Most of us have seen the TV Ads for the Smart Spin™Storage System. They looked nice and when we saw them in our local Wal-Mart store at a few dollars less than the TV offer, we bought a set.

I'm a storage container freak, you might say. I love these things and have a metal storage cabinet in the utility room dedicated to my collection. I was happy to add this new collection to these brothers and sisters.

Setting the Storage System Up
The box contains:
8--24oz. containers
8--16oz. containers
8--8 oz. containers
24-lids that fit all the containers
an instruction folder in English &/or French
1-- interesting matte grey turntable
8--matte grey stack guides

The turntable is set permanently on an 11-inch square base, with rounded corners. It has sockets on the spin top in which you insert the flexible stack guides. The directions take you through the process, but it's easy to figure out.

When all guides are snapped in, you have 4 divisions in which to store your containers and lids.

The containers come stacked with protective strips that you'll need to remove. These keep the containers from rattling together when they were shipped.

Then merely take each stack and set them, upside down, into the divisions (any way you wish) They are all the same size at the top (which goes down).

Voila! 5 minutes from opening the box and you're ready to rumble.

The Turntable
As I mentioned above, it is an attractive matte grey finish and takes up an 11" square space.

There are 4 green felt pads on the underside and it spins easily with just a tiny scraping sound. The best part is that it also pulls forward so it's unencumbered. and this feature makes it handier to access the containers and lids.

The Containers
I liked them immediately because they are made of that translucent, slightly flexible, plastic material. The openings are 4" at the top and they all have grooves down the sides for easily gripping them.

The bottoms show they are made in China and are recyclable.

The directions call for a storage shelf that can accommodate 8 7/8" in height for this unit, so you can base just how many of the large and medium containers you put in the carousel -- so the height of the stacks do not exceed that measurement.

If you don't want to exceed that height, you'd need to remove 3 of the 8oz. containers and 2 of the 24oz. ones and either set them separately on a shelf or sneak the smaller ones below the lid pile and the 16oz. containers. But my shelf is 13" high so I had no problem putting all the containers into their slots.

All of the containers have graduated measurements marked on one side, but unless you have wonderful eyesight, you'll never use them. I wish they had been marked in black or red so I could utilize this feature.

The Good, the Bad, the Indifferent
Good:
Dishwasher Safe
Microwavable
Freezer rated (?) that's what it says
Refrigerator friendly and stackable
Translucent, so you can figure out what's in them
Lids fit all containers, snap on with a definite click, and there's a groove (to save your fingernails) to make them easily removable.

Bad:
You know what? I can't think of anything bad about these, except, as I said, the unreadable measurements. Some have said the guides are flimsy and cheap, but I see them as being flexible, sturdy, and just what the containers need.

Indifferent:
How can I be indifferent about these containers? They are a great addition to my kitchen and I truly like them.

Winding Down, at last
One warning the company gave was to remove the lid when heating something in the microwave. This is a given, actually, but needed to be said.

I think using the top shelf of the dishwasher is a safer way to go - and these containers wash beautifully in mine.

I use these mostly for leftovers and I love having the choice of sizes, the convenience of a lid that's there, and just handling these containers is, somehow, is esthetically pleasurable to me.

In a family situation, the smallest containers would be great to pack something like applesauce into a child's lunch bag. They are not touted as being totally spillproof, so keep that in mind.

I think they'd be great, also, for storing hobby materials, like beads or fishing lures. I'm sure as time goes by I'll think of many other uses for these great containers.

As much as I like these, I will NOT throw away my other storage containers. I weeded them out a bit, and got rid of the no/lids ones, etc., but you can't store a large stew or a roast, for instance, in these containers.

I love the SmartSpin™Storage System, for all the above mentioned reasons and because it suits my need for organizational ideas.

I highly recommend this great system to those of you who may need help in the storage containers department in your household.

Thanks for reading,

Lorace
©2005

www.smartspin.com






Recommended: Yes