Any other space saver ideas that dont' involve plastic or a lot of $$?

[DawnM]

I had planned to use those space saver bags to squeeze down some of the items I am taking to the orphanage for donation.    My friend gave me a stack of them.

But now I find out that single use plastic is banned in the entire country, and they consider this to be single use.   No ziplocks and they have these in the ziplock category.

I don't want to spent $50+ to get the small cloth ones just for this purpose when I definitely dont' need that many for personal use and don't want to spend the $$.

I did consider packing with them and then just handing the plastic over when I get there and whip out some foldable bags for the surplus as it won't matter how many bags I have once I am in the country.

Any other ideas?   Maybe some sort of box I can squish them into?

Thanks

 

[HomeAgain]

These are going in suitcases, right?  What about belts?  I was mentally going through all of our space-saving equipment and we have bags that are lashed shut (like sleeping bags) with criss-crossed straps.  DS took the same idea and used belts to cinch down some of his packs.  If you can put the stuff in regular bags and use adjustable belts to really pack it down, it might work.

[Katy]

Well you could try the military method of tightly rolling everything you pack. It kind of works like compression sleeves without needing to purchase anything. 

[DawnM]

Just now, Katy said:

Well you could try the military method of tightly rolling everything you pack. It kind of works like compression sleeves without needing to purchase anything. 

I need to do this to socks and dolls, they won't stay tight like clothing can.   Those dolls will pop right back to reg size.

[DawnM]

2 minutes ago, HomeAgain said:

These are going in suitcases, right?  What about belts?  I was mentally going through all of our space-saving equipment and we have bags that are lashed shut (like sleeping bags) with criss-crossed straps.  DS took the same idea and used belts to cinch down some of his packs.  If you can put the stuff in regular bags and use adjustable belts to really pack it down, it might work.

Good idea but we own like 2 belts and they are both DH's size.   For small items like the plush dolls and socks, that won't work so well.

[HomeAgain]

18 minutes ago, DawnM said:

Good idea but we own like 2 belts and they are both DH's size.   For small items like the plush dolls and socks, that won't work so well.

Thrift store for the belts?

This is what we have and I'm basing my idea on: https://www.rei.com/product/175327/rei-co-op-lightweight-compression-stuff-sack

Those are $30-50 each, but oh, my goodness, they work so well.  But I think the idea can be approximated with a regular bag, maybe two stiff pieces of cardboard for top/bottom if needed, and two belts.

Edited May 30 by HomeAgain

[Carrie12345]

I’m thinking a belt doesn’t have to be a BELT. Twine with the same idea?

[fairfarmhand]

Stuff them in a pillowcase and squish? Drawstring laundry bags?

[DawnM]

I like where you all are going with this.

Keep the ideas coming.

[Cecropia]

Compress them with thicker rubber bands?

[mommyoffive]

Packing cubes

[Faith-manor]

Could you get enough air out of pillowcase with a vacuum? Also, Aldi used to have gallon size bamboo composting baggies. They are ziploc, but they aren't plastic either. I have some, and they definitely feel very different and they say "compostable" right on the bag, though in English that might not be helpful.

Edited May 30 by Faith-manor

[73349]

I would try rolling and tying with yarn or twine.

[Arcadia]

If you have unused flat bed sheets lying around, they make good clothing wrappers. 

[Pippen]

3 hours ago, fairfarmhand said:

Stuff them in a pillowcase and squish? Drawstring laundry bags?

I used to stuff sleeping bags in pillowcases and tie them with belts, tie downs, or long velcro straps. It takes some time, but you can really reduce the volume. Later when I had to compress fleece blankets, I bought inexpensive stuff sacks from Walmart and those worked well. 

In your situation I would ask around to see if I could borrow stuff sacks or compression cubes used in luggage. I would test out the dolls in advance, just to make sure they won't be mangled. 

[wathe]

Do you have sleeping bags that came with compression-style stuff sacks?  Those would work.  

[wathe]

You could also do a really tight girl guide bedroll, with a flat sheet instead of a tarp.   The original compression sack from before compression sacks were a thing -  press tightly as you roll, then kneel on the whole thing to compress even more before tying off.

[Bootsie]

There are two types of packing cubes.  Some are compression cubes with a tigtening zipper to press items as tightly as possible; these tend to be expensive.  There are cheaper packing cubes that simply contain items.  If you stuff socks into those tightly they will be more compact than simply loose in the suitcase--roll items tightly, fill the bag tightly, zip it, sit on it, barely open the zipper, stuff more in, and repeat.  It iwll not be as compact as the compression bags, but if I have a large suitcase, I find that I often reach the weight limit before I run out of space.

[DawnM]

2 hours ago, Bootsie said:

There are two types of packing cubes.  Some are compression cubes with a tigtening zipper to press items as tightly as possible; these tend to be expensive.  There are cheaper packing cubes that simply contain items.  If you stuff socks into those tightly they will be more compact than simply loose in the suitcase--roll items tightly, fill the bag tightly, zip it, sit on it, barely open the zipper, stuff more in, and repeat.  It iwll not be as compact as the compression bags, but if I have a large suitcase, I find that I often reach the weight limit before I run out of space.

I have those, they don't do much.   They help a teenie bit, but not nearly what compression bags can do.

[DawnM]

3 hours ago, wathe said:

You could also do a really tight girl guide bedroll, with a flat sheet instead of a tarp.   The original compression sack from before compression sacks were a thing -  press tightly as you roll, then kneel on the whole thing to compress even more before tying off.

these items are all about 6-8 inches tall, so this would be tricky to press them all down at the same time while I try to roll.

[DawnM]

3 hours ago, wathe said:

Do you have sleeping bags that came with compression-style stuff sacks?  Those would work.  

I don't, but I could get some compression bags I suppose, they just aren't cheap.

[DawnM]

the other issue I am having is that I was told to spread them out into all of our bags so that customs doesn't accuse us of trying to sell things and confiscate all of it, so I am trying to find smaller ways to do this.

[Bootsie]

13 minutes ago, DawnM said:

the other issue I am having is that I was told to spread them out into all of our bags so that customs doesn't accuse us of trying to sell things and confiscate all of it, so I am trying to find smaller ways to do this.

About how many are you going to try to put in a single suitcase?

[prairiewindmomma]

2 hours ago, DawnM said:

the other issue I am having is that I was told to spread them out into all of our bags so that customs doesn't accuse us of trying to sell things and confiscate all of it, so I am trying to find smaller ways to do this.

Can you get a letter from the orphanage explaining why you are carrying donation goods? It’s still not likely to prevent theft/“confiscation” but it will answer questions from legitimately acting customs agents. 

[prairiewindmomma]

For socks, I would bundle them in a thin towel or in a tshirt, and then roll and tie it with a ribbon. After you’ve made whatever bundles you need to, I’d get the $2 Trader Joe’s shopper bags (which are reuseable and permitted), and just bundle everything into those. It’s labor heavy, but you have a college student to labor for you. 

[YaelAldrich]

Why can't you use compression bags and bring them back to the US?

[bolt.]

I think you can compression-roll various very squishy things inside a more firm outer layer (say a stuffed doll inside a roll of various things with its outer layer being a pair of jeans) then tie tightly with cord/twine like a mini bedroll. I'm imagining a tight roll up maybe somewhat larger than the size of a loaf of bread, but not too big. Then start again with another roll, putting small things like socks in the middle and using anything relatively large but not stretchy as the outside -- pillow cases, whatever. Then fill the suitcase/s with various rolls, some in each suitcase.

Edited May 31 by bolt.

[bolt.]

Be careful compressing too much -- suitcases are designed for the weight according to their volume not-very-compressed. It can be very easy to overload a suitcase, and even to surprise yourself by going over the per-bag weight limit of your airline.

Gently: if you find that you are putting a bunch of person-hours and money into paying to ship these castoff goods as luggage, you may want to consider their real value. It's possible that wherever you are going, ordinary clothing might not cost that much in our eyes, especially as 'we' arrive with powerful foreign currency. Are socks worth it? What do you suppose the local cost of socks really is at your destination?

[DawnM]

11 hours ago, YaelAldrich said:

Why can't you use compression bags and bring them back to the US?

I can, but I have enough for our clothing right now and I would be buying quite a few compression bags that are pricey that I won't ever use or need again, and I dont' want to to do that.   I had planned to use the ziplock large packing compression plastic.   They are saying they view that as a ziplock bag and those are banned.

However, as I stated, I could just use them and if they confiscate them, at least I will be in country at that point and can just use my totes to carry them

And after thinking a while, the truth is, I could just take an additional suitcase.   We dont' have a full load.   We are allowed 2 check in suitcases each, plus one carry on and one personal item per person.   We dont' have that many, so maybe that is a better solution.   I don't know why I didn't think of that sooner, but I think in my mind I had everything planned and was trying to work within those parameters, but I don't have to.

But definitely looking through these ideas.

It is about 20 dolls and probably 200 prs of socks.