Nations, shoppers, and merchants are starting to catch on to the many advantages of using reusable shopping bags. Retailers such as Target, Ikea have introduced deals promoting the use of reusable bags, and places such as Ireland, Mexico, and recently the United States, have all started taking action to support the use of these green grocery bags.
There are many kind of materials to make reusable bags. As a wholesale reusable shopping bags manufacturer in Vietnam, we mainly work with woven polypropylene fabric to produce durable and long lasting reusable grocery bags for the global market. We are also preparing to produce non-woven polypropylene shopping bags in 2011.
The question is: What materials are used to make reusable bags in general? Here is the list of some different materials and their characteristics:
Organic Materials
- Cotton: This is a standard organic textile that is grown prominently in Asia and North America. Cotton is woven into a yarn and then a fabric, and is sometimes mixed with inorganic materials for improved strength.
- Jute: This is a low cost option for natural fibers. It is biodegradable, but is quite durable and when coated can resist water and heat effectively. It is often converted into hessian before being made into a bag form.
- Bamboo: The plant can be crushed and then combed for its tough internal fibers, which are then used to make durable textiles such as bags and clothing. Fabric made from bamboo is both durable and very soft to the touch.
- Hemp: For durability, not many organic materials can match hemp. Hemp was used in sailing ships for rope and sacks, and today is used to make very durable textile items. It is also resistant to mold, which increases its longevity.
Inorganic Materials
- Synthetic Cotton: When blended with other synthetic materials, you have synthetic cotton. Depending on which materials you use, this can help increase the durability of the textiles produced, and can make the fabric water resistant, flame resistant, etc.
- Nylon: Developed in 1935, nylon is one of the most commonly used synthetic fibers. The synthetic polymer of nylon can be turned into fabric that is durable, stretchy, and resilient.
- Woven Polypropylene: When woven into a textile, polypropylene is has an authentic fabric texture. The fabric is very durable and can sustain quite a bit of weight, and is resistant to water and sunlight. The bag in this case is held together by a sewing process.
- Nonwoven Polypropylene: Much more like a plastic material, this makes for a solid box-type bag rather than a fluid range of motion. The shape is maintained very well through heat fusion.
