The Box From This Costco Kirkland Kitchen Essential Is Always Worth Saving. Here's Why

Plastic wrap can be one of the kitchen's most irritating tools when it doesn't work properly. That's why Costco shoppers in the know praise the Kirkland Signature Stretch-Tite Plastic Food Wrap. The product's packaging makes measuring and cutting a cinch. Its attached cutting blade cleanly slices wrap — no bunching — and doesn't fall off the box. The product has a legion of loyal fans, some of whom report these precious rolls lasting for years — over a decade for some. So if you're one of the Costco shoppers who still owns this product in its bright yellow box, we implore you not to throw that package away when you reach the end of your roll. Instead, transfer your new plastic wrap into it.

The problem is that Costco is no longer making this exact product or its coveted yellow packaging. The product link is still live on Costco's website, but it appears to have been out of stock for at least three years. If you've just run out of it and plan to head to Costco's plastic wrap aisle, you'll find only red or blue packages of Kirkland Signature plastic wrap — two different sizes — and they don't say "Stretch-Tite" on them. Sure, they come with an "Easy Cutter," that little tab that zips across your plastic wrap and slices it, but customers complain that it's just not the same as the one on the Stretch-Tite box. The new slide cutter is permanently affixed to the top of the package rather than adjustable, where you could attach it to the serrated cutting teeth on the box. Even worse, the slider doesn't stay put.

While both sizes of Costco's Kirkland plastic wrap have predominantly positive reviews, a concerning quantity of comments compare their packaging unfavorably to that of the original Stretch-Tite. One reviewer who bought the blue version (12 inches by 750 feet) noted that the packaging tore and the plastic cutter broke off before they'd used even a quarter of the roll. They availed themselves of Costco's generous return policy and got a new box, only to have the same thing happen to the replacement. Customers who bought Costco's red box of plastic wrap (12 inches by 3,000 feet) report its cutter falling off too. But the red box has an additional problem — it's notably bigger than the holy grail Stretch-Tite or the blue box, so you can't tuck it neatly into a standard kitchen drawer, no matter how well you've decluttered with the "Take 10 away method."

Other reviews of the red and blue-boxed products also describe the new plastic wrap unrolling evenly, adhering stubbornly to itself, and not sticking as effectively to dishes as the Stretch-Tite. Alas: keeping your old yellow box won't fix that part, as it's the difference between Stretch-Tite plastic wrap, made via a special extrusion process, and the conventional cling wrap Costco sells now. 

While the Kirkland Signature Stretch-Tite plastic wrap is one discontinued Costco product we're sad to see go, the red and blue boxes of Kirkland plastic wrap are still well-reviewed — just don't expect to be wowed by the packaging. And if you do still have that coveted yellow box of Stretch-Tite, reuse it as long as possible; it's a winner.