When it comes to reducing waste in the kitchen, silicone bowl covers are a great idea. But do silicone stretch lids work?
I am trying to live a more sustainable life and do my bit to combat climate change. One way to achieve this is by swapping single-use household items for reusable ones.
Cling film is one of these items that is very useful, but also wasteful, because you use it and then throw it away.
Reusable silicone bowl covers are one way to replace cling film and reduce waste in the kitchen, while still keeping food fresh.
I have been using reusable silicone lids for a while now and thought I’d share my experience with you and answer the question: do silicone stretch lids work?
How Do Silicone Stretch Lids Work?
Like cling film, silicone lids wrap tightly around a bowl, jar or glass to seal it and keep food fresher.
But because these lids are made of silicone and are thicker, they can be cleaned and reused, which will reduce your plastic waste in the kitchen quite a lot.
Also, the properties of silicone are such that the lids will create suction, which will make sure that the food is contained safely in the bowl.
You can even put such a lid over a glass of juice and if you turn it around, it will stay on and the juice stays in the glass, that’s how strong the suction they produce is.
That makes these covers stronger than cling film.
This suction also allows these lids to form an airtight barrier between the food and the outside world. That’s why it will keep your food fresher.
So not only will using silicone covers reduce your plastic waste, but you also get a stronger product.
Are They Worth Buying?
Now that we know how these lids work, let’s delve into the question of do silicone stretch lids work and are they worth getting?
In my opinion, they certainly work and are worth buying, because it will save so much plastic waste compared to using cling film.
And it will also save you money, as you only have to buy them once, and then you can reuse them for years to come.
But there are some things you should look out for before buying a set of stretchy bowl covers.
Size Matters
I bought a set of five silicone lids years ago from Betterware. And while they worked fine for some bowls and jars, often they would be too big or too small.
The covers are of good quality and fairly thick, which is good, but it does also mean that they don’t stretch as well. Also, because there is only one lid per size, I ran out of lids more often than not.
As a result, I did still have to buy cling film, which wasn’t ideal.
So last year, I did some research and bought a 12-piece set, which has 6 different sizes and two lids per size.
While these new ones are still strong and robust, they are thinner, which means they stretch more and are therefore more versatile.
And that’s key if you want to get rid of cling film in your kitchen once and for all. Because you have to be able to use the silicone lids for every bowl, jar, glass, pot, etc. you have in your kitchen.
I even use them on fruits, such as pineapples, melons, onions, etc. to keep them fresh once I have cut them. And this works really well.
They even fit over square and rectangular bowls, which makes them even more versatile.
So make sure that you get a set that has a good variety of sizes and more than one lid per size.
Material Is Important
When you buy a set of bowl covers, make sure that they are made of food-grade silicone, which means they’re made from non-toxic polymer.
Because you use these lids with foods, you want to make sure that they are safe and won’t contaminate it.
That’s why you should look out for lids that are BPA-free, which is an industrial chemical that has been shown to seep into food, when coming in contact with it.
And while low levels of this chemical are supposed to be harmless, I would recommend looking for silicone lids that don’t contain BPA, just to be sure.
Another important trait the material of your chosen lids should have is a good resistance to extreme temperatures.
Because this means you can use the bowl covers in the microwave, the oven and the freezer.
This will make them even more useful.
How Do You Clean Silicone Covers?
One thing I was very interested in was how you clean these silicone covers. That’s why I thought I include this section in my article to answer the question: do silicone stretch lids work?
The good news is that if they can be used in the oven and freezer, they are also dishwasher safe. So you just pop them in and the work is done.
That makes it very easy to clean them. I normally leave them on the drying board to dry off when they come out of the dishwasher.
I have only one complaint: often the force of the water in the dishwasher throws them off the racks, and they end up in the bottom of the dishwasher.
This means it has to be put in again. However, that is a small thing that doesn’t cause much of an issue.
And they are also quite easy to clean by hand, so if you don’t have a dishwasher, then there is no issue either.
I find it easiest to let them air dry though.
Advantages Of Silicone Stretch Lids
Now that we have answered the question of do silicon stretch lids work, let’s have a look at some of the best features of these covers.
One thing I really love is that they are tight enough to allow bowls covered by them to be stacked. This saves so much space in the fridge.
Especially when you have done a big meal with lots of different dishes and there are many leftovers.
The versatility is another huge advantage. Once I had a good selection of different sizes and also more than one lid per size, I could really ditch the cling film.
The stretchiness of the covers allows them to be used with any container, no matter the shape.
Admittedly, it can take a bit of trial and error to find the right one for the container in hand. But with time you get a feel of which lid will fit which bowl or pot.
My favourite thing about my 12-piece set is that each size has a different colour. So I can quickly pick the right size of lid I need.
So not only do these lids help me to reduce my plastic waste in the kitchen, they are also super useful and make my life easier.
Recommended 12-Piece Silicone Bowl Cover Set
While the stretch lids I bought are no longer available, these are practically the same, the only difference is that they aren’t different colours per size.
- Don't need to hunt for your size: If you always seem to have miscellaneous jars and containers that don't have lids. This reusable silicone lids provides various size for most containers. Stretchable and seal silicone lids fit every bowl, glassware, jar, food can, watermelon(round, square, odd-shaped), cantaloupe or other fruits and vegetables. They stay on tight. Water in a vase turned upside down left nary a drip;
- Health and safety: Silicone food wrap are made of food grade silicone, imported high quality silicone, harmless, complying with LFGB safety certificate. You can simply put the silicone lid on to cover your food and heat it up in the oven or microwave;
- Easy to use: Silicone bowl covers are so easy to slip on and you don't have to change containers to put a lid on something. The lids are see-thru and clear in color for easy viewing of what is in which bowl in refrig and freezer.easy for you to find the vegetables or tastes you're looking for, no time wasted on guess work;
- Easy to clean and store away: Silicone suction lids are made of silicone so clean up nicely and hard to be stainable. microwave safe, dishwasher and freezer safe.These lids are also very easy to store since they as so malleable - not stiff like other.they fit perfectly and are even stackable in the fridge.you can place another lite weight item on top without it collapsing into dish.
But it’s a 12-piece set with six different sizes which will fit a wide range of containers.
The lids are made from food-grade silicone and free of any BPA, so they are safe to use to keep your food fresh.
They can also withstand a high temperature range, which means you can use them in the oven, the microwave, the freezer and the dishwasher.
If you use the correct size for a container, they will create an airtight seal, so there won’t be any leakages.
Conclusion
To conclude this article I can answer the question: do silicone stretch lids work with YES.
Because they are so versatile, they will easily replace cling film in your kitchen and help you to reduce your plastic waste.
With six different sizes, they will fit most containers, no matter what size or shape they are.
If you want to live a more sustainable life and save money doing it, then I can really recommend swapping your cling film for silicone covers.
