Well, I guess it all depends on what you are transporting in them. If you're using them for dirty laundry, for instance, you'll want to wash them so that certain bacteria doesn't have a chance to thrive in them. If you use them to transport children's items that would be another reason to give them a good wash.
We use material shopping bags which we then place in the wash. We also give it a wipe down after each shopping trip. We avoid all plastic bags as I wish they can stop manufacturing plastic in the first place.
Very helpful tip. Yeah, I have been using my shopping bags for almost everything - from vegetables and fruits to dishwashing paste.
I use my bags for practically everything. I shop with them, I use them for carrying stuff to work, when I travel, for carting around the laundry... I even have them in different sizes. Now I just have to remember to a) keep some empty and available, b) keep them in the car, and c) remember to take them into the store with me, lol!
The shopping bags that I use are recyclable. i do not think they can be washed. They aren't very durable to withstand washing. When a shopping bag becomes really dirty or broken, I just throw it away. There are many given free anyway. Sometimes I just also bring old plastic bags. The plastic bags can be reused over and over again and are easy to clean. Your suggestions are very good. I prticularly like the idea of making old tshirts into bags.
I have yet to make those T-shirt bags, but it's definitely on my list of things to do. I really like canvas bags that can be washed - they are heavy duty and durable and can be used to carry a lot of different kinds of items. I would suggest switching to reusable bags that can be washed otherwise you may as well be using plastic.
I guess if you were really in a pinch and needed to use them but weren't able to wash them, could just turn them inside out for the time being. In other words if you brought meats home in them the last time around, and now you're bringing home fresh vegetables. I always forget to wash mine, and usually just leave them tossed in my trunk.
Seeing how many bags i have hordered from the old days where they would give them out, i still use them a bunch of times, until they give out on me. So i don't think i will need a solution for that problem anytime soon.
I use reusable bags, a cotton made, I use it in buying dry things. Then there is another one, a nylon type that I use for the wet or frozen food or things that I need to buy. I always wash the two, especially the one I'm using for wet or frozen food.
We just recently got an Aldis here and their bags you have to pay for which are 10 cents each when they opened they gave away free bags so I reuse them anytime I go there but they are plastic so I can't really wash them. I do however have two cotton bags that I do wash each time after a shopping trip.
I love cotton! It's easy to care for and it's a durable, breathable, natural fabric. By the time my purchased reusables from Whole Food wear out I hope I will have assembled a nice assortment of canvas bags to use for grocery shopping. I have one really big heavy duty tote now, but I could use a few more.
Hi That was a very useful information. Yeah! As you say reusable bags are of great help and then there is no wastage after using it. We can use it how much ever times we need
So true! Plastic bags often end up in the water and this is very harmful to fish and other aquatic life. Yep, if you have the kind that are durable and washable you could keep them for many years before they would need to be replaced. That is a good idea. Even with cloth bags, you still need plastic sometimes for things that are moist. LOL, I like the way you think! Turning them inside out could definitely work as a temporary fix. I often forget to put my bags back in my car.
Well my grocery store provides free re-usable bags to its customers who are members and I have one. Its pretty convenient to carry around even if its full. I think the management did research and study well which reusable bag design to release. Well, they did a pretty good job.
That's great that they do that. I think one of the food co-ops here has a bag for members, but I am not sure if it is given out free. It's a good thing that they did their research before investing in reusable bags to distribute; a lot of the bags that were available early on were pretty flimsy and didn't hold up for very long. Even though the seams were repairable when they came loose, you don't expect to have to repair a bag you've paid for.
How often would you say a cloth-bag can go in between washes? Yeah; although I do use the reusable cloth bags you can buy from the stores (and one reusable plastic bag I got fromLog In, for cold stuff in hot weather ... I walk everywhere), I'll sometimes pick up some extra paper-or-plastic to use as trash-bin liners.
I think how often you need to wash it depends on what you carry in it. If all you carry in a bag is packaged food then you can let it go for a while, but if you use it to transport fresh foods or meat and dairy products you should probably at least give it a good spray when you get home and unload your items.
I don't take a bag with me to the grocery store with me because it's never occurred to me to use a reuseable bag. I usually just pay the 5 cents for a plastic bag, but I can see why so many people prefer to take their own.
I don't clean my reusable bags as often as I should, but I do clean them from time to time. If I buy meat I always make sure I double or triple bag it, or carry it in a plastic bag because I'm afraid of cross contamination. I just got a new shopping bag in the mail the other day. It's from Earth Bound farms and I got it for free, I think for liking them on Facebook or something. I tend to go through my reusable bags rather quickly so I at least want to make an attempt to take better care of this one, lol.
Plastic bags have been banned in my city as of Nov 2013. If you don't bring reusable bags to the store, you will have to pay 10 cents for each paper bag that you use.
