When I say I’ve been doing it “mostly” right, it’s because the Ziploc bag that shone in our testing wasn’t any ol’ Ziploc, it was a quart-size Ziploc Freezer Bag, notably the kind that uses the Grip n’ Seal closure rather than a zipper.
Your standard-issue Ziploc storage bag is admittedly flimsy and thus earns its “single-use plastic” designation. But a Ziploc Freezer Bag, which is about twice as thick as a regular Ziploc bag, is durable, easy to clean, and reusable.
“They’re built to withstand the pokes and prods of sharp edges, and stretch a lot before breaking,” writes Claire, who has personally had the same Ziploc Freezer Bag in her toiletry case for more than a year.
But durability alone didn’t win Claire over. The Ziploc Freezer Bag was also the only TSA-compliant liquids bag she tested that was truly leakproof.
All of the cheap PVC pouches from Amazon (such as those from Packism, Lermende, and CableintheBay) leaked badly from the zippers, but even pricier pouches—including one with AquaGuard YKK zippers and welded seams—had some leakage when turned upside down. And while our favorite reusable silicone bags, from Stasher, are technically leakproof, they burst open under just a little pressure in our tests, so we weren’t confident they would stay shut during travel.
