Continuing our Mylar bag fun today, I know you were all disappointed that the Mylar emergency blanket couldn’t make a food storage bag. However, there is a way to get food grade Mylar bags super cheap. In fact, they’re practically free and you probably have some in your house right now. Check out the video below:
Click here if the video doesn’t load for you.
A lot of the foods we buy at the store come packaged in Mylar bags. These are mostly snack foods like chips, cookies, and candy. You’ll also find Mylar in the individual drink pouches like Capri Suns and even wrapping things as small as packets of fruit snacks. Sometimes the Mylar is the package, and sometimes the Mylar is a bag lining inside a box. Look around the store next time you’re there, or maybe just check in your cupboards for some!
To use these bags, you’ll need to be careful opening them the first time–you know how easy it is to get a tear going and have it split clear to the bottom of the bag! Small tears can be trimmed off. Once the food is eaten, simply wash and thoroughly dry the bag and it’s ready to use.
You won’t get too large a bag out of this method, but you could get some to pack individual meals or smaller packages of food. Some of these bags are also very thin–especially the bags that were lining a box–so you won’t be able to use them for everything, but they are food grade, they are Mylar, and they will seal with your heat sealer.
For heat, you can use a clothing iron or a hair straightening iron to seal the bags. And do make sure you label the bags! You don’t want to mistakenly believe you have lots of cookies in your storage!
Keep preparing! Angela
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Valerie says
You can also seal this with a freshsaver or seal-a-meal.
And… in a pinch, turn them inside out and use them for gift bags. (Dorito’s bags work particularly well!)
Brandon McBride says
Vacuum-sealed foodsaver bags work as well. Valerie, I’d never thought about using Dorito’s bags before!
Eric Williams says
I need to try it.
Carla Bosteder says
This is brilliant. I don’t know why I never thought of using chip bags before to store other foods when I’m done using them. It’s perfect!
Maria says
I have been saving my old Splenda bags…. They are great Mylar Bag to reuse… Especially if you buy the large size from a store like SAM’s Club…
Lauralee Hensley says
Thank you for this information. I saved it and will be trying it soon.
Tanya says
I’ve re-used empty mylar chip bags to line fabric snack bags (litterless lunch), but I never occurred to me that I could re-seal with my flat iron. This is going to make emergency preparedness easier and more economical.