Customer Reviews

Rubbermaid 3117RDSPA Litterless Juice Boxes

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have four children and they pack lunches often. I love the convenience of juice boxes, but hate the waste they create. I originally purchased two of the Rubbermaid Litterless Juice Box several years ago. One was lost (one child is notorious for that) and the other one is still going strong. They do not leak no matter what position they end up in in the lunch box. I have since purchased other brands only to be discouraged and disgusted when I have to clean juice or milk off of anything and everything in the lunch box and backpack it was housed in. I cannot locate these in my local stores and may end up ordering from Amazon. As for the straws becoming worn, I didn't have that problem. However, there was an insert in the product that told where to order extra straws for replacement. I also wash this product in the dishwasher. I put the bottle on the top shelf and the lid in the silverware basket. I always wash the straws by hand as they may get lost and melted in the dishwasher.

I've been using this for 7 months now and am very very happy with them. They don't leak as long as you tighten the lid and it is easy for my 3 and 5 yr old to open the straw.

My search to find an everyday liquid container for milk and juice was extensive.

Most other cups didn't meet my simple needs. They were too big, too heavy, suction was bad, too many hidden parts to collect goo and require qtip cleaning.

Even the alum bottles (we have been using for 3 yrs) weren't good for milk and juice. We still keep an alum bottle of water in the backpack.

These juices boxes are light, see thru and have simple parts to clean.

I incl 2 juice boxes in a lunchbox. 1 w/milk and 1 w/orange juice. The straws are still in good shape but I just reordered some from the Rubbermaid site.

Our school charges .75/day for snack time milk. So these juice boxes have paid for themselves many fold already.

My review has a point reduction because the juice box for the orange juice has an orange stain now. Rubbermaid advertises this as BPA free but still.
btw -I got these at the C*nt@in*rSt@re.

I have been using these juice boxes for years and love them. They are very durable and great for lunch boxes. My main complaint is that I can no longer buy them in the store. I've bought the off-brand version available in the store now but they are NOT worth the money. Through the years I've tried several children's cups and usually the ones that don't leak are complicated to clean or don't last long in the dishwasher. This is the only cup that I would recommend.

Background: We purchased these juice boxes for our toddler in daycare to use daily in her lunch box. We usually washed them (bottle, lids, and straws) in the dishwasher. Perhaps not the best method.

The Good: I think the boxes are a little pricey at almost $4, but they're reusable I figured it was worth the investment. These are a great size for a kid's lunch. At 8.5 ounces they're slightly more that an typical throw away juice box. My 3-year-old had no problems with flip-top straw. They work much better than the 99¢ versions you'll find at some stores because of the valve in the lid. They are not thermal and so will not stay hot or cold on their own.

Our Problems: We've bought several of these juice boxes from our local grocery stores and super-box stores. The first two were awesome, no leaking and fit in our daughter's lunch box perfectly. Then one had a straw that cracked where it attached to the lid. We chalked that up to, "It could happen to anyone." As a quick fix we tried snipped store bought straws on the lid and fudging the situation. But the store straws were just a little too narrow and often split when slipping them on. So we bought a new juice box. Within a week the lid cracked. I have no way of knowing if it was the new box or the old box as we used both daily. We cannibalized the new straw with the old box.
Eventually we bought a few extra boxes. We've had another cracked lid that we chalk up to rough toddler usage. There have been no more cracked straws. What we've had a problem with is the straw "wearing out". There's a feeder spigot/nozzle thing-y inside the lid that the straw slides onto. We keep having straws that are not snug and therefore the drink leaks out. Everywhere. Given that I've got a toddler using the boxes I cannot depend on her to place the lunch box or juice box upright every time.
Ordering replacement straws is a bit of a pain as well since Rubbermaid does not handle this directly. You must print out and mail in an order form to a third party source. A set of 10 straws costs $3 and there's a $3 S&H fee. I felt like I should order two sets to save the S&H charges, but who wants to have that many straws on hand? And is the product really worth it if you go through that many?
These boxes will also sometimes "spurt" liquid out on their own. Not with any force, it more like you pick up the bottle and there's a puddle of it on the lid. I think this has more to do with physics, than quality. The lids have a small valve and this happens as the drink inside warms to room temperature.

Our Conclusion: In the end these boxes are great until the above mentioned problems happen. So we've given up on these boxes in favor of a traditional thermos bottle.

Update 2/5/2011 - We are still using 2 of these boxes with no problem. I did buy replacement straws and it turns out the $3 covers the order plus S&H so now I've got 20 straws. As for the leaking around exterior flip straw, I was sure it was due to the interior straw not fitting well. I tried new interior straws on all and still had problems with most of them. So I ended up pitching most 4 of 6 that I owned. I'd had these less than a year & while I feel certain they've probably paid for themselves it is a shame. I do not put any parts of the drink box in the dishwasher any more.

I have used these reusable juice boxes for 5-6 years now for my children's lunch boxes. They have never leaked (except for child error when replacing it back in the lunchbox with some liquid still left inside) and they have gone through our dishwasher hundreds of times. The straws have held up for the most part, but after all these years we have had a couple that cracked and needed to be tossed. They do not retain odors of the liquids that were inside and smell fresh after running them in the dishwasher. They are perfect in every way. They save children time during lunch by not having to wait to buy a beverage at school, they reduce waste, and they save us money. Nice not to have to spend 50cents per child on a milk every day or buy expensive juice boxes. Also,our school doesn't offer organic milk, so I can still send the organic variety from home and know they are drinking a quality beverage. Originally I bought a dozen of these through the rubbermaid website, and am looking to replace a few of these now and will probably buy through amazon as it is less expensive. These juice boxes seem more expensive but they are worth it and will save money in the long run if you are buying for children's lunches (or your own)!

I have bought three of them at a local grocery store and all three of them leaked. I am disappointed.
I try to be better and not to create so much trash - tried to replace the juice boxes for my kids at school.

I was so estatic to find a drink container that is small enough for a lunch box, bpa free, easy enough for a young child to open and DOESN'T LEAK! Goodbye expensive milk and juice boxes and juice boxes (which most contain apple juice from China) - I shall never buy you again!

nice little bottle ... we use it as an ice-pack to keep lunch cool and hope it defrosts enough to be a drink at lunchtime.

I had these as a kid and was looking for them for my daughter's insulated lunchbox-- needed something compact, leak-proof just like this. Was ecstatic to finally find them, I ordered 4. 2 of them leak, 2 don't. So it can be a very inconsistent product, I am happy at least 2 work well but bummed that only 2 work well. The other 2 are usless since they leak, waste of money for those, but love the two that don't leak. So, buyer beware, great product if you luck out.

Good price. Work great. Not as big as most of them for a lunch box. Doesn't leak.