Mylar bags have revolutionized the way we store and protect valuable items, particularly food. When used with oxygen absorbers, Mylar bags provide long-term storage solutions for emergency storage, food storage, and laboratory/horticulture applications.
They’re perhaps no-nonsense-looking pouches with their shiny metallic-type design, but really, they were built for a purpose. They are valued for their resistance to moisture, as well as to light, oxygen, and punctures. Mylar Bags also aid with your product integrity. They are rugged enough for commercial as well as residential installations.
They are relied upon in a wide range of areas, from freeze-dried meals to electronics to medical supplies. With extras like resealable closures and custom prints, and in varied thickness levels, custom Mylar bag wholesale offers the best of both worlds, providing regular hardworking storage options, as well as the flexibility of today’s preservation-focused market.
Mylar bags are bags made of a polyester film (BoPET or biaxially-oriented polyethylene terephthalate). They offer one of the best glossy metallic finishes combined with excellent tensile strength and top barrier properties. These bags come in laminated versions that provide clear protection against the elements, including air, moisture, and more. They come in all shapes and sizes, stand-up pouches, flat bags, zip-locks, and vacuum-seal types to fulfill a range of storage needs. Mylar bags are food-safe, FDA-compliant, and can be heat-sealed for airtight protection. They are an excellent choice for both short- and long-term protection of food.
Mylar bags are highly versatile in their use and possess multiple advantages, so they are used across a broad spectrum of industries due to their superior barrier properties, strength, and the option for creating unique custom packaging from preserving fresh food & meal prep to protecting documents & the inside of the cupboard from digging rodents, to electronic dry-out for smartphones or cameras and documents when backpacking in the outdoors.
Smell-proof Mylar bags are commonly used in food storage and are popular for storing food in the long term. Fully airtight and impermeable to air even a decade after it was sealed, a CO2 canister lasts years without refrigeration, making them the perfect SHTF SodaStream accessory.
In health and wellness, Mylar bags store vitamins, supplements, and drugs safely from moisture, dirt, and UV light. Their excellent seal and chemical resistance helps keep the product’s potency and safety, and child-resistant closures and tamper-evident options provide an additional level of adherence to the food processing industry standards.
Electrical devices are sensitive to static electricity, humidity, and dust. And other Mylar storage bags, including some anti-static ones, shield circuit boards, chips, and sensors when stored or shipped. Their ESD versions are an industry-standard in the tech world to ensure the sound quality of your product.
The cannabis space utilizes Mylar bags to maintain the freshness and smell of products. Options that are smell-proof and light-blocking, along with a resealable nature, make sure your products are discreet and safe. And customized Mylar bags’ capacity to be printed with custom designs ensures brands can comply with regulations while attracting attention in retail.
The creation of Mylar bags begins with the process of making BoPET film. The polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is melted and biaxially stretched (machine direction and transverse direction) to produce the biaxially oriented structure(s). That’s what gives the film muscle and elasticity. The film is then laminated using aluminum foil or metallized film weights to increase the barrier. Other layers, such as polyethylene, can be added for heat sealability.
Feature | Protection | Durability | Sustainability |
Mylar bags | seal oxygen | resist tearing | eco manufacturers |
strong flexible | block UV | durable material | offer recyclable |
airtight barrier | resist moisture | puncture-resistant | biodegradable varieties |
lightweight packaging | contain odors | heat-sealed resealed | sustainability requirements |
personalized size | prevent spoilage | long-lasting storage | custom packaging |
custom finish | stop degradation | withstand pressure | adaptable industries |
printed packaging | 25 years | stored properly | reduce waste |
Mylar is a type of BoPET film: a polyester film made from stretched polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The molecular structure is stretched and oriented through the process of biaxial orientation, which strengthens and stabilizes the tensile strength and dimension of the film. It is also this alignment that contributes to the low gas and moisture permeability of personalized Mylar bags & pouches. The use of aromatic groups in the polymer backbone renders the film thermally stable and chemically resistant.
One of the main steps in the production, biaxial orientation, involves stretching the PET film that makes up Mylar bags in both machine direction (MD) and transverse direction (TD). This molecular orientation greatly improves the physical properties of the film:
Biaxial orientation greatly increases the tensile strength of Mylar film along both the machine direction and transverse direction. The simultaneous biaxial stretch orients the polymer chains to increase their intermolecular bonding and crystalline structure. The film is, therefore, one of increased tensile strength and resistance to tearing under strain. This durability is designed to allow for feasible use and reuse, second-to-none strength you can rely on for even the heaviest and most rugged uses. These bags can be used for more than just one time because they are thicker than alternative bags, which saves you money.
By better orienting the molecular chains during biaxial orientation, Mylar film becomes a more dense polymer matrix. This decreases the free volume for humidity, oxygen, or other gases to penetrate. The oxygen and water vapor barrier of the film is significantly reduced, making it suitable for the packaging of oxygen-sensitive, moisture-sensitive, and aroma-sensitive contents. The result is extended shelf life and maintained product freshness for food, pharmaceuticals, and other perishable contents.
Mylar, biaxially stretched, has good shape retention even at different thermal and mechanical loads. The orientation process "freezes" the polymer chains in an ordered crystalline arrangement, thereby resisting the desire for the film to shrink or distort when subjected to elevated temperatures in sealing or processing. Such dimensional stability will provide uniform bag sizes, fit, and seals at high production speeds. It also maintains product integrity for vacuum-packing and automatic filling lines.
The even stress prepared in the biaxial orientation leads to a very smooth, uniform film of constant thickness and low optical distortion. This improves both the clarity (in transparent films) and the surface gloss. It also enhances surface energy, which is suitable for ink adhesion for printing. The silky-smooth texture gives the tubes a premium finish, and their glossiness highlights the vibrancy of high-definition litho printing to help your brand presence and intricate design work truly pop.
PET aspect ratio orientation is achieved by increasing its glass transition temperature, melting point, and molecular mobility. Therefore, mylar bags will not soften, melt, or break down in higher temperatures. Heating stability - they are suitable for heat sealing, hot-fill packaging, sterilization, and use in boiling/freezing conditions. Not like typical plastic films, Mylar film remains stable at high and low temperatures or UV radiation, and it can last a very long time. It can easily maintain solid strength and high barrier properties in temperature extremes.
In a nutshell, biaxial orientation turns PET into a material with high-performance potential, just what is needed for packaging requiring strength, flexibility, and protection.
"Mil" is the thickness of the Mylar material in 1/1000 inches. Mylar bags are usually available in thicknesses: 2 mil (thin and flexible) to 7.5+ mil (thick and strong). Heavier bags are more puncture, moisture, and light resistant and are better for heavier or sharp objects. For long-term food storage, a minimum thickness of 5 mils is recommended. The MIL rating helps categorize the thickness and feel of the bag, and the bag’s recommended use allows for easy finding of the perfect bag based on the protection.
The best way to print on Mylar bags is by using rotogravure printing, which has high resolution and is reliable for long runs. This makes for high-impact, crisp, photographic-looking retail packaging. Simper designs and larger runs are also done with a Flexo printer. With short runs of custom-designed content, digital printing gives you worry-free affordability and quality. Due to Mylar’s non-porous nature and how surface tension relates to this, it is also common to see surface conditioning, like, for instance, corona discharge, being used before print in order to facilitate ink adhesion. UV-cured and solvent-based inks are employed according to the desired finish and durability of the final product.
Features and Options Add-ons for Mylar bags improve capability and appearance to make them easier to use and more marketable. Such optional features are intended to enhance ease of use, product safety, and marketability. Re-sealable zippers, transparent windows, and child-resistant closures are some of the add-on options designed to meet targeted industry requirements and consumer demands.
Mylar bags are no slouch when it comes to packaging-they're the professional solution for long-term food storage. Their ability to be customized, using advanced chemistries and design capability, makes them suitable for various industry applications from food to pharmaceutical. Whether you are protecting dried foods or fresh products, Mylar bags are the gold standard for reliable packaging. Choose Mylar for storage that you can put your trust in!
This post has been authored and published by one of our premium contributors, who are experts in their fields. They bring high-quality, well-researched content that adds significant value to our platform.