When Lunchbots Bentos were first available in Australia, there were very few other options. They were one of the first stainless steel lunch boxes we ever stocked. They may have actually been THE first. There were times where there was an Australian Distributor and there were other times where we used to import them directly via air freight, which pushed the price of these up. Now these types of lunch boxes are available from Australian brands like Ever Eco. We even have a blog on the comparison between Ever Eco & Lunchbots because they are so similar.

Over the years, they changed shape and changed their lids. In the effort to have coloured lids, there were problems with the first ones and then problems with the second ones too. In this blog post we will explain the difference and help you troubleshoot any issues you might have with them, whether is an old Lunchbots you have or another brand that looks similar.

Lunchbots Bentos painted lids peeling

We were sent this photograph recently from a Facebook group where someone very eco savvy was giving away some old Lunchbots that they didn't need anymore. They had lasted her children the whole way through school. As you can see, they lost a lid along the way (5 lunch boxes and only 4 lids) but the painted lids, the blue one in particular, has lost most of its paint.

We have seen old stainless steel water bottles look like this too. Dents in the bottom and on the sides, paint peeling off and scratched but still perfectly functional. This is why we only sell stainless steel water bottles we can get spare lids for, because the bottles outlive the lids by a significant period of time.

Back in the day, 10-15 years ago, the paint wasn't as advanced, and once you put something in the dishwasher or knock it around, the paint starts to peel off. Even the earliest incarnations of Klean Kanteen weren't immune to this issue, but their paint work is excellent now.

As time went on, Lunchbots recognised that the paint wasn't staying on the lids for the length of time they wanted, because, as you can see, the owner of these sent their child through their entire school life with the same set of bento lunch boxes, but the paint did not last anywhere near that long.

I suspect, possibly a combination of washing in the dishwasher, but more than likely, just general wear and tear did this. Lunchbots recognised the issue and made a change.

Lunchbots Bentos swapped to plastic clip on lid covers

In 2016, the stock we started to receive in to our warehouse from Lunchbots swapped from the painted lids to lids with plastic clip on covers. While they look great, there was an issue with these too that we spent some time troubleshooting and then educating our customers.

The natural instinct when having a lunch box like this is to remove the plastic cover, and then place the stainless steel raw lid and the base of the bento box in the dishwasher to clean it and when it's dry, put the cover back on. The problem is, they're not easy to get on and off, and once they're off, they can be incredibly difficult to get back on. You see, if you leave them on, when you wash the lid, little bits of water can get trapped between the plastic and the stainless steel lid. I totally understand the urge to remove it to wash them, but they were never designed that way.

In the past, we had several crack and customers just taking them off and leaving them off because they were too much trouble to get on and off. Our advice is if you still own one of these, wash the inside of the lid by hand and don't be in the habit of placing it in the dishwasher or allowing it to sit in water for an extended period of time. They now advertise that the dots covers can be washed while still attached to the lid, and perhaps there has been a design change since we had them in our warehouse. We haven't had our hands on one of these for at least 6 to 8 years now.

Which Lunchbots Bentos came with the coloured lids?

In the stainless steel bento range, there's large, medium & small.

  • LARGE are approx 960ml capacity and come in a 3 compartment and 5 compartment
  • MEDIUM (the originals) are approx 600ml capacity and come in a 1 compartment, 2 compartment, 3 compartment and 4 compartment
  • SMALL are approx 470ml and come in a 2 compartment and 4 compartment

The SMALLs have only ever had a plain silver lid. The MEDIUM and LARGE have coloured lids. Only select colours were available in Australia.

Lunchbots Bentos - are they leakproof?

No, the SMALL, MEDIUM & LARGE bento lunch boxes from Lunchbots are not leakproof. They do have a snug lid, but they're not designed to be storing liquids. Don't worry, if you're carrying dressing or sauces, the Lunchbots Dips fit right inside any compartment of any Bento sized Lunchbots.

The Lunchbots Rounds are a larger round snack pot (available in two sizes) and these are leakproof along with the Lunchbots Thermals which is their insulated food jar.

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