Non-insulated lunchbox for school

[Janek]

My dd2 will be starting school in september, and based on my experience with dd1 of her insulated lunchbox getting quite manky, quite quickly, despite going in the washing machine fairly frequently, i wanted to get a plastic one this time, but it seems this is an impossible dream!

The criteria are:
Handle for carrying
Solid so can be washed up, not squidgy so needs washing machine
Big enough for her lunch + drink (we found some lovely blafre ones, but they were nowhere near big enough - why do they even exist?!?)

Can anyone help?

If you don't want insulated anyway are you allowed to use brown paper bags?

I still remember my plastic one (80's) and the constant taint of manky yogurt which seemed to pervade the sandwiches ?

Not much help sorry!

Why must drink be inside, at our school they nearly all bring separate water bottles in. Any size will do you without need for drink inside.

these?

Adsda has the kind you need in at the min. Or home bargains also has them but they are character so poss a bit too young

www.amazon.co.uk/Lunchbox-Pearlised-Plastic-White-Handle/dp/B001ENBC9U/ref=sr_1_1?s=outdoors&ie=UTF8&qid=1376810478&sr=1-1&keywords=girls+plastic+lunch+box

eBay have them.

Thanks powerhoop i had seen those, but they seem a bit old-fashioned and i don't want them to be social pariahs, i just don't like manky lunch boxes. I'll try asda and home bargains, thanks for that mrsslc

And lljkk the accepted protocol is bottle-inside-lunchbox. If it weren't in there it would be a third thing to get to school/sort out on arrival, much more likely to get lost and it would cause havoc at lunchtime if everyone had to find a lunchbox and a bottle, instead of just a lunchbox. A more reasonable question would have been 'why do you need a lunchbox which fits a bottle as neither of your dds ever drinks anything anyway?'...

Yes they do tot. Thank you. I feel silly now .

they do personalised ones too

my son takes a Tiffin tin op. no where to store juice but two years of use and going strong. His friends think its cool and rice cakes fit in it.perfectly which he loves

I was wondering what that whiff was last year!

I bought dd an insulated lunch box for P.1 as i thought it would keep things cool and fresh. But half way through the year, it started to smell really bad. I scrubbed it with Flash, put it through the washing machine but nothing helped.

I've just went and spent £10 on another insulated one for P.2. So i can expect the pong to resurface?

I'll be keeping an eye on this thread.

I am really pleased with the Kidzpod lunchbox I got DD. On phone, so can't link, but think it meets your criteria - easy to google them. I put in a small ice pack if it's warm.

I am also looking, having had an expensive Thermos one break and I agree they are hard to keep clean.
The sistema ones look good but they don't get great reviews.
www.amazon.co.uk/Sistema-Slimline-Quaddie-Lunch-Aqua/dp/B002KKCLPA

Ta da! The Kidzpod. And no, I don't work for them!

Pannacotta they have Sistema stuff on offer in Sainsbury's at the moment - I had a look and a play with one and really struggled with the hinge/clips so didn't buy it. Not sure how patient a hungry child would be with them!

Thanks OldRoan, my DSs are neither patient nor good with fiddly clips so that doesn't sound like a goer for us.
Wonder if anyone can recommend an alternative...

The Sistema lunch cube is good - less fiddly than the quaddie and they stock it in Sainsbos usually with the bakeware. No handle though.

this one

I've gone for Monbento with a drawstring bag to fit drinks bottle napkins, small pots, little cutlery - I had enough of the local snotty parents ignoring my DDs over the holidays so we're going nucleur with Back-to-school trends.