Wondering How to Seal Mylar Bags Effectively?

Looking for a sound packaging solution to store your food for a long time? Look nowhere other than mylar bags. This is because mylar bags are a powerful tool for storing food and other perishable items while maintaining freshness and quality. 

But keep in mind to choose an airtight mylar bag. Otherwise, your perishable items may get contaminated upon exposure to oxygen, moisture, and UV light. To ensure your items remain preserved, explore how to seal Mylar bags in detail!

Why Sealing Mylar Bags Matters?

Before jumping right into how to seal Mylar bags, understand why sealing Mylar bags properly is important. Sealed mylar bags create an airtight, light-proof, and moisture-resistant barrier. Due to barrier properties, these sealed bags protect the contents from the primary factors that cause spoilage or degradation. 

Without a secure seal, the bag's protective qualities are compromised. As a result, it leads to a potential waste and loss of quality. Here are major reasons that show why sealed mylar bags matter: 

• Keep Oxygen Out

Oxygen is the main contaminated factor for your food items. When your food contents get exposed to oxygen, they cause oxidation. It causes your food items to lose flavor and growth of mold and bacteria. However, if you choose sealed Mylar bags, their tight seal with an oxygen absorber removes residual air. They create an oxygen-free environment that significantly prolongs the shelf life of dry items for up to 25 - 30 years. 

• Create Moisture Resistance

The best part about mylar bags is that they are inherently waterproof and moisture-resistant. Once you seal these bags, they ensure that external moisture cannot enter. It is important for preventing the growth of mold while preserving the quality of dry foods, documents, lotions, and other perishable items. 

• Protect Items Against UV Light

Mylar bags have a reflective and metal-like layer that blocks light. They prevent harmful UV rays from degrading nutrients, colors, and flavors of the stored contents. An incomplete seal can allow light to enter, which negates this benefit. 

• Put Away Pests

With an airtight and durable seal, mylar bags create an inhospitable environment for insects, rodents, and other pests to access the contents. Vacuum-sealed mylar bags also contain small packets called “oxygen absorbers.” 

These absorbers reduce the oxygen level to less than 0.01% which kills any insect eggs, larvae, or adult pests that may have been present in the dry goods. Keep in mind, the presence of pests is a common occurrence in products like grains and flour. 

• Maintain Nutritional Value

By preventing exposure to environmental factors, a good seal helps the contents maintain their original flavor, aroma, texture, and nutritional value of inside-packed contents over time. By incorporating features like oxygen absorbers, food items can be preserved for weeks to years. 

• Ensure Long-Term Storage

The effectiveness of Mylar bags for long-term storage, like emergency preparedness, relies almost entirely on achieving and maintaining an airtight seal. An improperly sealed bag can lead to an entire batch of stored goods going to waste. 

Explore Best Ways to Seal Mylar Bags

Since you have explored the importance of sealing Mylar bags, here are some of the best ways to explain how to vacuum seal Mylar bags.

• Impulse Sealer

It is a tool that uses a quick electric pulse to heat a wire, melting and sealing Mylar bags together to create an airtight and moisture-proof seal. Impulse sealers are easy to use, require no preheating, and are ideal for preserving food, packaging products, or crafting because they protect contents from air and moisture, extending shelf life. 

Place the open end of the bag across the sealer's heating element, and press the lever down until the indicator light turns off. Afterward, hold the bag for a few extra seconds after the light goes out to ensure a complete seal. 

• Hair Straightener

A hair straightener is used to seal mylar bags using its heat to melt and fuse the plastic edges, creating an airtight seal. This common household item is an effective and economical tool for long-term storage of items like food, as it can provide a strong, reliable seal when used with a high enough heat setting and the proper technique. 

To seal a mylar bag with a hair straightener, use a metal-plated straightener set to a high temperature, around 190 - 220 degrees centigrade, to press and slide along the top edge of the bag to create a strong seal. Ensure the bag is properly prepared first by removing excess air, adding an oxygen absorber if desired. Then, place a protective barrier like parchment paper between the bag and the straightener for best results. 

• Clothing Iron

Do you want to know how to seal Mylar bags with clothes iron? If yes, you can effectively seal Mylar bags using a household clothes iron. This is a common, cost-effective method for long-term storage when a dedicated heat or impulse sealer is not available. 

Ensure you prepare the bag by filling it, adding an oxygen absorber, and pressing out excess air. Then, set an iron to a high heat like cotton setting, no steam, and iron over the top opening of the bag to melt the layers together while creating a seal. 

• Food Saver

A FoodSaver can only seal standard smooth Mylar bags by using its heat-sealing function. But it cannot effectively vacuum the air out because Mylar is smooth. To fully vacuum-seal Mylar bags with a standard FoodSaver, you need to use a “hack” like inserting a thin straw into the bag to create a channel for air removal while sealing. 

Contrarily, you can use a specialized vacuum-compressible Mylar bag that has one textured side. Either you can use a dedicated impulse sealer or an iron to seal the bags without vacuuming, while still including an oxygen absorber. 

Where to Find Heat-Seal Mylar Bags? 

Whether you are a small food business or a large-scale brand selling perishable goods, ensure your products remain preserved for a long time with heat-sealed mylar bags. Contact Custom Boxes Lane to customize these bags to meet your brand needs and elevate your food packaging!