Creating the Best Reusable Grocery Bag
Bans on the use of plastic bags in many countries around the world have increased the demand for reusable shopping bags. Most sellers and manufacturers have responded to the increased demand by creating cheap reusable bags of poor quality and almost the same design, differing from each other only in the pattern of prints. The only advantage of such bags is their low cost, but in addition to being cheap, the bags should have other important qualities for the consumer, such as strength, ease of folding and compactness, ease of carrying, and design. Let's take a closer look at these qualities.
- Puncture Resistance.
A dozen pounds of food in a variety of packaging puts enough pressure on the side of the bag to puncture thin nylon or polyester (typically 200D thick). As a result, after a short period of use, small punctures appear in the walls of the bag, usually at the bottom, which irritate the user of the bag. Of course, the grocery bag is replaced with a new one from the same set, and the punctured bag is simply thrown away, creating similar environmental problems as plastic bags. Furthermore, the same fate befalls the next bag from the same set, until all the bags made of thin material fall into the trash.
Obviously, the material for a secure grocery bag needs to be thicker, but it also needs to fold well into the included pocket or pouch. For our bag, we followed the path of using 400D nylon with a ripstop structure. After testing almost daily over the course of a year, we found only a few barely visible punctures in the bottom area that did not expand thanks to the ripstop structure of the nylon used. As a result, we have given a year of warranty for our shopping bag.
- Durability of the Bag Under Load.
Anyone with a backpacking experience will remember how thick and durable the backpack's material and seams are, to withstand a load similar to that of reusable shopping bags full of groceries. It's also hard to imagine that a high-quality, durable backpack, which can withstand the kind of stress that shopping bags are subjected to, can cost a few dollars apiece, as do the cheap fold-down grocery bags that often rip from lack of material strength, poor seams, and ill-conceived design. Of course, there are durable cheap bags with thick walls, reinforced with cardboard or plastic, but we will not consider them in this article, since such bags are very bulky when folded.
When creating our bag, we have clearly identified the places that are exposed to the greatest stress and reinforced them with additional overlays and stitching. This has added value to the bag, but we are confident that our reusable shopping bag will withstand the required load and will not tear.
- Easy to Carry.
Remember the pain when the handles of a plastic bag or cheap reusable bag dig into your hand? This comes from the fact that there is no padding on the handles to cushion the strain on your palms and fingers. Also, the handles of many types of cheap bags are not suitable for carrying on the shoulder due to design flaws. The handles of such bags are either very short or located on the end sides of the bag.
When creating our bag, we took into account the wishes of consumers and softened the handles of the bag with pads, the handles themselves are positioned along the length of the bag, and the length of the handles has been carefully calculated so that they were comfortable to wear on the shoulder and carry in the hands.
- Fast Folding.
A reusable grocery bag needs to fold quickly to be comfortable in everyday use. Often, manufacturers of cheap bags suggest laying the bag on a flat surface, and then, in a few steps, fold the bag into a flat bundle and insert it into the included pocket. We deliberately abandoned this idea, as unfolding the bag on a flat surface and learning folding patterns creates unnecessary, time-consuming and inconvenient steps for the owner of the shopping bag. However, our bag can be easily pushed into the included drawstring pouch by simply holding the bag. At the same time, the pouch is reinforced with special stitches to withstand the load and serve for a long time.
- The Shape of The Bag.
The shape of the reusable bag is also important for comfortable shopping. We made the bag wider, and also provided a rectangular bottom to reduce the pressure of the upper layers of the groceries on the lower ones when placing the products into the bag. Moreover, when loaded, the bag is very stable, which adds convenience for transporting it in the car. Also, our premium shopping bag has a seamless bottom for added durability.
- Outside Pockets for Smartphone, Money, Keys.
Our bag has two external pockets that can easily hold a smartphone, wallet and keys in case you don't want to overload your arms or shoulders with a second bag of personal belongings while shopping.
- Adaptability to Bag Racks and Shopping Carousels.
Have you noticed how conveniently the plastic shopping bags are positioned on bag racks thanks to the special loops? We made similar attachments on our reusable grocery bag!
In addition to the functionality, the emotions that daily use of a shopping bag brings are also important. Our product gives the impression of a premium bag due to the quality of materials and comfort of the design compared to the competitor’s cheap bags.
Enjoy your shopping!