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Printed Date: 22/12/2024 at 3:05pm
Topic: free alternative to expensive vacuum bags
Posted By: Peggybabcot
Subject: free alternative to expensive vacuum bags
Date Posted: 07/9/2009 at 9:32am
I couldn't sleep last night and I suddenly had a thought about those pesky vacuum bags that almost always re-inflate coz they puncture. There is a product on the market that simply uses binliners,but this is quite pricey although once bought you only have to buy replacement bin liners so more cost effective than the traditional bags. I came upon the idea that if you took a hair bobble, klip-it (the sort of plastic clip designed to seal sandwich bags etc) and a bin liner it actually works 1)fill your bin liner with bedding/clothing etc but allow enough room for you to be able to twist the top to seal. 2)take a hair bobble and wrap this round the twisted end of the binliner. I doubled up the hair bobble to make it smaller. 3) spread the top of the bin liner open like a flower and place the hose of the vacuum or pump in the opening. The hair bobble should fit snuggly around the vacuum/pump nozzle. 4)suck out the air the same way you would for those pricey vacuum bag and then seal with a klip-it Alot cheaper, nowhere near as brittle and if you puncture it you haven't thrown £10 down the drain! And that took me until 1am this morning to think of that but I did go to sleep happy! Who says all I think about is camping????????!!!!!!!!!
Replies:
Posted By: mia220781
Date Posted: 07/9/2009 at 9:40am
Brillant idea! Definetly going to try this at the weekend! Dog might actually have some room now ;)
Posted By: Peggybabcot
Date Posted: 07/9/2009 at 11:07am
Having tried a klip-it and tying the bag off, tying the bag is much better but does mean you might have to throw the bin liner away if you can't open it without tearing.
Posted By: Steve McV
Date Posted: 07/9/2009 at 11:16am
Vac bags are a waste of money. Wife insisted on buying them for the bedding this summer. Now have flat pillows and burst vac bags!
Steve.
Posted By: Gembo
Date Posted: 07/9/2009 at 8:48pm
feather pillows don't go flat in them!
Have to say I disagree... I have nothing but praise for them. 'Speak as you find', and all that!
Posted By: bushey5
Date Posted: 08/9/2009 at 12:07am
I've tried the bags with a valve and roll up tight to squeeze the air out. Like vacuum bags, expensive and the air gradually seeps back in.
Great idea Peggy.
Posted By: B Chrystie
Date Posted: 09/9/2009 at 12:50am
How about using rubble sacks from a DIY store rather than bin liners - the plastic is far more robust.
Posted By: xtinexoop
Date Posted: 09/9/2009 at 1:15am
I've been using the roll-up vacuum bags for the last 3 years... once they are stuffed into our small rucksacks they don't 'refill' with air, which they do if you use them inside a bigger bag.
So - this year I tried putting the clothes into ordinary poly bags, rolled them up to squeeze the air out, squeezed them into the rucksacks and 'voila' I actually got MORE clothes in than normal, and for free!
Christine
Posted By: bushey5
Date Posted: 09/9/2009 at 8:10am
Christine that's a brilliant tip.
Posted By: jenchris40
Date Posted: 09/9/2009 at 5:22pm
Thank you so much for this thread!
I decided to try to get vacuum bags for our 3-week trip, thinking I'd be able to get all our clothes, bedding etc into a ball the size of a teaspoon. Well they simply didn't arrive in time, and had been returned to Amazon by Royal Mail by the time we got back home.
I'm now soooo glad I didn't reorder them, thank you so much for these tips! image: - forum_images/smiley20.gif
Posted By: conneechiwa
Date Posted: 12/9/2009 at 12:01am
Thankyou for this tip 
Tried it tonight with a duvet and 2 pillows in the black bag, used our Gelert footpump on deflate and bingo, what a difference 
Posted By: jackie_s
Date Posted: 12/9/2009 at 10:47am
Oh....was heading out today to buy some of those bags to put away my holiday clothes till next summer, think I'll just get some bin liners and klip its instead!
Posted By: kate w
Date Posted: 12/9/2009 at 11:33am
then when you come back home you can get most of the air out by sitting / lying on the bin bag. I found that if you use a hair bobble or elastic band and twist the bag you can fold the open twisted end over on itself and tie up, then when you get home all you have to do is pull the open ended end and it undoes.
Posted By: nigel16
Date Posted: 12/9/2009 at 10:04pm
I think the vaccum bags are hit and miss. Like Gembo, we have used Argos bags for the past 2 years to store bedding and have nothing but praise for them and have never found them to leak.
Posted By: tigang
Date Posted: 15/9/2009 at 10:51am
I suppose the problems we have experienced with proprietary vacuum bags is our own doing... they get squashed next to something that damages them at some point. I have to admit though - they make a HUGE impact on the amount of stuff you can pack into the car/trailer/roof box!