Vacusac - Space Saving Storage for your Closet

In a climate like ours, the moment when you need to swap summer and winter clothes or blankets is never too far away. As is the painful confrontation with the space these things take up in your closet. The answer is the Pack Mate, the SpaceBag and other space saving Vacusac solutions. They have been around for some time now, but they are still my favorite space-saving solutions. They comprise plastic bags that you can vacuum after stuffing your stuff inside, thereby reducing the volume to a fraction of the original size. To achieve this, all you need is a simple household vacuum cleaner.

Why It's Clever and Easy

The Vacusacs are one of the first and best solutions for compacting your clothes and blankets where the storage medium doesn't take up room when empty. Not only do they help you to save space, but they also keep your items dry, dust-free, and bug-free so you can store them virtually anywhere, including in the cellar.
Different sizes of plastic bags are available for different items.
They work in three simple steps:

   1. Stuff your blankets or pullovers inside
   2. Attach the vacuum cleaner and let it suck the space-wasting air from the package
   3. Think about what to do with the new free space in your closets.

Check out the SpaceBag commercial to see how it works:

Summary

Saves space
Easy to use
No moths or other unwanted guests in your clothes
Keeps your things dry and free of dust so you can store them anywhere
Universal – works with most vacuum cleaners
Comes in different sizes.

Tips

You can use the Vacusacs to compact all kinds of things, but a few things should be noted:

Take care with fabrics from which it's difficult to remove wrinkles
Ideal for goose-down blankets, but don't compress them too hard, which could break the feathers
It might seem a good idea to use these for your travel luggage as well, but make sure you have a vacuum cleaner at hand for the return trip, or you're in for a nasty surprise. It would be better to go for the PackMate travel version if you plan on using it for travelling.

There are several reports of valves that start leaking after some time, so better check the Internet for information on the brand you intend to buy.

Where to buy

You can buy them from http://www.spacebag.com, http://www.packmate.com/, their .ca and .co.uk variants, and tons of other websites and high-street stores.

Approx. price: $20–80 for a set.