Vacuum bags - how small does quilt get?
 

For those of you who have used vacuum bags, how small does the quilt get? The quilt I'm thinking of is 70"x 55", but I'd appreciate any insight into how well the vacuum bags work on any size quilt.

What size vacuum bags have you used?

what are you talking about?

I think she's talking about a plastic bag that one can suck the air out of - sort of like the food saver process -

and how small will the "package" get after the air is sucked out and the bag sealed.

I haven't used them for quilts but I have for other linens. I would say they go down about a third. But that is just a guess. Poufier items go down further of course.

If we're talking about "space bags" as bearisgray said, I bought some to use for batting & fiberfill. In my experience, they don't stay sealed. This is both the brand name and the generics. Don't waste your money.

I used them once for storing out of season clothing, but when I found a few the vacuum didn't hold and they inflated again....I sort of gave up on them.

I fit a large king with polyester batting and flannel backing into a large flat rate USPS box.

I used a heavy duty garbage bag, put the bag in the box and folded the quilt so I could get it into the box (it stuck way up) then used my vacuum and sucked the air out of the bag until it was sucked down so I could close the lid, then tied off the bag and taped the package shut.

Since I only needed to do this for shipping, I didn't need a bag that would hold the seal for a log time. And I also needed it to fit a specific size box. It made it to where it was going fine, and poofed right up after being removed.

That's a pretty brilliant idea for shipping! *makes note for future use*

I also found they go leaky before too long, maybe 6 months?
And a couple of times the quilts came out reeking of some chemical, but not always.
anyway, they have left the building

One way I keep number of total quilts down is to always use two tops, for front and reverse.

I used one in my suitcase to take two lap quilts and two pillows to my granddaughters. The bag was still sealed after my 1-1/2 hour flight. I’d say they were compressed about 1/3.