<p>Was thinking of sending them to my son to help him get all his stuff packed up for summer storage. I have never used them…do they actually work? Is it worth it?</p>
<p>I have used them and they are nice… just wouldn’t suggest putting something in there that you don’t want wrinkled. Some of them use a vacuum to suck out the air and others you just push it out.</p>
<p>We use the jumbo zipmoc bacs and they sit on them to get the air out as they zip them closed. Just as good as vacuum packed</p>
<p>We swear by the ziploc bags, not only for storage but for packing up the kid. Makes it easier to stuff things into the cars. I’ve never had luck with the Space Savers bag; never could get enough air out.</p>
<p>I use them to store off season stuff. They really decrease the amount of space they take up. I use a vacuum to pull out all the air. These bags are really great to use on blankets and comforters. Clothes really do get very wrinkled though. Not sure how well the ones you don’t vacuum work. </p>
<p>j</p>
<p>It’s the highpoint of packing for college around here to watch the vacuum sucking the air out of the jumbo space saver bags every August. (Sad, I know.) My ds overpack and I don’t think we could have gotten everything into one vehicle without them. We usually get several uses out of each bag, but the closure can go unexpectedly so we buy a new supply every year. </p>
<p>It’s neat to get all the bedding, including a comforter and two pillows, into one bag.</p>
<p>We drove D to college when she moved in, half-way across the country, so had plenty of room in the car. However, since then she has always flown and has stored some stuff at school and then brought home some in a suitcase/shipped other stuff.</p>
<p>One of her roommates first year had the space saver bags and shared some. D loves them and has used them since then. She says the trick is not to put too much in them - her roommate would put too much in and they would break. Like frazzled1 said, she can get her bedding into a very small space, which is very handy.</p>
<p>SockherMom - Yes, the Space Bags work really well. Our daughter used them when she was in college a few years ago and I simply folded them up and stored them in a suitcase. Now our son is in college and I brought them to move him home. Several years later, they still worked well. His clothes (mostly dirty :rolleyes:) fit in three bags and his featherbed, puffy comforter, and three pillows fit in one of the extra-large cubes. That was the only new one I purchased. The only caution I have – make sure you have access to a vacuum with a hose. All the vacuums at our son’s college were old uprights without the hose. You need the hose to suck the air out. Luckily, a very neat and tidy young lady a few floors up had her own vacuum with a hose. :)</p>
<p>I’m loving the space bags. Used them to pack son’s clothes for college. Way too much! Got them out again as I unloaded and washed this year, using them to organize, and then will vacuum out and reuse them again.</p>
<p>One warning, though. Keep them away from cats.</p>
<p>My frisky little girl decided to jump on one of my bags filled with underwear. Luckily, it was a smaller one, medium sized, so I guess not too much money lost there. I doubt I’ll be able to do the vacuuming on that one. I can still maybe use it to pack some clothes in that I don’t want to get too wrinkled. Vacuuming clothes in them does wrinkle them.</p>
<p>Just don’t buy cheaper imitations. Some may work. But years back, we bought some - were a special offer on the my credit card bill-pay envelope. Great “deal.” First and last time I did that.</p>
<p>After a very short while, the seals popped and everything expanded back to un-vacuum size.</p>
<p>Take a big garbage bag and just use the vacuum hose on it. I learned it from youtube and it works pretty well. Plus you can save some money.</p>
<p>Every brand of space saver bag I’ve tried doesn’t work for me – after a while the air seeps in and the bag expands. The only way it’s worked is if I store the bags in a very tight space, so I’ve started doing that. I don’t overfill them either. great idea in theory but in practice doesn’t work for me as a long-term solution unless I put them in the right place.</p>
<p>RedD: I looked for similar instructions on YouTube without any luck. Could you post…or PM?</p>
<p>[YouTube</a> - How To: Save space at home or on travel](<a href=“- YouTube”>- YouTube)
<a href=“how to make your own space bags - YouTube”>how to make your own space bags - YouTube;
And check out these bag buttons haha <a href=“- YouTube”>- YouTube; They even sell them at IKEA.</p>
<p>If these links are not allowed, just search on youtube for vacuum storage. Then when you click on one, look to the right and others like it will be listed with a thumbnail.</p>
<p>You basically just wrap a sturdy kitchen storage bag (the black garbage bags are too big) around the hose of a vacuum and suck. Then you pull out the hose and tie. The big ziplock bags with handles are great, and you can use the vacuum near one end when it is almost zipped and then remove and quick zip. We started with official vacuum bags when D1 was doing summer programs (don’t get the cheap ones.) They recycle well. But over time, we switched to those extra large ziplock storage bags with handles. They recycle even better. They are Ziplock Big Bags and they come in XL, XXL, etc. Hefty makes them now, also.</p>
<p>Reminder - Everything you pack up for the dorm needs to come home (or go to storage) in the summer. Less is more ;)</p>
<p>subscribing to this thread…already got some great tips, esp from sunnyflorida; thank you!!</p>
<p>we used the “official” space bags when D1 moved in freshman year…the only problem is that they hold SO much that she actually brought too much stuff and we ended up having to bring stuff back…(like Colorado mom says…)</p>
<p>Less is def more IMO but tell that to girls…lotsa luck</p>
<p>We love them. My son is going to China for two months, and we fit everything into one large-but-not-huge suitcase thanks to our vacuum bags. The clothes definitely get very wrinkled, though.</p>
<p>My guys used the “sit on the ziploc bag” trick for camping all the time.</p>
<p>Hey Mantori, make sure there’s a vacuum in China for him to use so everything will fit when he comes back. Also each person can only bring 100lbs total in luggage</p>
<p>Thanks, RedDinosaur. I hadn’t heard about the 100-lb. limit. Better go check…</p>