Reusable Sandwich Wrap

An easy to make sandwich wrap that you can use again and again!

Colorful fabrics and iron-on vinyl make these wrappers machine-washable, leak-resistant, and too cute to resist. Fold your sandwiches inside and secure with Velcro. Then open them up and use as a placemat!

Step 1: Materials

For this project, you'll need:

• Pre-washed fabric - enough to cut an 18" square
• Fusible vinyl - I used Heat N' Bond Iron-on Vinyl
• 3" strip of Velcro
• Needle & thread to secure Velcro
• Iron

Comments

[shen_nanigans]

Hi there, just checking in. I made a few of these from the heat n' bond vinyl a couple months back, and to answer my own question, they are holding up pretty well! I need to make more! The whole food safety still bothers me a little but from the posts it seems that it's only a hazard if the child chews on it directly? I can't find any other info online. Anyways, I still love this. Thanks! :D

[TabbyDeAnne]

I love your version too! Very nicely done!

[jyanke fisher]

If you use PUL or ProCare the washable waterproof fabric used for cloth diapers, wetbags and snackbags it is all food safe. You'd need to serge or fold and stitch the sides though. Not sure if you could iron melt it. You can make snack bags easy with velcro or zipper tops too.

[littlekiwis]

PEVA is food safe, cheap shower curtains are made from this stuff.

[carolee1945]

Why didn't the sticky velcro work? I bought adhesive velcro by mistake.

[steven_zhengls]

Brilliant idea!But I just worry about the safety.We are Eco-friendly fabric manufacture but we are dare not to use the fabric for food package,slightly pollution will be occurred in dyeing and coating treatment.

If you have good idea to solve the problem,plz email me at [e-mail]

Tks & Best Regards,

Steven Chueng

[TabbyDeAnne]

This is great! I am totally doing this for my sons school lunches! Thanks!

[diamondinrough]

When heat and bond iron on vinyl came out I went to the fabric store and they showed us that you can use heat and bond and plain vinyl with the same results. It's cheaper. I wonder if you could buy a roll of the plastic that is used with the foodsaver and use the heat and bond.
Pam

[scoochmaroo]

Ooh, good tip!

[Shesu]

This is great! My Mom keeps telling us stories of her mother washing those junky cheap plastic sandwich bags (luckily my Mom doesn't do that, but she complains that she can't). I will definitely be sharing this with her. (Now to figure out how to make sure Dad brings them back home.) I do have a question though - would you wash it in the dishwasher or the washing machine?

[scoochmaroo]

I would suggest washing machine and dryer. Make up a bunch, then you don't have to wash them every day. And looking for discount fabrics or using old shirts/ jeans means that even if you accidentally throw one away, it's not a huge financial loss!

[Casualgoth]

I can see tossing them in a machine washer, but it seems like they would melt in the dryer. Is this a case of "tumble dry low/no heat" or are they fine on even the higher settings?

[naomi1431]

Hm... I wonder if this could be an umbrella upcycle project? Or if I could use an old raincoat for fabric? Would those be food safe?

[howiedowie]

excellent idea!

[generator]

 cute invention, but why not wrap a sandwich in a handkerchief? 

[scoochmaroo]

Because this is leak-resistant, whereas jelly would ooze out all over your hankerchief!

[generator]

yes yes, good point, that does happen to me often, i should do this to a couple of my sandwich-wrapping handkerchiefs.

[Doofus89]

these are brill!!! i must make one for my son =)

[kcls]

Here are the ones for the sandwich contest that I made. They all look the same, so I only put in a pic of one.

[Rlangg]

Brava! Sew the velcro! Got it.

[daugenet]

First I was REALLY excited about your instructable since I have some similar ones that I bought online.

BUT

This is not something you should eat off of. :-(

http://www.thermowebonline.com/contact_us.php

Q. Is Iron-On Vinyl food safe?
A. Due to the recent Consumer Product Safety Act of 2009 regarding the exposure of children to plastics, Therm O Web tested our Iron-On Vinyl product for full compatibility with new government regulations. Our testing found that Iron-On Vinyl contains no BPA or lead content. However, Iron-On Vinyl does utilize a plasticizer, DIDP, and even though this Phthalate is not banned by the government, as a precaution we would suggest that Iron-On Vinyl not be used on items that are meant to be chewed on or sucked on by children.

[makalove]

yeah, this concerns me. i know it's talking about things that would be chewed on or sucked on by children, but phthalates next to me food gives me the willies. thinking on this. nevertheless, thanks for this instructable, scoochmaroo! when i clicked to get here i didn't know it was yours, but when i saw your name i thought, "i should've known!" i don't think you've ever written an instructable i didn't like. ;)

[frediojoe]

I'm a child and i don't eat place mats, non of my friends do, no one dose!!!!!!!!!!!!! this is fine! u can use them and people have bean making things like this for a long time, i think we will be OK! btw i love this thax for showing us how to make this

[Brumzzz]

That Answer is about things where children should bite into or something, but I don't think a child would bite in a placemat. But it has dinosaurs, so you never know =). Great instructable, very well made =)

[botulf2000]

I get the impression that they don't recommend Iron-On Vinyl for things that children will put in their mouth. They don't say anything about using it as a wrapper. Of course, sometimes it's better to be safe than sorry, I guess.

[scoochmaroo]

Another option would be to wax the fabric instead!

[frediojoe]

good idia, i have sooooooooooooo much irn on wax its not funny, i will ask mum if i can do this wene she gets home!

[b1russell]

So, Scooch, um, where's the promised lunch bag of the reusable variety?  I mean, I only have about 5 or 6 lunch bags of various materials, sizes, and insulation factors, but - somehow - nothing is right!  I need to make my own, probably also in various sizes (appetites may vary, of course!).  Can you tell us how?  Please?  The sandwich wrap is perfect, but it needs a companion!  And maybe a bottle cozy, too?  Pretty please!

[scoochmaroo]

Keep on me about this.  I'm a busy woman! But this is a good idea :D

[shen_nanigans]

Great Idea! I was going nuts looking for PUL fabric, in store and online. Ran across this tutorial trying to find other options... heat'n bond iron vinyl looks like a huge possibility.. hoping you see this. How has the wraps been holding up?

[scoochmaroo]

So far so good!

[kadeishasims]

i love it!!!!

[Nkenga]

You can also use oilcloth as the inner liner, and you can also make your own oilcloth by painting a piece of cloth with flax seed oil, which is the same as linseed oil. There are lots of instructions on the internet about it.

[imaluma]

These are great! I have been putting off this type of project since the PUL fabrics I have found are pricey, and have limited patterns. I didn't realize I could get this fusable vinyl. Now I will make so many with all the fabric I have stocked up! Maybe some manly ones for dad!

[jbrecken]

Could you avoid the risk of ironing the plastic by pressing the hem creases first, and then putting the vinyl inside?

[meowzebub]

I congratulate you on diy of expensive boutique wraps!. The pics in your instructable are excellent; thanks. For my own version, I think I'll try the stuff they sell as oilcloth, and attach straps with velcro. I vary the bread alot. I think straps will allow me to accommodate all shapes from standard squarish slice to sliced french or even a split baguette. Also, if it needs tweaking, removing and reattaching a strap is way easier than re-sizing the whole project. Bless you for inspiring me.

[lemonie]

That is good!. Would you think greaseproof paper an effective safeguard against accidentally getting plastic on the iron? L

[scoochmaroo]

Yes! Or a Teflon sheet, which you can get at some fabrics/sewing supply stores.

[lemonie]

I have things, and now I have more ideas, thanks. L

[scoochmaroo]

Nice. I look forward to seeing the things that grow out of these ideas.