Wasted Space

A few weeks ago I impulse purchased a box of those space saver bags at BJ's wholesale club ($19 for 10 bags). I figured with the kids outgrown clothes alone I could use them all pretty quick. I have always been a sucker for their infomercials - so I was pretty excited to try them out.

I found my chance when I was putting away my maternity clothes this past week. That's right - I'm back in my pre-baby jeans!! I am still employing Spanx for dresses and skirts and whatnot (which are seriously great too) but it is cause for celebration. Thank heavens for breastfeeding because I haven't gotten to the gym at all yet.

Anyway, here's the overflowing tub. I tried rolling all my clothes to fit - and they didn't. I obviously stopped rolling them when I reached the top and just threw the rest on there. But believe me, all the clothes are packed TIGHT in that tub.

So then I put them in the space saver and vacuumed it up. I still rolled all the clothes to get the most I could inside the bag.

Two misconceptions I had before using this: 1) For some reason I thought that the vacuum hose had to fit inside that white clip - and when it didn't I was scared I wouldn't be able to use them. Fortunately it just has to go on top of the clip when its opened. It creates enough of a seal to vacuum all the air out anyway. 2) For some reason I thought it would be lighter when I vacuumed it up. It still as heavy as a brick. Why did I think air weighed so much? lol.

But in the end I'm happy with the results. Basically the clothes are stored much flatter, and a smidge more compact than I was able to do rolling on my own. Flatter is better for storing here though because I can stack several of the completed bags on top of each other to reach the same height as the tub. If I was doing this with pillows, stuffed animals, or blankets, I know that the results would be ah-mazing.