A lunch bag has to do three things: hold a lunch, keep it cool until noon, and come home. The personalised kids lunch bag does the third with a name on a large white front panel, and this guide is about the first two, because they depend on how the bag is packed as much as on the bag.
What it is
About 24 cm wide, 18 cm tall and 7 cm deep, in a durable polyester outer with a smooth matt finish, navy with a white printable panel on the front. Inside is a foil lining that helps keep food and drinks cool. A smooth zip closes it, and the top handle is sized for a child's hand rather than an adult's. It is a lunch bag, not a rucksack: it goes inside the school bag or is carried on its own.
What fits
A standard lunch box (the 1400 ml bento fits with a little room), or a sandwich box plus a piece of fruit, a yoghurt and a small snack. A 600 ml water bottle fits standing up beside a slim box, but a big bottle is better in the rucksack's side pocket. What does not fit: a full-size food flask and a lunch box together; for a hot lunch day, the food jar goes in with a small snack box rather than a full box.
How cold it stays
The foil lining slows warming; it does not make cold. Three habits do the real work:
- A small ice pack flat against the food, packed last so it sits on top. That is the difference between cool at noon and room temperature at ten.
- Chill first. A yoghurt from the fridge and a sandwich made the night before and chilled start colder and stay colder than ones made at 7.45.
- Keep the zip shut and the bag out of the sun on the peg. A lunch bag left open on a windowsill is a warm bag.
Packed like that, a chilled lunch is still cool at a normal school lunchtime. It is a lunch bag, not a cool box; do not expect it to keep ice cream.
How it washes
Wipe the foil lining with a damp cloth and a little washing-up liquid, then leave it open to dry; spot-clean the outside the same way. Do not put it in the washing machine or the tumble dryer, which crease the foil and shorten the life of the zip. A weekly wipe and an open zip overnight is what keeps it smelling of nothing.
The name
The white panel is large, so the name can be too. A first name in Block with one icon (dinosaur, football, unicorn, rocket) is the layout that reads across a cloakroom and matches the bottle and the bento if you order all three with the same name. First name only for school; add an initial if two children in the class share it.
Everything is personalised to order in Cheshire, usually dispatched within one to three working days, with free UK delivery. Because the panel carries the name you type, it cannot be returned for a spelling change. For what to put in it see packing a school lunch bag that stays cold, and for labelling everything else the name stickers.
Frequently asked questions
How big is the personalised kids lunch bag?
About 24 by 18 by 7 cm, foil-lined, with a zip and a small top handle. It takes a standard lunch box or a sandwich box, fruit, a yoghurt and a snack; a 600 ml bottle fits beside a slim box.
Does the lunch bag keep food cold?
The foil lining slows warming; a small ice pack on top of chilled food keeps a lunch cool until a normal school lunchtime. It is not a cool box.
Can the lunch bag go in the washing machine?
No. Wipe the lining and the outside with a damp cloth and washing-up liquid and dry it open. Machine washing creases the foil and wears the zip.
