The cardboard trick keeps sandwiches intact

The cardboard trick keeps your sandwich bread from getting squished, and it costs nothing.

Every squished sandwich is the same story: something heavy sits on top of the bag, and the pressure finds the soft middle of the bread. Foil and plastic wrap don’t spread out that force at all.

Fix it by cutting a piece of thin cardboard, like a cereal box side, slightly smaller than your sandwich, and lay it on top inside the bag or container. It spreads the pressure across the crust, and the whole sandwich holds its shape. Same physics as putting a book under a wobbly table.

If you’re bagging lunch daily, just get a hard sandwich container sized to the bread. And pack the sandwich last, on top of the applesauce and chips, so nothing heavy sits on it all morning.

Sturdy bread helps too. Sourdough or lightly toasted bread shrugs off the backpack shuffle; soft white bread is basically a sponge in a bag.

Future sandwiches deserve better than bread soup.