Sandwich Caddy from a Milk Jug

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By Gareth Branwyn
Posted 2012/10/07 @ 7:44 pm
Category Food & Beverage

I love all of the clever projects, usually communicated in images only, that float around Facebook and G+. This one was spotted on the Whynomics Facebook page. Sadly, most of them usually have no attribution or additional information. This pantomimed project obviously shows how to make a neat little sandwich caddy by simply cutting, scoring, and folding a gallon plastic milk jug. A Velcro dot is used as the fastener.

BY Gareth Branwyn

Gareth Branwyn is a freelancer writer and the former Editorial Director of Maker Media. He is the author or editor of a dozen books on technology, DIY, and geek culture, including the first book about the web (Mosaic Quick Tour) and the Absolute Beginner's Guide to Building Robots. He is currently working on a best-of collection of his writing, called Borg Like Me.

In the Maker Shed

17 Responses to Sandwich Caddy from a Milk Jug

J. S. Greyshade on October 7th, 2012 at 8:53 pm said:

You can see the original post and more complete directions at http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/reusable-lunch-containers-785113/ including a nifty idea to use juice cartons as well.

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- Gareth Branwyn on October 7th, 2012 at 10:06 pm said:
  
  Thanks for that link, Professor! How are you doing?
  
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William Abernathy on October 7th, 2012 at 8:55 pm said:

Nothing sticks to polyethylene for very long. The stick-on Velcro will grab its mate harder than its sticky back can hang onto the jug unless you stitch it to the plastic. Better to crimp in a snap or cut a tab-and-slot closure to make this work for more than one sandwich (or photo shoot).

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- trkemp on October 8th, 2012 at 11:15 am said:
  
  Good idea! Another (lower tech) possibility would be to make a slot and tab type fastener. It might get bent and not work if you aren’t careful, but it will probably handle getting washed better and doesn’t require any additional tools.
  
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- Jason Tardy (of AudioBody) on October 18th, 2012 at 4:51 am said:
  
  I used Duck Tape with a courtesy tab to keep mine shut. Never underestimate the power of Duck Tape!
  
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Roy Jacobsen on October 8th, 2012 at 5:08 am said:

A nifty idea, but I’d be a little concerned about keeping this sanitary. I’m not sure this sort of plastic will hold up well in a dishwasher, but I think you would want to give it a good hot-water wash after use to keep the microbes under control.

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Nikki Mans on October 8th, 2012 at 9:12 am said:

I made one of these caddy’s & packaged up some homemade cookies in them as a gift. I used E6000 to attach the velcro dot, but I like William’s idea about crimping on a snap!

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Jon Gold on October 8th, 2012 at 2:46 pm said:

Hate to be the science nerd in the room, but plastic is actually quite porous on a microscopic level. The nooks and crannies do an excellent job of holding onto bits of whatever was in contact with it, which means this repurposing of a milk container is providing a growing medium for whatever bacteria it accumulates. This is why it’s generally a bad idea to re-use plastic bags, even if you’ve rinsed them out.

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Kharma on October 8th, 2012 at 3:10 pm said:

I don’t know about your area, but in mine, those jugs have a $2 deposit. $2 can buy a much better sandwich container.

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- Terre Tulsiak on October 10th, 2012 at 4:59 am said:
  
  where is it that they have a deposit like that? very impressive if true- but what is the point really?
  
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Adel on October 8th, 2012 at 3:52 pm said:

Cool.

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Violet Picasso on October 9th, 2012 at 2:56 am said:

I think a rubber band would hold it closed just fine. I also think there’s nothing wrong with a few ambient microbes, unless you are using this container to hold an organ for transplantation.

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- Terre Tulsiak on October 10th, 2012 at 4:58 am said:
  
  thankyou!
  
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- JoAnne F on November 2nd, 2012 at 5:03 pm said:
  
  Haha…I love how you phrase that. Unless we don’t have a functioning immune system I guess we should be able to deal with a few microbes. Organ transplant certainly puts it on awhile different plane…
  
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