Along with the yearly school supply list, there are two items that are super important and needed for every school day – lunch kits and backpacks! These tend to get very well used, and even ruined from daily use, so it’s not uncommon to have to buy them at the start of every school year (hopefully not more than that!). Your kids want to look good going to school so they may be picky on the style or design, but all us parents want are items that will last so we don’t need to buy more than is absolutely necessary! Some kits and packs are better than others for cleaning and durability so they may last beyond one year of use. Let’s review.
Lunch Kits
Just think, your child will need close to 200 lunches made for them in a school year. For that reason alone you’ll need something durable. There are so many options when it comes to lunch kits. From plastic containers to fabric bags the selection is endless. But do not fret, we are here to help.
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Lunch kit considerations
- Kids love their bling, but steer clear of lunch kits that have sequins or jewels. These are not as easy to keep clean and they tend to fall off anyways.
- Avoid kits with many seams and crevices. Less pockets the better.
- Hard lunch kits protect food better than soft sides, just watch for kits with flimsy hinges and latches that can easily break
- Plastic lined lunch kits are easiest to clean – some can even just go in the dishwasher!
- Consider kits that are insulated and leak proof. Some kits expand or have room for ice packs. Ice packs help keep food safe for most of the school day (Canada & USA)
- Rigid pull out compartments (Bento style) can also be very useful to keep food organized and are easily thrown into the dishwasher. They are also the most eco-friendly as you don’t need to use single use sandwich bags (elementary – Canada & USA) (teens and adults – Canada & USA)
- Don’t buy a kit that is too large or heavy to carry along with other school bags and supplies
Sarah’s favorites:
- Bentgo Kids lunch kits – Canada & USA
- Floyfly Kids – Canada & USA
- Fit & Fresh – Canada & USA
- Yeti hard side – Canada & USA
- Insulated food jars – Canada & USA
Cleaning lunch kits
Lunch kits should be cleaned out daily and washed regularly. Have your child help empty them out and then wash anything that needs to be replaced the next day. For water bottles, throw them in the dishwasher often! And avoid buying water bottles that have straws and other areas that stay moist and can grow mold. For kits, use blue Dawn® dish soap, or Dawn® Powerwash, warm water and a cloth or scrub brush on the inside and outside of your lunch kit. Rinse well, then allow to dry. If it’s a fabric bag, then it can also be thrown in the laundry (with your kids backpack – see below) with powdered Tide® on a gentle cold water setting, and then let air dry to try to avoid any shrinking or warping if plastic containers are to fit snug inside of it.
If the kit was left way too long with something gross inside, let it sit for a few hours in the soapy water or run fabric kits through the washing machine. For plastic containers, another option is to fill them with water and a capful of bleach, but beware of any fabric as it might discolor! Make sure to rinse the plastic container very, very well after. Both methods should remove the spoiled food and stink!
Backpacks
I think we can all agree that kids carry around a lot of shit for school! So many supplies, books, binders, laptops, lunches, and personal items. The backpack they carry it all in better be able to withstand the abuse! Just like lunch kits, there are many options to buy and for all different price points, but also many affordable ones that will work. Let’s narrow it down for you.
Backpack considerations
- Appearance. Stay away from light colors as they show dirt fast!
- Size does matter. Buy the right size for the right grade. Younger years require smaller packs with less compartments than older ones who need to carry more.
- Multi compartments can be useful to organize and separate items but are a bit more effort to clean. Some come with a handy tech sleeve, check that the size is correct for your laptop / device. Some packs come with a built in charge cord – but be careful when cleaning it!
- Consider breathable mesh or ventilation if the pack will be worn for lengthy periods of time
- Water resistant lining will help with cleaning
- Side pockets are very handy for water bottles and smaller items
- Some fabrics are better than others for being rip resistant. Polyester is most common and can rip, but should last the year, where nylon is more durable if you’re looking for one that could last longer.
- Consider security as well. How accessible is the backpack to others (open vs covered zippers). Some packs even come with a lock if security is a concern.
Sarah’s favorites:
- Bentgo Kids Prints – Canada & USA
- Simple Modern – Canada & USA
- Wildkin – Canada & USA
- Skip Hop – Canada & USA
- Herschel – Canada & USA
Cleaning backpacks
Backpacks get filthy. Inside and out. And if you want it to last for the school year, and maybe even beyond, then regular cleanings are a must.
First let’s look at stains. Rule of thumb: Treat them asap. Most stains can be spot treated with Tide® Rescue. But if you’re dealing with specific stains then both of these articles can also help: Protein Stains – 3 Easy Hacks for Dealing with Protein Stains and Food Stains – 5 Cheap and Easy Hacks for Dealing with Food Stains.
Empty the pack completely, checking every compartment and pocket. Leave everything unzipped. Check the care instructions label, if there is one. Use Tide® Rescue for any spot treating. Then throw the pack in the laundry (by itself or along with your kids fabric lunch kits) with powdered Tide®, wash with cold water and let air dry rather than throw in the dryer. Do not use bleach.
Alternately for a quick clean, use blue Dawn® dish soap to either wipe or soak the backpack inside and out. Use a cloth to remove all the dirt, including the crumbs that are in the seams and crevices. Hang to air dry. It’ll look brand new!
Trust us, it is worth taking time with your kids to find the right kits and packs for the school year (and hopefully beyond!). They will head to school with confidence and perform better with their daily essentials secure and readily accessible. While you will have an easier time on the pocket book and cleaning each item. As they say, it’s the most wonderful time of the year so let’s get those kids all hyped up for school!
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- Denise @gocleanco
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gocleanco
Sep 24
Heya. 👋🏼 Sarah here. We are wrapping up Week One (Kitchen Week—the most overwhelming) of the Fall Cleaning challenge. How is it going? What have you got done? My job during these Challenges is to motivate and help educate you on the most efficient and effective ways to clean so you feel confident about moving onto the next week with us! The Cleaning Challenges get easier each time we do them as it’s a scheduled, routine deep clean that helps you stay on top of things before they get out of hand. If you deep cleaned in the Spring Challenge with us, I know (based on the hundreds of DM’s🤣) that this week felt easier because you lined the tops of your cupboards with parchment paper in the Spring! I find it hard to put into writing how cleaning can make you feel SO GOOD, satisfied and proud of your home. I can’t explain the feeling feeling until you roll up your sleeves and get to work and feel it yourself. Once one room is done, please stop and stand back and survey your work. Take a minute to feel the accomplishment in your bones. This is hard but rewarding work and you CAN do it—I will cheer you on the entire way. Keep sending me your before and afters! They make me so happy and proud of each you, I feel like I am helping clean millions of homes around the world and that’s honestly pretty cool. 😎
gocleanco
Sep 22
It’s Kitchen week of the Fall Cleaning Challenge and I can finally share my new kitchen sink from BLANCO that everyone has been asking about. I am very excited to be working with @blancoamerica1 they are THE kitchen experts and a global brand with over 95 years of experience. Head to my stories to see how I care for this beauty on the daily and how easy it is to treat stains. BLANCO is more than just sinks; they also have faucets and organizational systems (like the BOTTON) that work together as an integrated UNIT. #ad
gocleanco
Sep 19
We kicked off the Fall Cleaning Challenge by flying to Burnaby, British Columbia and cleaning our Spring Cleaning Challenge (2023) winners house! We had so much fun doing this clean. Lots of team work, planning and love was poured into this project! Getting cheered on by you folks makes it all worth it! Being able to pay our good fortune forward to our followers makes us all warm and fuzzy. Big thanks to our brand partners who generously hooked us up with so much gifted stuff for the winner. We all need to go nap for 3 days now 😂 Did you enter the Fall Cleaning Challenge so that this can be you Spring 2024?! Link in our bio or head to our website to enter. #cleaning Special thanks to @ruggable @bollandbranch @oceansalesltd @proctergamble @amazoninfluencerprogram 💕
gocleanco
Sep 15
Want to open your front door and see our smiling faces coming to clean your house? Then you better get over to bleachpraylove.com on Monday, September 18th and join the Fall Cleaning Challenge! That’s right, the Grand Prize is a house clean by yours truly and my crew. We fly to you and give your house a top to bottom clean like only we can. How does the Fall Cleaning Challenge work? Each week for four weeks follow along and clean your house with me! Plus we have soooo cool many prizes! Each week we will be giving away some of my favorite things like @bollandbranch @ruggable @sharkbeauty blow dryers, and my personal fav cold hard 💰 to help you catch up on bills, buy a new vacuum or hire someone to help you with your looming House Work if you can’t get caught up! If you want to see more of our adventure at the Spring Cleaning Challenge winners house stay tuned in stories for the next few days PLUS we are filming it all for YouTube and you can watch it all the behind the scenes dirty laundry…The good, the bad…the filthy. Love you folks. For reals. 💕 Thank you for making our job so fun! #cleaningmotivation
gocleanco
Aug 25
No visit from @hellohairhouse is complete without a kitchen haircut! #fallhairtrends
gocleanco
Aug 24
The Fall Cleaning Challenge starts on Monday Sept 18th, 2023. Y’all ready? The download will be available on September 18th and the grand prize is a house clean by yours truly! We also have some new vacuum testing coming your way 😈 My garage is FULL of suckers baby and I’m not mad about it. #fallcleaning
gocleanco
Aug 19
Update: It’s a damn ice box in here and I’ve been sleeping like a baby. #airconditioning
gocleanco
Aug 8
Perfect example that cleaning 👏🏻 is 👏🏻 home 👏🏻 maintenance 👏🏻 Take care of your stuff and it will last longer. This little handy-dandy-doo-dad scrubber is linked in my Amazon Storefront. #cleaningtips
gocleanco
Aug 3
Had fun in the angels’ city chasing fortune and fame 😎 Thanks @amazoninfluencerprogram for #hosting me. And no I didn’t get tickets to any shows this weekend but for the rest of you—take the moment and taste it. 🫶🏼
gocleanco
Jul 19
To the Salon!!!!!! (Or in this case, the laundry room.) Saved these fabulous scuffed up pumps with some @tidelaundrystainremover a cloth and some patience. Just in time for @barbiethemovie premiere! Have fun @lauren_lally always happy to be of service 🫡 #barbiethemovie
gocleanco
Jul 12
Bathroom organization top picks! Everything is in my storefront to 🛍️ #amazonfinds
gocleanco
Jul 11
Summer is here! Clean up your space so you actually want to hangout in it. That hot tub…it’s not mine…k🤦🏼♀️ Link in bio for these products, some are on sale for Prime Day, just check the albums for your country.
gocleanco
Jul 11
Robot Vacuum Fight Club! 💪🏻 Things we threw on the floor: Shreddies, Powdered Tide, (clean) Cat Litter, A crumbled up loaf of sourdough and good old dirt! Stay tuned for the results. 🧐 #thiswasmorefunthaniexpected
gocleanco
Jul 8
Spent my morning making a very aesthetically pleasing Raspberry Pie Reel for y’all but it ended up being a Raspberry Scramble 🥴💀 Wasn’t gonna post it BUT when life feels like a scramble it can still be delicious. 🤌🏼🤌🏼🤌🏼 Please consider this my official petition to bring @jello back as a dessert staple.
gocleanco
Jul 7
Shower tracked destroyed with built up hard water minerals? Here’s an easy solution with a simple house hold ingredient and elbow grease. Still gonna take some scrubbing friends, good results take work. #cleaningtips
gocleanco
Jul 6
Is pressure washing considered a form of therapy? Asking for a friend. #backupvocalsduuuuuuuuupe
gocleanco
Jun 29
Years in the making…it’s FINALLY here…and it’s a masterpiece. Over the years I have received thousands of DM’s asking what to pick when renovating your home. What is the easiest to clean? What will survive the test of time? So I compiled it all here in our Home Renovation Guide. Apologies for taking so long but we kept adding and it kept getting longer and longer. This has been a labour of love. Link in bio to purchase or tap to shop! #itsbeenalongtimecoming
gocleanco
Jun 21
Sounds like a lot of you have slime problems. Here’s how we got it out! Sprinkle baking soda on the slime and smush it down into the carpet fibres so it gets in deep. Add straight vinegar and let it sit for about 30 mins. Scrub it with a brush. Repeat until it’s gone! When you repeat, you need to let it sit each time for 30 mins so it starts to break down the slime. We scrubbed for 30 mins too, don’t give up! Think about how expensive the damn carpet is to replace and that will give you lots of energy! As always: It is a good idea to test an inconspicuous spot first (like in a closet) before try you so this because all carpets are different. Try at your own risk but also if you have dried slime all over your carpet I think you are screwed anyways. GOOD LUCK and report back. #slime #slimetoturial
gocleanco
Jun 18
I’m a simple creature. Here’s the haul I promised from the viral sweater set. Yellow usually isn’t my colour but I’m feeling it the most! Wearing a medium, it’s machine washable but I have been laying it flat to dry. Everything is linked in my bio and up in my stories. #amazonfinds
gocleanco
Jun 17
If you thought I was going to miss an opportunity to use this bop, you were wrong. Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads out there, reminder that a clean tractor is a sexy tractor. @kubotacanada if you wanna detail this thing next year LMK. 🚜 🧽 🫧😎