Glassine Bags

Glassine bags are made from glassine, which is a type of paper that is very smooth, thin, somewhat translucent and water resistant. These bags are very elegant and are used for a variety of purposes. They make wonderful gift bags because you can see what’s inside and you can order glassine bags in a variety of colors.

Glassine is made using a finishing process called calendaring, which is also used to create a shiny, lustrous finish on fabrics such as moiré, cambric and sateens. The process involves passing the sheets of the dry, rough paper through rollers, which presses the sheets flat. The sheets are passed through multiple times creating a thin, translucent, water and air resistant paper. The paper then has many different uses.

Glassine paper is used in food service because of its water, air and grease resistant qualities. You can store food in glassine bags and use glassine sheets to separate different foods, especially greasy foods such as pizza.

Besides its usefulness for practical storage, glassine paper is also beautiful and has its more decorative uses. Because it is translucent, these thin yet sturdy bags are often used as paper gift bags, storing candy, potpourri, trinkets, small toys and other small gifts. They are versatile and easily dressed up with ribbon, stickers, rubber stamps, paint, monograms and other types of printing. They are quite elegant with even the simplest of decoration.

Glassine envelopes are used to show off especially beautiful or highly personalized notes or cards because the beauty of the note or card shows through the glassine envelope (but not in an overly revealing way since the envelopes are not completely clear). Glassine envelopes also make for an elegant personal touch when they are monogrammed. Glassine envelopes are also used to gift CDs or DVDs containing personalized content, such as photos, music or home movies. There is a size and shape of glassine envelope for many gifting purposes and these beautiful items are not all that expensive.

Glassine bags also make great product packaging. Beautiful soaps, decorative bath oil beads, bath salts, note cards, beads of all varieties, jewelry and more. Glassine bags are a wonderful to display your product and to customize your packaging with branded and decorative stamps or stickers.

The great thing about glassine bags is that they are recyclable and compostable. They are truly a green bag. You can use them to package your products or to hold gift items. After the products have been used and the gifts enjoyed, the bags may be easily recycled in paper recycling or composted because it is biodegradable.