What's a good vacuum cleaner for vacuum sealing bags?

September 21, 2021 9:40 PM

I'm preparing for a big move and want to vacuum seal everything. What is a good vacuum cleaner that has an attachment for vacuum-sealing bags? I can't seem to figure out based off of Amazon pages whether a given cleaner will or will not be able to seal bags.
posted by jtothes to Travel & Transportation (4 answers total)

The vacuum-sealing bags I've used, SpaceSaver, don't require an attachment, so long as you're using a model with a wand for attachments (e.g., the metal tube on a canister vac). The focused suction of the wand - with no attachment - is used directly on a valve in the the bag, which is why they won't work with an all-in-one upright vac with a non-removable floor head (suction is diffuse across the floor head).

The bags look like large Ziploc bags, and come with little blue grippers to help make sure you've gotten a good seal at the top of the bag. They have a one-way valve in the plastic, round, like the valve in a foil bag of coffee beans, but with a shallow, screw-on plastic cap. You make sure the bag is sealed, screw the cap off, apply the bare end of the metal wand, suck out air, and finally replace the cap.
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 12:34 AM on September 22, 2021 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: @rrrrrrrrrt how do I figure out whether any given vacuum has a detachable head?
posted by jtothes at 8:08 AM on September 22, 2021

Most upright vacuums have a tube that can be detached to use with accessories- that’s the part that you use to attach to the vacuum seal bag valve. When the tube is detached and in use, the vacuum’s suction is directed to the tube. Any vacuum that mentions an accessory wand, crevice tool, upholstery tool, etc. should work.
posted by MadamM at 8:38 AM on September 22, 2021 [1 favorite]

In general, if your vacuum cleaner comes with interchangeable accessory wands, it'll work fine. The vast majority of vacuum cleaners use approximately the same diameter for the wand attachment, and the bags are designed to work with pretty much any of them.

That said, if you're only getting the vacuum for the storage bags, it might be worthwhile just looking for bags that come with their own pump, like this one, which I found by searching "vacuum storage bag pump electric". They'll still work with normal vacuums, of course.
posted by Aleyn at 11:48 AM on September 22, 2021