Vacuum Packing......Stuff

In the on going attempt to control ....stuff...we purchased a bag Vacuum Storage System....kinda a cheapo.....but came with 20 bags.....and you use your own Vac.
This may not be the best around....but is one more appliance, another vacuum that we don't have to store.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B012KI8M22?...et_detail_page

DW packed up pillows, bedding, and clothing for summer storage.....and seems to work well....really shrinks the size down on squishy stuff.

Packed in on a shelf on the top of a closet....seems like a good idea until you have to retrieve them......and a couple kinda leaked and blew up somewhat.

Looks like the classic 10 pounds of stuff in a 5 pound bag.
Anyway we will see how they hold up.

So far....I'll give it a pass....and wonder about packing gear and sleeping stuff for caches.

I have 4 vacuum sealers and I am not happy with any of them. I actually prefer freezer paper.

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DW packed up pillows, bedding, and clothing for summer storage.....and seems to work well....really shrinks the size down on squishy stuff.

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My brother's girlfriend started selling Electrolux Vacuums and one of the speals was to take a trash bag and put a trow pillow in it and the vacuum hose and it would suck it down like a freeze dried coffee bag. Thing was up near a thousand dollars.

My brother is telling me the whole speal and I ask him what happened when he tried it with his old vacuum?

He tried it with his old one and same results.

Yeah this rig was like $40 bucks....for the bags...and we used our vac.

I'll be in the market for a vacuum sealer in the near future. So far I just have a standard bag sealer and being able to vacuum bag inert-gas saturated contents is something I'm pursuing.

My lady uses the vacuum bags with the built-in check valves to store soft-goods and we're happy with those results so far. I think we ended up going with zip-lock's offering and the seal is holding great. My personal needs/desires are for heat sealed, foil laminate and smaller bags of stuff.

I'll keep the Zip loc's in mind......Thanks.
Can't help you on the heat sealed set up......

My wife used those for years. They seem to work well. She would pack up blankets and some off season clothing in them and when it came time to open them they were still holding their seal. So they are good for six months anyway.

This is probably boring for some of you. But, I had to do a lot of research for a couple years on bag sealing for a project at work I was working on. If you look what is on the market and readily available, there are two types of plastic used to seal bags. Polyethylene or Polypropylene. There are other special plastics, but you rarely see them because of cost. PE is probably the most used. PP is used the most with food, since it has a higher melting temp and the food can be heated to kill stuff without compromising the plastic. MREs are an example. Of course, PE and PP have a major problem with vacuum sealing.... air permeates through them. That is why you see aluminum coatings. Depending on the thickness of the aluminum, you can get a perfect seal with no air permeation through the walls. Of course, the aluminum can be scraped off the PE or PP, so they started covering it with another plastic. This plastic has to have a higher melting temperature than the plastic use to seal. PET, otherwise known as MYLAR, or polyester is the common choice. Nylon is another common choice. There are others, but those are the most common. MYLAR balloons are generally 3 layers, with PE on the inside sealing the edges, aluminum in the middle, and MYLAR only on the outer layer. The aluminum layer is usually sprayed on due to cost, and is therefore very thin and still somewhat porous. Helium can still leak through, mostly because it is such a small molecule. If you put a thicker aluminum coating on the balloon, the helium wouldn't leak out, but the balloon would be heavier and probably not float as well.
For food, you want a thick aluminum layer. You also want the PP stuff. You have to use a hotter sealer, but it will hold up better.
If the bag is not aluminized, then it will leak air through the walls. They do try to mitigate this with other plastics, like nylon and PET, but even they will leak, just not as fast.
Anyways, just something to think about.

So...In light of your research....you projected use, cost factors ....and longevity of the vacuum ....what is the verdict?
What is the best bag for:
1) food , storage only
2) food storage and cooking
3) clothing
4) stuff in general.....long term storage, water proofing (water and condensation...as in,... an outside stored 55 gal drum)


So far the top shelf of the closet has not been "blown out", has many more bags of pillows/bedding/winter cloths and ...."stuff" is up and out of the way.

Only problem will be ....taking one thing out....with out destroying the "pile".

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Originally Posted by FinallyMe

The aluminum layer is usually sprayed on due to cost, and is therefore very thin and still somewhat porous. Helium can still leak through,

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How the crap do you get a paint sprayer inside a balloon to spray it?!

You use really small workers, naturally.

Well, there you go.

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Originally Posted by hunter63

So...In light of your research....you projected use, cost factors ....and longevity of the vacuum ....what is the verdict?
What is the best bag for:
1) food , storage only
2) food storage and cooking
3) clothing
4) stuff in general.....long term storage, water proofing (water and condensation...as in,... an outside stored 55 gal drum)


So far the top shelf of the closet has not been "blown out", has many more bags of pillows/bedding/winter cloths and ...."stuff" is up and out of the way.

Only problem will be ....taking one thing out....with out destroying the "pile".

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For food, a thick layer of aluminum and Polypropylene are probably the best. You can't use a normal vacuum sealer like "Seal a Meal" because it is designed for PE and doesn't get hot enough. Of course, a lot of stuff is "good enough". For someone as old as you.. ;) I don't think it really matters. :)

For clothing, it depends on your goal. Are you vacuum packing it and then stuffing all those bags into a closet? Sure, they will eventually absorb air, but they will be all smashed together. Just get the ones that you like.

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Originally Posted by Rick

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How the crap do you get a paint sprayer inside a balloon to spray it?!

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And, this is why we can't have nice things!

In case you actually want to know, first you take a very thin film of the PE, probably 1.5 mils thick. Then you pass it through a spray machine which sprays on the aluminum. Then you pass that through another machine that laminates on a layer of PET/Mylar. Now you have your 3 layer film. You cut it out to a half balloon shape and then heat seal the ends.

For the thicker ones, they use a thin foil of aluminum. You have a machine that laminates all three layers together, sometimes with adhesive and sometimes without.

That was my second guess.

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Originally Posted by finallyME

enough". For someone as old as you.. ;) I don't think it really matters. :).........

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Bhohahaha...you are right,......just put in a blender and dump in a couple of shots...... and I'll slurp it..........Hehehehe
Y'all are finally getting it.

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