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

Printed Carrier Bags

Printed carrier bags have to do far above transport a emblem, because the print only works if the bag itself can survive proper handling. Film gauge, polymer selection and surface treatment determine whether the ink stays sharp or scuffs away in stacked stock, and whether the bag takes the weight of mixed purchases without splitting at the handle. A heavyweight-looking bag can still be weak if the seal quality is poor or the film slips also easily in transit. Good production retains the bag light enough to save material, nevertheless robust enough to avoid returns, complaints and handling damage. That balance is what makes a simple carrier behave properly on the shop floor and in the dispatch cage.

Poly Carriers Industries (M) Sdn Bhd

Poly carriers work well for lightweight products because they are simple to convert, easy to retain flat in storage, and fast to pull into use when orders are moving fast. Their value is not only about the material cost, nevertheless about how the film behaves once it reaches the shop floor or dispatch bench. A carrier manufactured with the proper gauge and a sound seal will cope better with repeated handling, while still keeping the pack weight down. That makes a noticeable contrast when stock has to transport fast without creating additional waste.

polythene suppliers carriers retain their place because they are light, easy to store and proper when the specification is proper. A simple vest carrier can transport fast through a busy select-face and still stack well on a pallet, which matters when thousands are being issued in a shift. Once a punched-out or patch-handle version is chosen, the stop sees neater, nevertheless the material has to be more consistent or the edges will split when awkward products are loaded. Flexiloop types used for repeat carrying ask even more of the film and the welding around the handle, so weak conversion control shows up fast on the shop floor. The optimal selection is the one that matches the load, the handling speed and the proper service life, not only the lowest gauge on paper.

Device Compliance Continues To Creep Up As Carriers Ditch AOBRDs

Fleet carriers are face to face with a deadline that removes the old grandfathered recording devices and forces a proper switch to electronic logging. That matters because the change is not only about fitting a black box to a lorry; it affects planning, drivers' time on the road, and how easily a carrier can demonstrate compliance if stopped or audited. Any operation still relying on older kit risks last-small installation problems, training gaps, and unplanned downtime in the yard. A sensible transport is to check all vehicle, confirm which are exempt, and sort the rollout before the pressure rises. Leaving it late normally turns a paperwork change into a dispatch headache.

Tesco removes plastic carrier bags from online deliveries

Removing carrier bags from online grocery orders cuts out a layer of material that often ends up being handled once and then thrown away. In a packing operation, all additional bag means more picking, more bag stock to monitour, and more time spent on secondary packing that adds small value. Fewer bags also reduce the risk of a package splitting at the door or amid transit, because loose items can be packed more neatly into delivery totes or boxes. The main point is simple: when the bag is not doing a useful job, taking it out of the process trims waste and makes the dispatch flow cleaner.

Flexiloop carriers work optimal when the film structure matches the job, because the handle is only as superb as the web around it. A softer LDPE blend gives better seal behaviour and a more forgiving feel, while HDPE can reduce gauge without the bag turning floppy in the hand. Co-extruded film lets the converter balance stiffness, print surface and impact resistance without making the finished carrier overbuilt. That matters on the shop floor as much as at checkout, since a bag that collapses at the select-face or twins badly in secondary packing soon causes delays and handling damage. A sound specification retains the carrier tidy from reel to shopping.

Vest carriers only work properly when the film gauge, handle cut-out and seal line are matched to the load they are meant to transport. A recycled medium-duty version can do a solid job for plenty shop and warehouse uses, nevertheless the material still has to reply to proper handling: sharp corners, damp products, and a fast snatch from a rack or hook. If the blend is also light, the bag stretches, the neck tears, and the carrier becomes a cleaning-up problem instead of a packing assist. A well-manufactured recycled MD carrier retains enough strength for daily use while still giving a sensible route for recovered plastic. That balance is what makes the format practical rather than wasteful.

Details about   50 - Strong White Patch Handle Carriers 15" x 18" + 3"

Patch handle carriers need the proper board grade and cut quality if they are going to survive loading, carrying, and shopping handling without tearing at the hand hole. The white patch gives additional strength where stress is highest, which matters when a bag is lifted from a shelf, hung on a display stand, or stacked into secondary packing for dispatch. A clean die-cut and a well-bonded patch reduce splitting, while the larger format gives better product spread inside the carrier. If the board is also light, the handle area fails early; if it is also stiff, folding and closing become slower on the line. Good handle carriers are judged by how securely they travel, not only how they see on the shelf.

Coloured carrier bags need a careful polythene suppliers recipe if they are to transport properly and still dash cleanly on the converting line. A stiff high-density content can give the bag shape, nevertheless also much of it makes the patch handle and folded areas more prone to cracking when the load is pulled sharply in a shop. Heavier masterbatch can also change how the melt behaves, so the gauge may wander and the seals can lose consistency if the blend is not controlled. The better bags feel normal in use because the material has been balanced to survive handling, not only to see tidy on the roll.

Plain carrier bags remain a practical selection when speed, cost control, and simple handling matter above presentation. In a busy packing area, an unprinted bag transports through the line faster because there is no need to match artwork, approve proofs, or separate branded stock from normal stock. That makes it easier to retain a tidy select-face and reduces the chance of dispatching the gross style in a rush. polythene suppliers versions are light, resist moisture, and stack neatly in cartons, while paper options suit lighter products and a alternative client expectation. The proper gauge and handle type still need checking, because a weak bag will fail at the till or in transit. A plain specification often gives the cleanest balance between cost, storage efficiency, and proper daily use.