Carrier bags

Buy from a massive range of best value carrier bags now, including clear, coloured, biodegradable and printed carriers.

Carrier bags are...

• Polythene bags used to carry items, usually shopping
• Also known as carriers, shopping bags or plastic bags
• Provided (or sold) by retailers everywhere, from charity shops to high-end departments stores and corner shops to supermarkets
• Carried by billions of customers across the planet
• An ergonomic solution to carrying shopping
• Designed to be easy to carry, with convenient carry handles, allowing the shopper to carry more than one bag with each hand
• Available in a wide range of sizes to cater for small or large products
• Available in a range of thicknesses, from lightweight supermarket shopping bags to deluxe glossy luxury carriers
• Available in a range of coloured polythene, either plain or printed
• A great way for a retailer to increase publicity - add your logo to the side of a carrier bag for ready-made mobile advertising!
• An integral part of any retailer’s branding and advertising strategy
• An invaluable aid in carrying shopping from store to home
• Suitable to use and reuse for numerous shopping trips, time after time
• Multi-purpose bags - can be used for many and varied purposes, aside from shopping

Carrier bags - take your pick

Carrier bags come in a variety of shapes and sizes, with a bag available to suit any retailer. Here are some of the most popular styles of carrier bags used today:

Vest - The best known carrier bag in the UK and beyond, traditionally used by supermarkets, smaller food stores, general stores and market traders. Made from high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and available in a variety of colours, plain or printed, these bags are lightweight but strong. Handles are attached to each side of the bag make it look like a vest from the front, hence the name. Provided they are not over-filled, these bags are capable of handling regular shopping with ease.

Patch handle - A more glossy and sturdy carrier bag, commonly used by high street stores to impress their customers. Made from thicker polythene than vest carriers to provide extra strength, these rectangular bags have a handle punched out of the top, reinforced by an extra patch of polythene, which gives the bags its name. Available in clear or coloured polythene and the perfect bag on which to print a design or logo to advertise the retailer, hence the popularity with high street retailers.

Varigauge - Similar in appearance to its patch handle cousin, the varigauge carrier bag is rectangular in shape with a handle punched out. However, the clever use of a varied gauge - or thickness - of polythene, which is twice as thick at the top of the bag than it is at the bottom, means that the need to reinforce the handle with a patch is avoided. Available in a variety of colours, these strong bags with extra room thanks to a bottom gusset, are very popular with retailers keen to make a good impression with customers.

Clip close - These strong rectangular bags have an integral white clip attached right across the top of the bag that clip closes shut, giving the bag its name. Made from thick clear polythene with a side gusset, these bags allow retailers to display their products, whilst not compromising on bag strength or quality. The sturdy clip also allows you to hang up the bag - and contents - to really show it off.

Flexiloop - These luxury carriers take their name from the flexiloop handle that is attached - by heat-welding - to the inside of the bag on both sides. Popular with supermarkets who sell them as ‘Bags for life’ - encouraging customers to reuse the bag - flexiloop carriers are made from thicker polythene than regular carriers, which makes them more expensive to produce. Paper versions of the flexiloop carrier bag are popular with boutique shops or fancy high street retailers.

Duffle - A sturdy polythene bag featuring a cord threaded around the top opening and down the sides of the bag. Pull the cord to close the bag tight and loosen to open. Useful for carrying bulky or weighty items and handy to carry, so often used by sportspeople as a kit bag. Also popular with sports shoe retailers.

Drawstring - Less sturdy than the duffle bag, so not suitable for similarly bulky contents, but operate on a similar principle. Drawstring bags feature two strings looped around the opening of the bag, with the ends of the drawstring appearing through separate openings adjacent to each other. When pulled at the same time, the strings tighten together and the bag closes. Typically made from clear polythene, these bags are a popular way of displaying products in a shop.

Grip Seal - A cross between a carrier bag and a grip seal bag, these bags contain an integral grip seal that runs across the width of the bag just below the cut-out handle. Simply squeeze the grip seal between forefinger and thumb to seal the bag shut, providing protection from rain or other external contaminants, then gently pull apart to open and repeat as many times as you wish. With a clear polythene front, a handle for hanging and a glossy finish, these bags are a great way to display your products.

Show off your business with printed carriers

Printed carrier bags are an ideal way for businesses to advertise directly into their local community. Take a plain patch handle carrier and turn it from the smart, sturdy carrier bag it normally is into a walking advert for your business.

Businesses have to provide carrier bags to their customers anyway, so why not pay a little more for them and get something back from the carrier bags once they have left your shop.

By adding your company logo or design to one or both sides of your carrier bags, you not only make your business look more professional and more eye-catching, but you let your customers act as mobile advertisers, when they leave your store and walk around others in the area with your company branding there for all to see.

You can even add a slogan or advertising message to tell your potential customers exactly what they need to know about your store. All this, carried straight out into the heart of your target market and the hundreds or thousands of other potential customers out there.

Not only do printed carriers help attract new customers, but they also reinforce the message to existing customers that you are a professional, reliable and smart retailer. So next time they go to their cupboard or car boot and see your carrier bag, they see your bag, that initial good impression is reinforced and they move that step closer to being a return customer.

So why bother with plain carrier bags? Go one step further and design your own printed carriers, complete with your company branding, to take your business to the next level.

Where to buy carrier bags

Carrier bag manufacturers and suppliers include:

Carrier Bags
Discount Carrier Bags provides customers with an instant quote on a range of printed carrier bags. Get your very own design or logo printed on one or both sides of a quality thick carrier for as little as 4p a bag. Get a quote in 60 seconds, any time of day, 24/7!
www.discountcarrierbags.co.uk

Personalised Carrier Bags
With instant real-time quotes on personalised printed carrier bags, Discount Printed Carrier Bags is the place to go for bespoke carrier bags at terrific discount prices. Get your design printed on strong, smooth, high quality polythene bags in a range of sizes, from just 4p a bag and with free delivery in the UK.
www.discountprintedcarrierbags.co.uk

Printed Carrier Bags
The home of printed carrier bags online - offering high quality 55-micron thick carrier bags printed with your very own design. With a free instant quote, the lowest prices online - starting at just 4p a bag - and free UK delivery, this website is the place to go for printed carriers - the best way to advertise your business.
www.printedcarrierbags.com

Carrier Bag
If you need a carrier bag of any style, size or colour, then Carrier Bags is the website for you. They provide customers with a huge range of polythene carrier bags, from varigauge carriers to vest carriers and with a selection of biodegradable alternatives.
www.carrierbags.co

Buy Carrier Bags
A useful resource for anyone looking to buy carrier bags. Featuring lots of information of different types of carriers - including bespoke printed carrier bags - and where you can buy them, this website will definitely help you find the right carrier bag for you.
www.buy-carrier-bags.co.uk

Printed Carriers
Find out more about printed carrier bags and a range of other plastic carriers at this useful website, including details of each type of bag and the best place to buy discount printed carrier bags online.
www.discountprintedcarrierbags.com

Printed Bags
Printed Bags Direct offers customers information and details on where to buy a wide range of stock carrier bags and bespoke printed carrier bags, so you can find out everything you need in one handy website.
www.printedbagsdirect.co.uk

Carrier Bag Printing
An excellent resource on printed carrier bags and stock carrier bags, with detailed descriptions on a range of carrier bag categories.
www.printedcarrierbags2u.com

Coloured Carrier Bags
Coloured Bags Direct is a website dedicated to printed carrier bags. A division of industry-leading manufacturer Polybags, they offer customers colour printing on a range of polythene carrier bags.
www.colouredbagsdirect.co.uk

Patch Handle Carrier Bags
Are you looking for printed carrier bags, patch handle carrier bags or any other style from a wide range of plastic carriers? This website is the site you need to help you make that all-important decision and find the right carrier bag for you.
www.printedcarrierbagsdirect.co.uk

Coloured Plastic Bags
Coloured Bags offer colour printing of carrier bags to help you advertise your business. Get a free quotation on your own design printed carrier bags, or choose from a wide range of stock carriers.
www.colouredbags.com

Plastic Carrier Bags
This handy website offers a useful resource on plastic carriers and printed carrier bags, including details of the types of bags available - from clip close carriers to patch handle carriers - and where to buy them.
www.printedcarrierbagsdirect.com

Research & Resources

For more information on carrier bags, the wide range of polythene and biodegradable carriers available, their many uses and how to recycle them, please visit:

Goldstork: A free online 'best-of-the-web' directory listing specially selected information on a wide range of plain and printed carrier bags.

PackagingKnowledge: The UK's premier polythene packaging knowledge website, containing loads of useful information and in-depth articles on carrier bags, as read by those in the industry.

PlasticBags.uk.com: List products for free as a manufacturer or, if you're shopper, simply browse a massive selection of carrier bags websites on this unrivalled polythene packaging directory.

Single-use carriers? No such thing!

The carrier bag is often portrayed in the media as the single biggest cause of pollution and litter on the planet.

Most commonly, the high density polythene (HDPE) carrier bag used by supermarkets is singled out as the biggest culprit. These bags, which are subject to a government levy in many countries - meaning customer have to pay a few pence or cents for each bag they use - are often referred to as “single-use carriers”, which is a term that is not only misleading but also irresponsible.

Carrier bags should be reused as often as possible and by calling them “single-use carriers” - including in newspaper articles widely criticising the use of such bags - the implication is there that the bags should be thrown away.

This is giving entirely the wrong message to customers and does not represent the facts. 82% of UK households reuse over half of all carrier bags they use, with 59% reusing all of them (Waste Resources Action Programme report, 2005).

There are so many things you can do with a carrier bag once you’ve used it to carry your shopping home. The most obvious is to take it back to the shop and use it again for its original purpose - to carry shopping! But you can also use carrier bags for wrapping your packed lunch, or as a portable laundry bag when you go on holiday, or wrapping shoes in a suitcase to keep your clothes clean. There are loads of things you can use it for if you put your mind to it, so use your carriers again and again.

Even when your carrier has seen better days and you’re ready to throw it out, you can give it one final hurrah and use it as a rubbish bag before throwing it in the bin. There’s no such thing as a single use carrier bag - at least there shouldn’t be!

Trending results for carrier bags

Poly Carriers Industries (M) Sdn Bhd

Poly carriers are often lost first on paper, not on the shop floor. Light packs can slip through receiving, put-away and despatch without anyone noticing an errour until the counts no longer tie up, particularly when several fast-moving lines share the same storage space. Secondary packing can conceal a shortfall, and a pallet that sees perfect may still be missing cases or bundles. Tight batch control, matched paperwork and normal cycle counts bring those gaps into view before they turn into a proper loss. Good stock records do not stop all mistake, nevertheless they make stock drift far easier to grasp.

polythene suppliers carriers need to be judged on how they behave after the checkout, not only on how they see on the shelf. A tidy stop and superb print may assist sell the bag, nevertheless the proper test comes when cartons are loaded, stacked and shifted through the warehouse. Film gauge has to be light enough to retain the carrier efficient, yet firm enough to resist split handles and weak seams when consignments are broken down for dispatch. If the gauge is pushed also low, handling damage rises fast. A sensible specification retains performance proper without adding unnecessary weight, and that makes packing and transport easier to manage.

Best baby carriers at a glance:

A sound selection of carriers relies on comfort, fit and how well the product handles proper use rather than showroom promises. A tester may come by one sling fine for short jobs around the house nevertheless awkward amid a longer walk, while another carries weight better because the straps spread the load more evenly. Fabrics matter also, since a few breathe better and a few feel sturdier when the weather turns hot or the child acquires heavier. Extra properties, carrying positions and overall build all affect whether the item settles properly and stays easy to manage. A carrier that works on paper nevertheless causes fussy adjustment soon becomes a shelf-sitter.

Great Value Recycled Paper Bags and Reusable Carrier Bags with Handles

Paper carrier bags need to be judged first as working pack formats, not as decoration. A tidy printed stop only matters if the bag body, gussets, and handle fixings can take proper shop-floor abuse without failing at the worst moment. Poor board selection or sloppy glue control soon shows up as split seams, crushed corners, and handles that pull away below load, which creates re-bagging at the till and more waste straight away. Stock also suffers in storage when bags are packed badly or stored in damp conditions, because the structure loses shape and the client sees it at once. A well-built bag saves time, protects the products, and retains the shopping handover looking competent.

Flexiloop carriers work properly only when the film structure matches the job on the packing line, because the handles are only as robust as the web they are fixed to. A softer LDPE blend normally gives a more forgiving seal and a cleaner feel in use, while an HDPE-rich structure can transport the same load with less gauge if the converting is controlled well. That balance has to suit film tension, print quality and heat seal settings, or the bag turns either also floppy or also rigid. A sound specification saves trouble at filling and gives a carrier that sees tidy and handles better.

Vest carriers need to be judged first on load path and fit, not on appearance. A superb design spreads weight across the shoulders and chest so pouches, tools, radios, and other kit do not drag on one point and cause the material to creep or twist. When the cut is poor, the carrier rides up, snags on movement, and makes a worker adjust it all shift long, which is dull and slows the job. Custom properties assist when the task is unique, nevertheless only if the layout is planned around proper working movement rather than a list of products view. A well-specified carrier saves strain and retains kit where it should be.

Patch handle carriers need tighter process control than plain carrier bags because the strengthened handle area changes how the film behaves in forming, sealing and stacking. A superb medium gauge gives enough strength for loading without adding dead weight, nevertheless only if the seal quality around the patch stays consistent and the fold line is kept clean through conversion. If the melt flow varies or the surface stop is uneven, problems display up later as weak spots, split handles or bags that sit badly in secondary packing. That sort of fault fast turns into handling damage on the shop floor, so the specification has to balance strength, efficiency and ease of use.

Coloured carrier bags only become useful as a secondary feedstock when the material stream is sorted and controlled properly. Mixed pigments are not the only problem; uneven melt flow, variable gauge and a patchy additive mix can all create trouble when the film goes back through conversion machinery. If the bags are shredded, washed and blended with a few care, the resulting polythene suppliers can still make sound products where specific appearance matters less than strength and consistent draw. The practical earn is plain enough: less lightweight film drifting into normal waste, better assortment efficiency in fat back-of-house stock, and a cleaner route into mono-material recycling than plenty laminated packs can offer.

Box of 2000 - Plain Carrier Bags White Small 255 x 380 x 460 - our telephone - OUZG

Plain carrier bags succeed or fail on line performance, not on sees. A small plain bag has to open cleanly, accept stock without snagging, and retain its shape through repeated hand packing, or it beginnings slowing the flow at the bench. Gauge consistency matters because thin patches bring splits and weight tolerance, while a firmer film gives better control at the select-face and less waste from torn bags. That sort of steadiness also assists the sealing stage, where uneven melt or poor film tension can leave weak edges that fail in transit. For busy packing teams, a bag that behaves predictably saves time and cuts nuisance stoppages on the floor.

Printed carrier bags work optimal when the structure is matched to the load, because decoration alone will not retain a pack in service. A tidy emblem can draw the eye, nevertheless if the gauge is also light, the handle area weak, or the board grade gross for the occupy weight, the client notices the failure instead of the print. Shop-floor handling matters as well, since bags are picked, opened, filled, and carried in fast succession, which puts strain on seams and folds. A specification that suits the products and the till process gives better transport strength and less complaints.