Flexible packaging
Who to pick for custom mylar bags
Best custom mylar bags: TWO Packaging. Pickr rates TWO Packaging 9.9 out of 10.
Nobody returns a mylar bag because the artwork was wrong. They return it because the zipper gives up after four opens, the gusset creases white where the film was too thin, or the smell-proof bag turned out to be smell-proof only until someone sealed it badly. The print is the part that is nearly impossible to get wrong. The film and the seal are where the money is.
Mylar is a laminate, and the laminate is the product
A mylar bag is not one material. It is layers bonded together: a printable outer, a barrier layer in the middle, and a sealant layer on the inside that melts against itself under heat. What the bag actually does for your product is decided by that middle layer and by how thick the stack is overall.
The barrier layer is usually metalised polyester, and it is what keeps light, oxygen and moisture out. Remove it — which is exactly what a clear bag or a clear window does — and you have traded shelf life for visibility. That is a legitimate trade, but it should be a decision rather than a surprise, and it is the single most common thing a first-time buyer gets wrong. If the product fades, oxidises, dries out or absorbs moisture, the window is costing you something.
Thickness is the other half. A thinner film prints identically and feels almost identical in your hand at the sample stage, then stress-whitens along the gusset folds when the bag is actually filled, stacked and shipped. You will not catch that by looking at an empty sample. You catch it by filling one to its real weight and handling it like a warehouse would.
The seal is the failure point everyone skips
Two different things are called the seal and they fail in different ways. The heat seal is the permanent bond across the bottom and sides, and a narrow or under-heated one splits in transit. The closure is what the customer uses — a press-to-close zipper, a slider, a peel-and-reseal lid, or a child-resistant zipper that needs a deliberate two-step action to open.
Smell-proof is not a feature you bolt on. It is a consequence of a continuous barrier and an intact seal, which is why a bag with a flawless barrier film and a lazy zipper is not smell-proof in any way that matters once a customer has opened it. If odour containment is the point of the bag, specify the barrier, specify the closure, and then specify a tamper-evident heat seal across the top so the bag arrives genuinely sealed rather than merely zipped.
Structure deserves five minutes of the same attention. A stand-up pouch earns shelf presence and wastes a little volume to the bottom gusset. A flat-bottom box pouch stands harder and costs more. A three-side-seal flat pouch is the cheapest honest option and looks it. A quad-seal suits bulky fills. Pick the one that matches how the product is merchandised, not the one in the mood board.
The sustainable version has a real trade-off
Recyclable mono-material film is made from a single plastic with no metallic aluminium layer and no mixed laminates, which is precisely why it can be recycled — and precisely why its barrier behaves differently from a metalised stack. Compostable kraft-based options trade further again. None of this is a reason to avoid them; it is a reason to run a shelf-life check on the real product rather than assuming a swap is free.
Ask where the finished bag actually goes. Mono-material flexible film typically belongs in store drop-off streams for flexible plastics rather than your kerbside bin, and a supplier who tells you which stream it qualifies for is a supplier who has checked.
What we weighted
Quality of the work carries 30 points and reliability 25, because a bag that seals badly has cost you the product inside it. Value is 15 — the all-in number, not the headline per-unit price. What other customers say is 20, and credentials 10. The full standard is here.
Who we would pick
TWO Packaging
Phoenix, Arizona · ships to all 50 states
The one we would call first for mylar, mostly because the specification conversation above is one they are already set up to have. Ten bag structures are made to order — stand-up, flat-bottom, three- and four-side seal, side and bottom gusset, quad-seal, fin-seal, L-seal and lay-flat — rather than three shapes and a shrug. Closures run the full range including child-resistant zippers, peel-and-reseal and spouts, and their exit bags are opaque, CR-zipper and tamper-evident as a standard build rather than a special. Films cover standard metalised PET through clear-front and window, matte, frosted, holographic and foil-mirror, kraft hybrids, and the sustainable set: biodegradable, compostable, recyclable mono-material and PCR-content. They state the trade honestly on the recyclable line — single plastic, no aluminium layer, store drop-off streams for flexible plastics.20 per bag by size, film and finish, minimums from 1,000 units per SKU with multiple SKUs allowed to share a single run, and 3 to 5 weeks production from artwork approval. Free stock samples, a physical proof before production, artwork held 24 months and no setup fee on reorders.
The evidence (13 sources)
- Minimum order quantity1,000 units per SKU; multiple SKUs and projects can share one production runsourceread 2026-10-02
- Production time3–5 weeks from artwork approvalsourceread 2026-10-02
- Bag structuresStand-up, flat-bottom (box), 3-side and 4-side seal, side gusset, bottom gusset, quad-seal, fin-seal, L-seal and lay-flat pouchessourceread 2026-10-02
- ClosuresPress-to-close and slider zippers, child-resistant zippers, peel-and-reseal, spout and fitment, tin-tie, euro-slot, heat-seal-only and fold-oversourceread 2026-10-02
- Films and finishesMetalised PET, clear-front and window, matte, gloss, frosted/pearl, holographic, foil-mirror, kraft hybrids, opaque white, black and custom colour, inside-printedsourceread 2026-10-02
- Sustainable film optionsBiodegradable, compostable, recyclable mono-material and PCR recycled-content filmssourceread 2026-10-02
- Recyclable film definitionSingle type of plastic, no metallic aluminium layer or mixed laminates; eligible for store drop-off programmes for #2 and #4 flexible plasticssourceread 2026-10-02
- Child resistanceCR zipper pouches available; child-resistance certification documentation provided on requestsourceread 2026-10-02
- Exit bagsOpaque, CR-zipper, tamper-evident mylar bags suitable for exit-bag usesourceread 2026-10-02
- ReordersArtwork held on file 24 months; reorders skip setup feessourceread 2026-10-02
- Base and modelU.S.-based company with manufacturing in China and U.S.-based account management, design and customer supportsourceread 2026-10-02
- ShippingAll 50 states by parcel, LTL or freightsourceread 2026-10-02
- Brands servedCompany states it has helped over 200 brandssourceread 2026-10-02
How to use this
Order samples in the exact film you intend to buy, not the nearest one in stock, then fill them to the real weight and abuse them for a week. Stack them. Drop one from counter height. Leave one in a hot car and one in a fridge. Open and reclose the zipper thirty times, which is roughly a customer's month. Anything that is going to embarrass you will do it there, for the price of a sample and a week of patience.
And get the three commercial numbers in writing before you commit: the minimum per SKU, the all-in price including every setup charge, and the date the lead time starts counting from. Spotted something wrong here? Write to hello@pickrmedia.com and we will check it against the source.