This Dollar Tree Find Will Permanently Replace Your Annoying Plastic Wrap

Plastic wrap (also known as cling wrap) is helpful for storing leftovers and other food that needs to be covered — whether in the refrigerator, on your countertop, or at an event like a barbecue or party. But it's also one of the more annoying items in your kitchen to use, requiring a precise combination of wrist action and air movement anticipation just to get it onto a container without sticking to itself. You can prevent this frustrating problem by keeping your plastic wrap in the fridge – but you can sidestep it altogether by ditching the clingy stuff for Sure Fresh Bowl Covers from Dollar Tree.

The clear, round cover-ups look like mini shower caps and easily slip over the tops of bowls to help keep the food fresh and contaminants out. While they are disposable, they are more eco-friendly because they can also be washed and reused. The 17-count variety pack from Dollar Tree includes four 8.5-inch covers, seven 14-inch ones, and six 16.5-inch covers – all for $1.50. The covers can be used with plates, jars, bottles, and bowls, though be aware that some shoppers have had trouble finding them in stores. They can also be ordered online, but only in a minimum of 48 boxes for $72.

"They are just about the handiest thing ever," wrote one Dollar Tree customer in their review of the Sure Fresh Bowl Covers. "I don't care how easy they try to make it [plastic wrap] in the ads: it's rarely simple to get it to fit the bowls well. I bake bread, and popping one of these little shower cap knockoffs on ... is really wonderful." The Sure Fresh Cover-Ups from Dollar have some other benefits that give them a leg up over plastic wrap, too. They avoid the experience we've all had of mistakenly cutting off a piece of wrap that was wastefully too big or small and had to be tossed to get another. The elastic around the bottom also helps do a better job of holding in spills, and fits snugly around bowls for uses like proofing dough, while the compact box they come in also takes up a lot less space in your kitchen drawers or pantry than those long rolls of wrap. 

But even if you shop at Dollar Tree at the best times and avoid the worst, there could be occasions when you can't find the bowl covers and need some interim alternatives. Cotton fabric bowl covers with elastic rims are available that are also friendly to the environment because they can be tossed in the washing machine and reused. Another possibility are stretchy silicone lids that expand to fit a range of sizes with an airtight seal and can go in the dishwasher. A natural choice that can be a good substitute for plastic wrap is beeswax wrap, made by coating cotton cloth with beeswax. They are reusable with simple hand washing, and when they're eventually discarded, they are biodegradable. Other options include using clean dish towels to cover bread or a plate of baked goods like cookies or brownies, or placing a plate turned upside down on top of a bowl.