beaupeep

I'm an American who lives in Switzerland and have never bought a Ziploc bag in my life - couldn't see the sense of it. I don't bring liquids in my carryon, nor in my check-in so what was the point?

Well, I was visiting my family in the US last month and a friend from here asked if I minded if she ordered some body lotion from Victoria's Secret and had it shipped to my mother for me to bring back. Silly me. I thought she would order one bottle. No, she ordered nine! So when I was trying to force all of my clothing and new stuff that I bought into my suitcase along with her 9 bottles of peach scented VS body lotion, some little thing in my head said, "Go downstairs to your mother's kitchen and put each of these bottles of lotion in a Ziploc bag." So I did and was extremely glad that I had done so when I opened up my suitcase because the cabin pressure or whatever it is down in the hold forced all 9 bottles to ooze that lotion out of the tops and I would have been one really unhappy girl had that stuff leaked all over my belongings.

So there you have a tale of a Ziploc convert.

Pvoyageuse

You people just sent me to the kitchen to compare my Auchan "sacs congélation à zip" to my imported Ziploc bags, and I saw absolutely zero difference other than a place to write on Ziploc bags. The plastic was identical, as was the zip.

I just did the same ! Mine do not come from Auchan but from Shoppi. They are even called Ziploc bags with the mention that Ziploc is a registered trademark of DowBrands

W9London

In UK, I can get ziplock bags, er reclosable food and freezer bags, from Waitrose, Sainsbury or Tesco. It looks pretty much the same material, same sealing mechanism, same size as the US counterpart. While we have less variety (like the snack-sized ones and large ones for freezing soup stocks), maybe that's because we generally have smaller freezers than the Americans (and possibly more environmentally aware).

msdotliz

I use sweater bags that I get from the cleaners to wrap my shoes for packing. Also works well as a place to put dirty clothes, mostly underwear and socks though.

We travel space available so we have to pack lighter because we usually don't check bags (unless it is at the gate because there is no room on the plane).

I waited until I got to Europe to buy hairspray and other tolietries for our cruise (we arrived a day or so before cruise started), as I was going to need bigger sizes than the travel ones. I didn't expensive brands and just left them on the ship, saving room in my luggage for other things. That way I didn't have to pack much in the ziploc for carry-on.

GSteed

Marketing..Check the weight of various brands of a certain size bag. Then work out the price per gram or ounce. Quantity is important, often 100 bags are available for half the cost of a fifty pack. Paper towels and TP need the same analysis. If you buy the least expensive consider double bagging. Don't overlook 'trash bags'. Use them to segregate clothing items.

georgiegirl

Can one find ziploc snack size easily in France? I have friends who live in the country. They always asked me to bring them that size. However, it has been 2 years since I last saw them. Another question, I saw in one post long time ago that the plastic wrap in France is not as good as Saran wrap. Is it true? I tend to hang out in her kitchen. She cooked home cooked French meals for me and I did Thai cuisine for her. What about plastic containers either Tupperware or the cheap brands? Do French people use those? Please keep in mind that my friends live in a very small village that does not even has a gas station. Before euro time, we used to drive to Belgium, 10 kms. away, for petro since it was cheaper there.

Pegontheroad

If you'd ever had a bottle of Chanel No. 5 leak all over your clothes, you wouldn't be asking this question.

GSteed

One more, actually two: Sports sprains..load the bag with ice and apply. Party time, load the bag with ice and beverage! Later, apply to head!

georgiegirl

LOL

tuscanlifeedit

I got a pack of small ones (about 2.5 x 3.5 inches) at the office supply store, and put all my OTC pills in them. I hate taking all the pill bottles with me, and I generally use several types of OTC pills while away.

I used to put all my prescription drugs in the little baggies, too, but I now know I'm supposed to have all my prescriptions in their original bottles when traveling out of the country. Still put them in little baggies for travel in US.

These little ones are as useful as the big ones. Jewelry, business cards, little brushes, all sorts of stuff.

I love the toothbrush suggestion above.

I wash and reuse all plastic ziploc type bags.

RM67

Lawchick - I, too, am absolutely fascinated by the American penchant for packing everything under the sun.

On an older thread about what to take on planes there were some truly jawdropping lists - goose-feather pillows, cashmere wraps, disinfectant, valium, penicillin, melatonin, staying-awake tablets, going-to-sleep tablets, copies of passport in octupulet, Blackberry, laptop, curling irons, straightening irons, Black-and-Decker, GPS, currency converter, assorted fanny packs, homemade 3-course meal - and yes, good old ziplock bags!

I think there could be a Discovery Channel documentary in the making here......

Celiaanne

crckwc, You're not alone on the coffee pot thing. I took mine to Ireland a few year back because we were staying in B & Bs and I just couldn't face the owner (not to mention fellow lodgers) without my coffee.

JW518, TEN gallon bags? I've never seen those! The biggest I have are 2.5 gallons. I have to look for them.

SpecialK

I never thought a topic on ziploc bags could be so interesting and fun. I am enjoying reading your uses for ziplogs and have been getting some great ideas. To be honest, I never used to travel with them until the airlines started cracking down on liquids. Much to my surprise, they work wonders! For my last trip I labeled my items and put them in the bags. When I went through security all they did was look through the bags and after seeing what was in them, sent me on my way. The whole thing took less than a minute. I was told by my travel agent that if I layer my clothes between the bags, my clothes will not wrinkle as much. I'm going to try it when I leave for Ireland next week.

jw518

Celiaanne, I found the 10 gallon size bags from Target and I think Wal Mart have it too.

fbc34

This June in France we decided we needed added protection for our olive oil and perfume purchases. Went to the local grocery store (a Champion) and found bags that worked just fine. No, they weren't the zipper types, just the "seal in the thread" types, but they were very good and served their purpose quite well. So don't panic if you find yourself in France without a bag!

Celiaanne

jw518, Thanks. I'll look for them!

sarge56

Golly, even at home, right next to me right now...a gallon size Hefty zip bag with all my "little" electronics. My Shuffle, my two sets of earplugs, my microphone for my laptop, my Shuffle powercord, my security password provider (about the size of a luggage tag), my camera cable for laptop, and a flash drive!

I, too, love to pack my travel clothes in baggies. This, as a direct result of opening my luggage upon arrival in Phoenix and finding some kind of unknown liquid spilled on one of my skirts. And a lovely note from the TSA that they had searched my luggage. Fortunately, whatever it was washed out, but it was not from any liquid in my bag (I always carry my liquids in carry-on). So now I know my undies and stuff have not been "manhandled" by the TSA folks. Also like the minibags for jewelry. And never thought of the washing machine thing! Excellent! Thanks!!!!

Carrybean

Since the flats I rent in London usually only have one dinky ice cube tray the size of a hairbrush, I buy more trays & use a ziplock to store the cubes.

travelerjan

I have one more travel use not really touched upon... I travel abroad mostly in Greece, where the concept of dining alone is totally unknown (they consider it weird, you should have a LARGE table of people whenever you eat). Thus there are never individual-size portions of side dishes, such as salads, olives, cheeses, grape leaves etc etc.

Handily, most Greek-island hotel rooms also have small fridges. So, if I'm alone whilst dining and am served a dish of 30 olives (!) I whisk a small Ziploc from my handbag & unobtrusively stash the surplus for my next-day picnic lunch.

This also works when there are a group of us dining, and just one person wants the Greek salad (which as mentioned is HUGE).

Pvoyageuse

RM67 :
I feel the same. Just waiting for the person who puts his/her suitcase in a Ziploc bag to protect it, then into a second bag to protect the first