax and melts it, and coated the cotton fabric with it. She then sewed that as the inside as a water resistant barrier. She then turns it inside out and washes it with soap and water and dries is on a dish rack overnight. I have not tried it though, so I cannot confirm how well it works….but it is natural and food safe!
i’ve seen cereal bags used for this.