Customer Reviews

ITW Space Bag Vacuum-Seal Storage Bags, Set of 3

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(28)

 

 

If you've ever had a TV in your house, changes are you've seen the commercials for space bags. If you watch a lot of home improvement shows like I tend to, then you've probably seen the commercials more times than you can count. The adverts claim that this wonderful product can fit all your winter clothes or bed linens and after zipping shut the space bags and vacuuming out the extra air, you'll have 3 times as much room.

I bought this because it seemed to be too good to be true. I found space bags available at a local kitchen supply store that had a section for "As Seen on TV" items. I picked up a 2 pack which I believe held 1 large and 1 jumbo bag; however, I am not positive because space bags come in every combination possible!

I wanted to repack my items in a safer package and space bags claim to be waterproof, insect and animal proof as well impervious to oxidation (which spreads stains and lightens colours) and mildew. I figured that even if the space saving aspect of the bags wasn't effective, I'd have an everything-proof bag to protect my linens and clothing.

The good news is they work! You can fill the bags and vacuum all the air out and it will look like.. well, the air has been all vacuumed out and greatly reduced in size, a bit like freeze dried food.

The bad news is you have to be extremely careful with space bags or a seam will rip. I had been zealous in stuffing my first space bag (a large size?) and after zipping it up applied just a bit of pressure a burst a seam near the zipper without actually realizing it.

While space bags may be everything-else-proof, they are certainly not safe from human error. Reviews across the internet point out that this seems to be a common issue with space bags; in fact, many customers purchased space bags to find that the seams were already ripped.

All this aside, I now to be more careful next time and if that were my only issue, I'd still love space bags.

The worse news is the space saving feature really only works with certain types of linens and soft items: the light and fluffy type. So while jackets, pillows, and comforters will compress nicely, towels, jeans rugs and any type of thicker/heavier item will not because it isn't full of 'extra' air. You'll still be protecting these items from rats and mildew but it will take up as much room as it normally would.

The worst news is that the sizes are ridiculous. I was happy with my large bag, it worked well for me to tuck into a corner, place on a box or hide under a bed for storage but the jumbo sized bag was so ridiculously large that it just wasn't practical.

Even if you could neatly organize your items (which you can't!) in the bag, and vacuum so it took up 100% less room, you'd still be left with an airtight bag the size of a medium dog and with a very difficult shape to store as most space bags do not have a flat bottom. Couple that with the slippery package and you have one giant space bag that it now going to stay where you put it.

The bright side is that you don't need to purchase such large bags and I might have been spared the mistake if I'd read the dimensions. There are also cube space bags which might work better for stacking and staying in place as well.

I think I had a fairly typical experience with space bags. The fragile seams rip for many customers and other customers also have issue with vacuum attachments not fitting snuggly (although I didn't have any problems with that myself).

One last issue I am concerned about but didn't have a chance to test was that of re-inflating. The space bags site warns customers to be careful when moving and handling airtight space bags because this could cause the bag to re-inflate, especially if it is handled near the zipper.

Several customers on Amazon have reported their space bags re-inflating after only a short time. Since the seam tore on the large bag and i re-inflated and the jumbo bag was much too big and bulky to even warrant vacuuming out the extra air, I have not been able to see if an undamaged space bag would hold with inflating again. It did seem that the large bag helf for a bit even with the tear, however.

Overall, I was surprised that space bags did seem to do what the commercials claimed and I think an undamaged space bag in small, medium or large or a cube would work well for anyone who needs very secure storage. However, customers should be wary that bags sized extra large and above are bulky and inconvenient. Also, the seams easily tear so one should take care to not overfill the bags or apply pressure before vacuuming.

I was a little skeptical because other people who reviewed the product had problems with air leaks, but they worked wonderfully for me! My fiance and I just moved to Oregon from Illinois and we fit all of our clothes and bed set into two sets of these bags. Wow! (I have a LOT of clothes!) You can cram so much in and the vacuum really helps shrink it down. It saved so much space in our already full car. We wouldn't have been able to bring it all without them. I'm excited about using them again to travel!

The medium bag could not be sealed properly and I had to keep using the vacuum everyday 'cause the air was getting in. I was not pleased with this at all. Also, the zipper seals keep coming off but I managed to re-insert them. The extra large and large bags were OK.

I really needed these bags to work because I have a small house with little storage space. I was so excited when I got these and I used a large bag for a comforter that my husband refuses to give up.

At first, after I carefully folded and placed the conforter in the bag, sealed the bag and vacuumed the air out, we were amazed at how compact the comforter became! I read the reviews and noticed only a handful of positive reviewers that stated that the negative reviewers had not used the bags properly and I thought they were right because I had used mine properly and it worked!

Well, as soon as I picked the bag off of the ground, carefully, the seal was undone and the bag was full of air.

Excellent concept, but these bags do not work; at least they did not for me!

Space bags are adequate for travel. If you have to pack a lot of items in limited space, these will work. The travel ones in particular are better for this purpose - these are the ones you roll up to remove the air. The vacuum ones are fine if you have access to a vacuum when it's time to pack for home. They'll generally hold their seal while you're traveling and for the duration of your average business trip or vacation.

These are LOUSY for storage, however, especially seasonal or long-term storage. They hold a seal for a few weeks to maybe a month or two, no matter how carefully you follow the instructions, no matter how much air you vacuum out, no matter how 'understuffed' you pack them, and even if you don't touch them again once they're sealed. The air WILL eventually find its way back in and what you'll have - as another reviewer put it - is just another giant Zip-Loc bag.

You can get the same effect for much less cost using large or jumbo-sized Zip-Loc bags. And given that I've had the same success with Zip-Loc bags for traveling that I have with SpaceBags, I can't even justify the price for travel-sized SpaceBags.

I absolutely adore Space Bags in any size they are manufactured in. They can be used to shrink-down or protect so many different items in your house, protecting them from dust, dirt, dampness, etc. -- not to mentiion getting lots of stuff out of your way when you're not using it.

I've managed clutter control by storing extra pillows, blankets, winter robes, sweaters, down jackets and afghans out of the way until I need them. When I take them out, they are as fresh as when I put them away. I also used it to keep the dust off of my collection of skeins of yarn.

I couldn't be more satisfied with Space Bags. However, it is important that you do not confuse the original product with all the knock-offs that you can find in "Family Dollar" type stores. The plastic is too thin and the seal that holds the so-called vacuum is totally useless.

Space Bags is a FABULOUS product that saves you space, time and money!

The first time I went to use an extra large bag the rubber seal could not
be inserted, so it couldnt be used. On top of the bag not working the bags seem cheap and flimsy so I called to return them and the CS rep from another country was very rude. Product and customer service is bad. I wish I had steered clear.

My wife and I bought 2 sets. Only two of the bags kept the vacuum seal. The rest either leaked, or worse yet, split apart. These cheap things split under the zip lock seal, despite having a reasonable amount of clothing inside. Good idea, but terrible quality. Plastic is so cheap, it makes me wonder why they didn't bother to make the things a little thicker. I hope a word to the wise is sufficient in this case. I'd hate to see anyone else waste money on this product without being warned off.

I have had trouble with these bags staying sealed. I have done all I can do to try to make sure seal is tight and done correctly. These may work well for puffy/light things like blankets and pillows but I have not found them to be much help with clothes. They really don't save 75% of space and I find half of the ones I have bought to lose their seal on a consistent basis. The large ziploc bags can do just as good of job protecting your items. Also, things do not vacuum down perfectly like the picture on the box. You have to put just a few items in and make sure they are stacked perfectly to achieve this. You get nothing like the picture if you fill bag to the capacity line before vacuuming. You also get a lumpy, not very stackable final result.

These bags work well. At first I was rather dissapointed due to severe air leaks that i just couldn't seem to stop. But the bags zipper opening comes with a little puller thing (like a ziplock bag). Take this zipper pull off and seal it with your fingers. This is the only way you can be sure that the zipper tracks are lined up right and to get a tight seal you have to be able to feel it seal. Once i did this they worked fine.

Also the quality of your vaccume will determin how compact they will become. I reccomend using something like a shop vac for the best results.