Drinks – fruit juice and water refresh and restore energy. They also quench your thirst better than soda.

Snacks – Fruit such as grapes, Oranges, or Apples. These don’t make you sluggish and help to alleviate your thirst. Granola Bars are another option for something more substantial.

Lunch items – for sandwiches pack the Lunch Meat or meat salad separate from the bread. This takes up less room in you cooler compartment so things stay cooler longer. Besides, warm bread is great.

Instead of chips try a trail mix or similar blend of dried fruit and nuts. It’s more nutritious and a lot less salt per serving.

Don’t use ice – instead use the packs that you fill with water and freeze. They keep things cold but keep the water out of the food.

On a hot day try this. Soak wash clothes in water, fold, and place in a sealable plastic bag, and then freeze. Just before you leave put the frozen wash clothes and bag in your cooler. They will help keep things cool and when you need to cool off take one out and wipe your face with it. You will be amazed at how good it feels.

A great way to picnic is at one of the local, or on the way, wayside rest stops. Most feature rustic settings, picnic tables, and other amenities. If you want to make a day of it look for places that have hiking trails or playgrounds.

Rattan, and Wicker can all withstand moisture to a certain extent, but will become limp, loose and saggy with too much water. The nice part about it is that wicker will resume its size and shape when it dries, but it’s very important to not disturb the strands of wicker reed when they are damp or they will dry in the new position they’ve been changed to.

A feather duster or a clean, dry natural bristle paintbrush is the best way to remove dust from a basket. Or use the upholstery attachment of your vacuum cleaner with a nylon stocking placed over the end. Some real handy tools to use for care and cleaning wicker baskets are a tooth brush, a paint brush with its bristles cut to about half the length, a medium bristle small brush, like a fingernail brush or vegetable brush and a piece of dowel about the size of a pencil and sharpened in a pencil sharpener. The reason for cutting the paint brush bristles is to make them stiff enough to have some muscle, yet soft enough to work into the weave of the wicker.
Many times a good dry brushing with a medium bristle brush, such as a vegetable brush, will remove dirt buildup from between the wicker reed strands and will leave your wicker picnic basket looking a lot better. Any mild soap or detergent is good to clean wicker or better yet furniture cleaner.
For deep cleaning, dampen a white 100% cotton cloth (cotton baby diapers work well), very slightly with clean cold water and blot gently; then let basket air dry completely. Soaking a basket in water or giving it a thorough “shower” can result in swelling of the fibers, and can contribute to color fading and loss of patina (a valuable asset for antique collectors).

Don’t allow heavy objects to rest on top of the Picnic Basket when stored. Damage most often occurs when baskets are stored for extended periods of time in attics, basements, or garages, where heavy objects might be placed on the boxes and the temperature fluctuates dramatically. The baskets should be kept in humidity and temperature controlled area.