The Popularity of Mylar Bags for Food and Non-Food Packaging

What is Mylar?

Mylar is a polyester film typically made of a specific type of plastic known as BoPET (Biaxially-oriented polyethylene terephthalate), which is known for its unique physical properties. This material is very versatile and is used in several industries, including electronics, defense and aerospace, arts and crafts, musical instruments, packaging, and food labeling. 

Mylar’s high durability and tensile strength allow it to resist extreme atmospheric pressures while maintaining flexibility and function. It is also considered ideal for molecular bonding as it adopts the characteristics of the bonded material without compromising its key features. As a result, Mylar is increasingly becoming the material of choice for a wide array of applications. 

This article mainly focused on Mylar’s use within the packaging industry. Mylar bags are commonly used to pack long-life foods such as beans and grains, nuts and dehydrated foods, spices and rice, and many more. However, they are also used to pack non-food items such as cosmetics, toiletries, pharmaceutical supplements, electronics storage, and others. Customized Mylar bags can basically be used for anything requiring keeping the contents safe from light, air, and moisture. 

This article explores the Mylar material and the reason behind its growing adoption in food and non-food packaging. 

Mylar Bags: Properties and Mainstream Industrial Consumption

Mylar bags, invented in the 1950s, are a customizable and flexible packaging solution. Their physical properties distinguish them from other packaging alternatives as the material of Mylar bags is puncture resistant, with a nonporous surface and non-permeable to gases; it is also water and oil-resistant. Coated with metallic particles like aluminum, it can also become resistant to light for edible storage, which might degrade from long-term exposure to light. 

The secondary name for this category of Mylar bags is foil pouches. These key features contribute to the popularity of custom Mylar bags as a highly durable toxic packaging solution. Their diverse characteristics allow for a wide range of applications, from ideally storing food to other objects like tarnish-prone metal, fabric, pharmaceuticals, etc. The mainstream use of customized Mylar bags centers around commercial food brands and emergency food storage, including pet food, as it is typically known as a food-saving material that allows for a stretched shelf life. 

Different categories of customized Mylar Bags accommodate a wide range of products from food grade to other industrial usage. The average life of food stored correctly in mylar bags can last up to 25 years when used as a laminate. As a foil bag, Mylar is a puncture-resistant material with an excellent barrier against external elements like oil, moisture, and oxygen. Thereby making it an unmatched packaging solution for pharmaceutical products, seeds, and tissue samples, as these items are susceptible to damage if influenced by the elements listed above.

Types of Mylar Bags: Features, Applications and Closing Mechanisms 

Besides its inherent versatility, custom mylar bags can be ordered in any shape, size or thickness. Custom mylar bags’ sizes and optimal thickness can be tailored to a product or business’s unique needs. The thickness of mylar bags is calculated using the unit microns or mils, which is the standard unit of measurement used to define the thickness of flexible packaging materials. The maths goes like this:

Mil = 1/1000th of an inch 

Micron = 1/1000th of a millimetre 

Conversion

1 mil = 25.4 microns

Custom packaging manufacturers are well equipped to use these units, and understanding them will help you, as a customer to order Mylar bags that are precisely suited for your product needs. 

The ideal thickness for customized Mylar bags is estimated at 4 to 6 mils, mainly for heavy-duty dry goods that require odor-proof storage for an extended time.

After deciding on the size and material thickness, the next step in ordering custom Mylar bags is to select the style. For this, focus on the product’s end-users, the purchase, use, and disposal behavior, the approximate time for consumption of the product, and the level of environmental protection that the contents need. Below are some of the popular types of customized Mylar bags:

  1. Ziplock Mylar Bags

Ziplock Mylar bags are customized with a zipper for easy access, opening, and closure. Vacuum-sealable Mylar bags come installed with vacuum sealers to expel air when storing food for extended preservation. There are other varieties of Mylar bags, like the pull tab and seal zipper bags, which have a high market demand because of their ease of use in addition to the zipper mechanism. 

  1. Push-Pin Mylar Bags

Push pin-type custom mylar bags look like a typical zipper bag but need a small pin to dislodge the zip once it’s closed, which is a safety feature. On the other hand, pinch-type mylar bags are not very secure. 

  1. Retort Mylar Bags

Retort Mylar Bags are mainly designed for high-temperature applications. Customized or specialty Mylar Bags for pharmaceutical storage are designed in compliance with FDA regulations. These custom Mylar bags can be sterilized by medical-grade disinfectants like ethylene oxide or radiation to sanitize. Since pharmaceutical products require dry storage, away from light. Specialty Mylar bags for pharmaceutical use are mainly constructed with a laminated structure comprising polyester or polyamide film, aluminum foil, and a peel able sealant layer. 

  1. Specialty Mylar Bags 

Specialty Mylar bags are also particularly customized, designed, and created for specific industries, like pet food or human use of dry food, spices, electronics, etc. These bags can be custom-made and printed with logos and other brand-centric elements. Mylar bags can be customized to suit consumer demands and accommodate various products, from mechanical parts to food and pharmaceuticals. All these products are sensitive to environmental changes, and the excellent barrier protection provided by mylar bags as packaging is a great advantage. 

To Choose the Right Mylar Bag for Your Business, Consider the Following Details About your Product:

Different types of Mylar bags have various closing mechanisms for different products. Choosing the right one for your business really depends on having an in-depth knowledge of the type of packaging that your product demands, also relevant to the nature of your product.

  • What type of product are you storing? Determine its needs, such as whether it is prone to moisture damage and sensitive to light, or if it has any particular storage requirements. This will help you choose a Mylar bag with appropriate barrier properties. 
  • Consider the environmental factors that can degrade your product, like temperature, humidity, etc. Your product’s packaging demands rely on these details, which help you make informed decisions.
  • Picking the right closing mechanism, like ziploc, velcro, or heat seals. (Heat seals are suited for products that require tamper-evident packaging, like pharmaceuticals.) Pick the most suitable one according to your product requirements and ease of use, keeping in mind the characteristics of your product. It is essential to know that sealing is vital in Mylar bags as it ensures effective long-term storage. An airtight seal can preserve the quality and freshness of the contents, so picking Mylar bags with the proper closing mechanism is essential. 

Optimizing Warehouse Storage

There is no doubt that customized Mylar bags are a very effective packaging and storage solution and one that does not take up too much space as inventory. However, an important downside of using Mylar bags for storing food is that these pouches aren’t built to protect your storage against rodents. Furthermore, apart from this, Mylar bags can also be susceptible to bacteria from low-oxygen environments like botulism. 

To guard the product against just attacks, managers need to be vigilant about warehouse management. As the first step, manage your warehouse space by correctly disposing of trash and avoid clutter or heaps that could become a breeding ground. Make the space rodent-proof by sealing cracks and crevices with impenetrable material like cement or metal. Secondly, the contents should contain 10% or less moisture to maintain edible storage in Mylar bags. Oxygen absorbers are often used in Mylar bags for food storage; it is recommended that perishable food containing moisture should be stored for a short period. 

A basic but regular inspection can gauge the packaged goods in a Custom Mylar bag for a safety check. Mylar bags with bulges have bacterial growth inside, requiring appropriate and timely disposal to avoid contaminating your inventory space. 

All in all, Mylar bags are a universal packaging solution for food and some nonfood items that are increasingly used. They cater to various storage concerns, from material thickness, moisture, and oxygen to light resistance. Several customization options are available for Mylar bags, including size, thickness, and printing techniques; choosing the right ones requires a thorough understanding of your product and its storage requirements. Custom Mylar bags offer several benefits, including branding unique designs and closing mechanisms for added security. The right choice will help your product’s shelf life and aid in smooth inventory management. 

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