Sealing 7mil mylar bags with iron or hair straightener?

[riverguy]

I am thinking about buying some 7mil mylar bags from LDS for some storage. Are these thicker bags easily sealable with an iron or hair straightener?

[Moose33]

riverguy, I've had no trouble sealing the 7mil mylar with my iron. They all seem to seal the same for me. I put my iron on its hottest setting and just seal em up. Works like a champ.
Take care,
Moose

[codecypher]

I second that, an iron works great.

[ImThatGuy]

I use the girlfriends hair straightner

[MadPrepper]

I use an iron on the same bags.

[MikeK]

I prefer the hair straightener. I won't ever go back to the iron again after using it. For me, it was just a better solution. Either one are fine for the 7 mil bags.

[FishinMortician]

Those bags offer you a lot of freedom as to how they are stored....but will really shine when you go to use the food inside.

You can get five pounds of beans or rice in each bag. Cut them in half for spices.

[MadPrepper]

Originally Posted by FishinMortician

Those bags offer you a lot of freedom as to how they are stored....but will really shine when you go to use the food inside.

You can get five pounds of beans or rice in each bag. Cut them in half for spices.

I made a little fixture that lets me get 8 lbs of beans or rice in the bag. Couldn't do it with a hair straightener, but it works well with a standard iron.

[goose3]

Here's a way to use an iron easily to seal smaller bags:





I used this to seal 7-mil bags, and it works fine. If you do something like this (the sticks are 1" nominal stock, 3/4" actual dimension), make sure you sand the edges to remove burrs and sharp parts that can poke the bag.

Works especially well with the lighter-gauge mylar, too.

[skinnyn71]

thanks goose thats an easy enough ironing jig thats so simple I feel like an idiot for not having thought of it.

[riverguy]

I went ahead and ordered some. My plan is to put 4 or so in each bucket I have instead of using a 5 gal mylar. Thoughts on this plan? I figured it would be easier to open a smaller bag each time I needed food.

[MikeK]

Originally Posted by riverguy

I went ahead and ordered some. My plan is to put 4 or so in each bucket I have instead of using a 5 gal mylar. Thoughts on this plan? I figured it would be easier to open a smaller bag each time I needed food.

A lot of folks are doing that. It works great for foods that you won't be using as fast. But for staples such as beans and grains, you'll be eating them fast enough that even a 5 gallon bag isn't a worry. They have a very long shelf life after opening. The smaller bags are great for dehydrated fruits and veggies, flour and baking mixes, etc.

[colyelady]

Thanks goose3 for the tip and pics...