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We’ve been talking a lot over the past few weeks about lunch box possibilities for back-to-school. Thanks to Pinterest and Foodie, I’ve put together quite a nice collection of ideas from which to draw inspiration over the coming months. But what to do about those foods that need to stay cold before lunch? Not being able to send those items removes a good chunk of fun foods that my daughter loves (such as yogurt…she is a yogurt connoisseur!). It turns out that the solution is simple and only requires some Palmolive, a bit of rubbing alcohol, and a quart size freezer bag.
Dish Soap Uses: DIY Ice Pack
Palmolive and rubbing alcohol make a beautiful combination for this particular life hack because when they join forces, they will not freeze into a solid block. However, they will make this really cold gel that will be perfectly pliable for sticking in a lunch box, or should you need it for boo boos, for applying to an injury.
Ok, so let’s get started. Do you have your ingredients ready? You need Palmolive Ultra Dish Soap, rubbing alcohol and quart size freezer bags.
Start by measuring out 1 cup of Palmolive Ultra Dish Soap. You can use any color Palmolive that you want to customize it. I went for this snazzy Passion Fruit because of the fun pink color; I knew Darah would love it! And bonus…IT SMELLS AMAZING so I’m more than happy to use the leftovers in the kitchen!
Pour the Palmolive into the quart-size freezer bag. Now add 1/4 cup rubbing alcohol. Using your hands (and NOT a straw…trust me, breathing in alcohol fumes is a bad idea), try to get out as much of the air as possible.
Now give the bag contents a little squishing to get everything mixed up. Then place it inside your freezer laying flat.
Your ice pack will be ready to use in a few hours! When you child brings it home from school in the afternoon, back in the freezer it goes to be ready for you to use the following day.
More Ways to Use Palmolive
The DIY ice pack is such a great alternative use for Palmolive for anyone out there who needs to brown bag a lunch, or who wants to be prepared for when anyone in the house gets bumped or bruised and could use something to help with the swelling. But there are other great ways to use Palmolive that you should check out, too. Be sure to buy at least 3 bottles while you are at Walmart: 1 for your ice pack, 1 for your dishes, and 1 for one of the other #Palmolive25Ways uses you’ll find from the link above! Palmolive Dish Soap is “tough on grease, but soft on hands” and that’s what makes it such a versatile product. I LOVE when I can find things that will multi-task for me and handle lots of different jobs. That save me time AND money.
Sweepstakes!
Palmolive is a fantastic dish soap for so many reasons. Just browse the dish soap aisle the next time you are at Walmart and see if you don’t want to put at least 4 different Palmolive dish soaps in your cart due to all the amazing varieties they offer! Palmolive is also a wonderful choice because they know how to celebrate WITH their customers. That’s why you need to check out their latest sweepstakes so you can enter to win a $2,000 Walmart gift card, as well as other fun weekly prizes.
Let me know if you give the ice pack a try. And PLEASE let me know if you win that $2,000 Walmart gift card! 🙂
I would probably seal the bag with clear packing tape to prevent curious kids from opening it.
Perhaps there is a way to do this with a vacuum seal bag where all the edges are sealed so child cannot open like they can with a ziploc style bag. I personally only have a hand held vac seal that you use with the ziploc style bags, but have seen online where people do use the regular vac seal types with “liquidy” things, where they put a little paper towel towards the last raw edge before sealing to aid in the liquid not being sucked toward the sealed edge. Maybe it would work and maybe it would be a disaster, but for the ones concerned about little ones opening it (my 7 year old would totally do the same), you might give it a go to see if it would work.
Do you have a tip for keeping it sealed? One of my boys is mischievous and I can just see him opening it in the cafeteria and making a mess. Have you had this issue?
Ha ha! I’ve got two little girls…a world of difference from little boys, I know! My only thought is to double seal it by putting the bag within another bag. That might buy enough time for a teacher to realize what he’s doing if he starts messing with it? Put the seals on opposite ends from each other, too.
About how long will it stay cold?
I just made a pink one for my daughter and a green one for my son to put in tomorrow’s lunch boxes! Fingers crossed!
Yay! I hope they help out!
What?! This is genius! I am having a tough time finding ice packs that stay cold AND fit in my son’s lunch box. Your timing is perfect as he heads off to Kindergarten in a few weeks! #client
I would have never known to do that. Thanks for sharing ~ so neat!