The Arrow Plastics line of household products are nothing new to me. I’ve been using them for years now and have nothing but great things to say about them. Be it their divided plates or their cool plastic cutlery sets, the low cost and extreme durability are what keep me coming back to their products over and over again. One of the simplest yet most versatile product they offer is their 16 ounce bowl. In at five and a half inches wide and an inch and three quarters deep, it is the perfect size for snacks, small salads and kid sized portions. I’ve had the best luck finding these at Wal-Mart in the house wares section but from time to time they pop up in the seasonal plastics section [picnic section] as well. I’m not sure why, but some stores are charging .59 cents for them and others .89 cents. Either way, you are getting a real bargain. These bowls will outlast the hard plastic bowls as well as the designer ones that cost you an arm and a leg.

For The Younger Crowd

These bowls are great for those that are just getting into the wonderful world of food. Since the bowl is only and inch and three quarters deep, kids can reach into it without tipping it over and making a mess. The ribbed bottom portion of the bowl allows them to grip it easily if they suddenly decide that there is something more interesting in the other room. These bowls are literally indestructible – they’ve been stepped on, dropped, left out in the afternoon sun and subjected to a lot of use by my boys and the only noticeable wear on them is the bottom of the bowl. The bottoms tend to get scratched up and marred from forks and spoons being scraped on them but outside of that – they have held up nicely over the years.

Colors

The usual colors that you will find include red, blue and yellow [primary colors] but from time to time you might be able to come across seasonal colors like green or purple. I’ve not seen the seasonal colors at my local Wal-Mart but the primary ones are always on hand. If you get bored with the usual colors you can spruce them up with t-shirt paints or acrylics – just make sure you coat them with a sealer or all you effort will wash down the drain.

Alternative Uses

Once the bowls get too beat up to be used for food but there’s still nothing wrong with them I use them for other things around the house. Since we have a lot of animals I like to keep the older bowls for their food or snacks – yes – my pets get snacks as well. Since the bowls are very light I had to find a way to keep them in a fixed position or have the two big dumb dogs push them all over the kitchen floor. Velcro worked for a while until I needed to wash them out. Ultimately I attached magnets to them [the magnets that come with double sided tape works best] and that solved the problem rather quickly. The bowls are also great for holding paint, starting seeds for flowers or plants, loose change, water bottle caps and of course stray Lego bricks.

Things To Know

These bowls come unpackaged so make sure you pick up one that has a bar code sticker on the bottom of them or you might have to wait in line for one of the infamous, time sucking price checks. Be sure to wash the bowl before you use it because you never know what it has come in contact with while in transit or while sitting on the shelf.

I really don’t suggest these for extremely hot foods like soup or gravy. I doubt that it would actually melt the bowl but it might make it so hot that the heat will travel through the plastic [super heating] and burn little hands and fingers. I don’t microwave my bowls or use them in the dishwasher however several of my friends have done so without any problems. Since these are sold without a package, there’s no place to put the microwave or dishwasher advice so you’ll have to experiment with them if you are really curious.

Cleaning these bowls is a breeze and so far I haven’t had anything stick to them – even mashed potatoes or macaroni and cheese. I suggest that you don’t use an abrasive scrubbing pad on these since it will leave small scratches on the finish but after a few months of use you will have scratches from silverware or cutting up food anyway. The only time I had to actually retire a bowl to the garbage was when I found one buried at the bottom of the refrigerator with moldy grapes [when the bowl and contents were found they were raisins, not grapes] in it. There was no way I was going to stand there and fling the dried up grapes in the garbage and then sandblast off the multitude of layers of mold. For less than a dollar, I’ll pick up a replacement ….

The Bottom Line

For less than a dollar [.59 to .89 cents in most cases] you can pick up some very sturdy bowls for snacks, cereal, mashed potatoes, pudding or oatmeal. The colors are bright and cheery and if you plan on buying a lot of them they also stack nicely. Arrow Plastics sure knows how to make products that last and I highly recommend this bowl to anyone with kids in the house!


As always, thanks for the read!

^V^ Freak ^V^

© 2003 Freak369



Related reviews …

Arrow Plastic Divided Plate with Cover
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Arrow Plastic Anyware Sectional Tray
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Recommended: Yes