Products We Use: Reusable Ziplock Bags

Until a couple years ago, I kept a box of ziplock bags in my pantry for three purposes*: freezing berries, freezing soups and other meals, and storing homemade bread. After I had used a bag, I would wash it, dry it, and reuse it until it stopped working. I usually got three to five uses out of a bag, if I was super careful. However, and this is important, I am not a super careful person. There is a reason we have stainless steel glasses and dinnerware instead of glass or ceramic, and it is not because the children break the glasses.

One day, after breaking yet another ziplock bag while attempting to turn it inside out to clean, I told my husband that I intended to patent a reusable ziplock bag and make millions. I have these brilliant ideas about once a month (the stainless steel cups was another one). Unfortunately, I am usually at least a year behind other more organized, and more business-savvy inventors. Reusable ziplock bags already exist. And they are much, much better than the single-use kind.

If these look very much like the single-use plastic ziplock bags that is because they are almost exactly the same, just stronger and reusable. They are easy to clean too. Just swish some soapy water around inside them, then turn them inside out and rinse them off. Leave them inside out to dry and then turn them right-side out to store.

Reusable ziplock bags work just like the disposable kind, but they are stronger, made from silicone instead of plastic, and they don’t break when you turn them inside out. They are easy to clean and will end up saving you money too. They come in all different shapes and sizes and even pretty colors. They are an obvious choice if you use ziplock bags for any purposes. I am not going to recommend a particular brand here. I have a brand called FORID and I think they are great, but I have read that Stasher is the best brand.

*Side Note: Ziplock bags are really an overused product anyway, so while you are purchasing a set of reusable ones, this is a great time to think about how you can reduce their use in your household. We send our kids to school with handmade cloth snack bags for trail mix, with apple slices wrapped in beeswrap, and a lunch packed in a PlanetBox.

Ziplock bags are definitely useful, but people tend to overuse them when simpler and more sustainable options are available. Instead of using a ziplock bag to hold snacks, use these cute (and super easy to make) cloth bags instead. You can throw them in the wash between uses. And, the kids love their individualized bags. 🙂

– Hannah