Didn’t You Hear? Ziplocs Are the New IT Bags!
Whether you’ve heard or not, some travelers carry these small atomizers loaded with their favorite scents. One squirt in a hotel room evokes quite a few memories of home. Others would solemnly swear by inflatable neck pillows that allow them to sleep just like babies even when stuck in the middle seat of a crowded airliner.
There’s one thing that we simply couldn’t resist without, and that’s a proper stash of Ziploc bags. As for myself, my packing ritual always starts with grabbing boxes of Ziploc bags of different sizes, and, why not, colors. Here’s a list of reasons why I use these featherweight travel wonders:
It keeps the clothes neat
You can fold all your blouses and T-shirts with tissue paper in between the folds and place each one individually in a Ziploc bag. This will keep each garment completely wrinkle-free and clean. You can use the same technique for lightweight jackets and sweaters as well.
By the way, it’s worth mentioning that slacks and jeans are generally folded in half at the bottom of your suitcase, just underneath the bags. If you plan to re-wear something, you can return it to the same bag, folded as neatly as you can.
You might even fool yourself if you take it out again because it looks extremely fresh like it was recently washed and ironed.
It comes with a barrier that separates the dirty from the clean
When the outside pockets aren’t capable of accommodating all your laundry, you can use jumbo-size Ziploc bags to store dirty clothes and undergarments inside your suitcase.
It makes it easier to pack and repack
Travel oftentimes involves moving from one destination to another. If there’s a lot of time and room to unpack, do so. It’s so much better than living with your things stashed in a suitcase. However, moving the Ziploc bags from a suitcase to shelves or even drawers (and doing that in the opposite direction) is way easier when items are fully bagged rather than loose.
When you bring some of those items back home and unused, you can easily wear them the next day or on your next trip!
It offers security against bringing bedbugs home with you
If you are bedbug-phobic, the mere thought of placing your clothes in drawers, or wardrobe shelves on hotels or even cruise ships terrifies you. It’s completely understandable, and I couldn’t be happier to let you know that there is a way to avoid all that: ziploc bags.
When they’re sealed, there is less risk of bringing home bedbugs or any other critters, than if you just placed belongings in drawers without any protective barrier.
Protects your belongings from liquid spills
Naturally, TSA has recognized the beauty of the Ziploc bags with its 3-1-1 policies. However, there might be some liquids or sprays you simply can’t place in your carry-on. Securing them in Ziploc bags offers insurance that they won’t spill all over your belongings.
Recently, I made a faulty mistake when I brought a bottle of hair conditioner with a tilted cap. Well, never again, that’s for sure. The pressure of something in my suitcase leaned against the bottle and tilted the cap. The contents instantly poured into the Ziploc but didn’t get anywhere else. Well, the situation was definitely saved by the Ziploc!
It holds bathing suits and damp clothes until you can efficiently dry them
If you’ve ever hand-laundered underwear that didn’t dry correctly by the time you had to check out of your room or have gone swimming the night before you started packing, I have the perfect solution for you: you can have a couple of Ziplocs stowed in your suitcase and everything’s fixed!
Stores foods and leftovers
If you wish to bring back part of your half-eaten meal to your hotel room or even purchase a snack and bring it back to your cruise ship stateroom, then Ziploc bags are the best instrument in this situation. You can easily store bread, cheese, fruit, nuts, and anything else that you might fancy.
Keeps the small things and cords organized
You can keep a snack-size Ziploc in your purse to keep your cell phone charger and cord handy. You can charge the device at an airport (and even on some planes) and then safely return it to its place in the bag, so it doesn’t get all tangled up.
Keeps dust bunnies away
If you ever dealt with “dust bunnies” in sequential photos, you will definitely find this tip quite helpful. Sometimes, if you place a camera or cellphone camera in your pocket, you will expose it to dust that glomps onto the sensor, which also produces a small spot on each and every picture.
Cleaning it off without the proper tools or know-how can be quite difficult, so that’s why we recommend prevention. It’s simply the best approach. Keeping your camera in a sandwich-size Ziploc might help avoid this vexing issue.
They are economical
After a series of interviews with food safety experts, a recent post on “Simply Recipes” addressed a very important issue, of whether or not it’s safe to use Ziploc bags. Well, when you’re using them for packing and storing your clothes, the answer is quite a no-brainer.
But even in the case of foodstuffs, experts believe that it’s extremely safe to reuse them with a couple of limitations. They even urge caution if the bags were filled with raw meat, fish, eggs, and potentially allergy-triggering foods.
You might also need to be careful when it comes to re-using bags that previously held wet items (bathing suits), such as toiletries. But anyway, they are quite durable and it’s economical to use them over and over again.
Use them for undergarments
The undergarments might give you a difficult time finding them, especially when you are going on a long trip. The smaller compartments are often used for medicines, toiletries, and jewelry items. That’s why you need to adjust the undergarments in the main compartment, along with all the clothes.
To efficiently fix this issue, you might use the Ziploc bag so it doesn’t get on your nerves to find any undergarments from within the clothes. Of course, this is totally up to you. You could also use a large-sized bag and place all the garments there. Or, you could use small-sized bags to put the socks in one and the underwear in the other.
Use them as first-aid kit
It’s fairly important to carry first-aid supplies in the suitcase as you travel, but you still need a dedicated bag for them. Otherwise, you will never find them on time. Right now, small Ziploc bags serve as the best carriage partner.
These bags will efficiently prevent contents from dirt and dust, and your first-aid supplies will stay fresh and hygienic throughout your trip. So if you’re planning to travel, keep the medicines and the first-aid supplies in reclosable poly bags, so you can find them on time during the journey.
Now, all this talk about Ziploc bags, we can’t let you go without a proper list of our favorite ones, right? We’ve got the original Ziploc, the ones from Clearwear with a double seal, and the ones with a stay-open design. Choose your weapon!
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