@momcqueen wrote:
Fascinating! I’ll look into this. Thank you so much for the exhaustive response. It’s much appreciated.
I have found the kitchen sealer to be an amazing tool. With a little creativity yoy can use it far beyond the purpose it was designed for.
For example, I bought some inexpensive cleaning brushes (toothbrush size) from the dollar store. Three brushes, one with plastic bristles, one with brass, one with steel. They came on a store cardboard twist tied on so once out of the package and placed in in my tool box, they were forever getting lost and when hunting through the box, I would inevitably prick my fingers on them. So I went through my box of saved used plastic bags and plastic sheets and found a thicker one with a clear vinyl like soft plastic.
Now the sealer is designed to cut heat the plastic until it cuts a line through the plastic. This is usually 10 to 15 seconds until the completed indicator light goes on (or off on some models). If you want to seal but not cut the plastic, you hold down to seal for 1-2-3-4 seconds depending on the plastic you are using.
I then made a three fingered pouch with a length and width to fit each brush comfortably and cover the bristles. No more fingers getting pricked. No more looking for one brush since the holder was wide and long.
Another example, I used to sell computer memory (RAM) which typically is 4x1 inch long and thin. They usually are in matched pairs. I would make a two fingered pouch to hold each stick separately from used dark grey anti-static bags. Then place each stick in the pouch side by side and seal the top. Write or print a label with the specifications and stick on the pouch. Very professional looking. The pouch kept the memory from touching each other, made it very flat and not bunch up to go easily in a small padded mailer to fit under the 2 cm Lettermail/Light Packet thickness limit. I could do the same for 4 sticks of memory.
With the quad graph paper on the box, I had a ruler grid in the background for making very straight edges and parallel seams for each finger in the pouch. Looks very good when you finish. You can place the flat item in the bag as you seal but usually the lines are not as straight.
Great tool for packaging sets of thinner flatter items. If you had say 4 small items in a set, you could make a 4 x 1 fingered pouch or make a longer 2 fingered pouch with 2 pockets in each finger. Make the 2 finger pouch, put the two items in, make a seal line, place the next 2, seal, repeat until done.
I collect all kinds of used plastic bags and sheets. The trick to finding the appropriate bag is to sort and classify them. Get a longer rectangular box with an open top and make a filing box like a filing cabinet. Cut some scrap cardboard to make separators. Then use bigger bags to sort the smaller bags and plastic by type or size and place between the cardboard separators. Label the separators and holding bags and file. You probably can use a letter size filing box with file folders too. Remember that the leftover cutting can be useful as small pouches too so save some of them.
Of course, you have less work by buying bags from the grocery store or shipping supplies store. But I like to do the three R's, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
Now this might seem like a lot of work but like everything in life, once you get the hang of it, you become very fast at choosing what to reuse as bags, how to package, how to make seams and not cuts, etc.
You may think that a sealer might replace Zip Lock bags for many uses but Zip Lock bags are still very handy because they can be opened up and closed any time. I still use both.
Tip: When sealing a bag, do not make it a tight fit. Leave a small amount (1/8 to 1/4 inch) extra so that you can cut open the package and reseal. Sometime I would place an item in a set not in the same orientation as the rest and it would look "off". Having a little extra allows you to fix it. Do not leave too much so that the item moves too much in the pouch.
Tip: Be careful with some plastics since they might react with the finish on the item you are packaging. I find biodegradable plastics are designed to degrade and has a strange texture to the feel. I am careful of using them . If you are packing for long term meaning months or more, think about the plastic bags you are using. This being said, I have some things packaged up to 10+ years ago still okay. Some plastics loose their clearness and fade over a long time but you can repackage if needed when you sell the item.
Tip: You can actually use the sealer in the kitchen too for which it as designed! LOL
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