Shipping over $50
If you're asking this, a backpack probably came home wet this week. Or the old plastic box smells like Monday's lunch, no matter how often it goes through the sink.
Either way, you want the next one to be the last one you'll need.
A stainless steel one. Uncoated inside, with a seal that holds.
Not because steel looks nicer, though it does. Because it handles the three things a kids' lunch box gets asked to do. Keep the food in. Keep the smells out. Survive being dropped.
Why not just buy another plastic box?
You can, and plenty of families do.
The trouble usually starts a few months in. Plastic holds on to smells, and it stains. Forget a box in the backpack over a long weekend and you know the rest.
Then there's the question about BPA, which comes up in every parents' group at some point.
With an uncoated steel box, that question is short. Your child's food touches nothing but 18/8 stainless steel. No coating, no BPA, nothing to flake off. And steel doesn't keep yesterday's smell.
We don't ask you to take that on trust. The box is independently tested for lead under the US CPSIA, and we retest every year. The current report is on our certificates page, free to download, no form.
The longer answer, microwave included: Are stainless steel lunch boxes safe?
Will the backpack stay dry?
Yes. The silicone seal closes with a snap and holds. That includes a morning on its side under a math book. Yogurt, sauce, dressing. It stays in the box.
The backpack comes home dry. The apple slices are still apple slices, not apple slices in ranch.
Can I pack soup in it?
Thick food travels fine. Chili, stew, pasta in sauce. Clear broth travels upright.
The box isn't insulated either, so a hot lunch is a job for an insulated food jar. We'd rather say that here than have you find out at noon.
How to pack it hot and keep it that way: two stew recipes for the insulated food jar.
Which size fits a school backpack?
All three. There are three sizes, 27 oz, 40 oz and 47 oz, and the smallest weighs under a pound. It measures 6.69 × 4.72 × 2.36 in and lies flat in the bag.
The little ones don't notice it's there.
Inside, two removable steel dividers make up to three compartments. A sandwich in one, apple slices in the next, crackers in the third. Nothing touches, and the dividers move in seconds.
And yes, a tray of cake fits too. We have the photo to prove it.
Can small hands open it?
Yes. Two latches on the sides, and they work for smaller hands. They close with a snap you can hear, so nobody has to guess whether it's shut.
The edges are rounded. No sharp rim, nothing to catch a finger on.
Can it go in the dishwasher?
All of it. Box, lid and seal. Take the seal out once a week so it dries fully, and that's the whole care routine.
Steel doesn't stain and doesn't keep the smell. The box that comes out looks like the box that went in.
The long version is in our lunch box care guide.
What happens when the seal wears out?
You buy a seal. Not a new box.
A spare seal is already in the box when it arrives. After that, every wearing part is sold separately: seals, dividers, latches. Material and workmanship are covered by a 3-year limited warranty on top.
That's the point of the whole thing. One lunch box. All the way through school.
Stainless Steel Lunch Box
The stainless steel lunch box for adults that survives a real commute. Two removable dividers...
Get YoursCan I put my child's name on it?
Yes. Picture the coat room at daycare. Twenty bags on one hook, and two lunch boxes inside look exactly alike. One has her name on it. That's the whole argument.
The name is lasered into the steel, so it doesn't wash off or wear off. Two fonts, and on the lunch box you choose between four positions.
Order by 1 PM PT and we engrave it the same day, in our own facility in CA.
Positions, fonts and the one thing you cannot undo: engraved water bottles and lunch boxes, how it works.
One thing to know before you type: engraved boxes can't be returned. Everything else in the shop has 60 days. So check the spelling twice, then the position.
Try her name in the preview first. Type it, look at it, take it out again. Nothing is ordered until you say so.
The matching question for the bottle: What's the best water bottle for kids?
