Does The Bag Sealing Straw Hack Really Work?

That party-size bag of chips seems like a good investment until you're done with your Doritos and Riesling pairing and there's half a bag left over that can't be resealed on its own. Chip clips are effective for closing bags, but not everyone has those on hand, and they tend to be sold in sets, such as these OXO Good Grips clips. (How many open chip bags does a typical household have lying around at once? Asking for a chip-obsessed friend.) To solve this conundrum, enterprising food influencers have locked into an oft-repeated hack: resealing your open bag with two straws.

The bag hack isn't a new concept; while its full origin is uncertain, it can be traced back to at least 2015. In a video from Rumble.com that is also found on YouTube, user bobbytv illustrates how all you need to reseal a bag are two straws and a pair of scissors to create a "homemade Ziploc bag." This looks like a smart and economical way to find an additional purpose for any disposable straws cluttering the kitchen and seems legit upon watching instructional videos, so The Takeout decided to try it ourselves. To clarify, this test is trying out resealing a bag using straws as a homemade chip clip, not attempting vacuum-sealing a bag with a straw.

We just had a party, which left three open bags of chips of various brands, sizes, and materials to volunteer for this trial. Two types of straws were available: large milkshake straws and smaller bendy straws. Immediately, it was obvious that the bendy straw would not work on the party-size bags, so only the milkshake straws were used for two of the three chip bags.

Following the steps found on Facebook and YouTube, we first cut one of the straws in half lengthwise, leaving it in one piece. Then, we took an intact straw of the same size and placed it at the top of an open chip bag laid flat. Next, we rolled the lip of the bag around the straw and kept rolling until the bag wrapped around the straw a few times. Now is when the cut straw comes into play. We took the cut straw and slid it across the top of the bag, which was wrapped around the first straw. This creates a lock at the top of the bag — or, at least, it should.

Full disclosure: this writer is an uncoordinated human. Whether it's because I'm left-handed is up for debate, but my fine motor skills aren't the best. So, while the viral videos of the bag hack make this process look like a breeze, it took several attempts over here to successfully attach the straws to the first bag. This bag, from a Japanese company, is made of a slick, almost metallic material, and chip grease only made it more slippery. Once the straws were correctly in place, the final test was to see if they would hold, so the bag was flipped upside down and lightly shaken. It didn't take long before the chips spilled out onto our dining table. So, for this bag, we retreated to the security and familiarity of those OXO chip clips.

Undaunted, we tried again with the other two chip bags on hand: a party-size bag of Kettle Chips and a lunch-size bag of Fritos. Sealing the Kettle bag took fewer tries than the first bag, possibly because we were rehearsed at this point, but also because this bag was made of material that was easier to handle. After the Kettle bag passed the upside-down test (despite being fuller than the first bag!), we realized air could still get into the bag, since it had been opened by tearing off a top corner, leaving that spot exposed. A quick reroll, and the straw clip still held. The straw also fit the Kettle bag better than it had the Japanese bag, leading us to believe that if we'd had a larger straw (such as a boba straw) that could better wrap around the bag's top, we could have sealed the first bag.

The Fritos bag was easily sealed with both the milkshake straws and the bendy straws, with one extra step. Since this bag was smaller, we trimmed down the straws to make them flusher with the bag's dimensions. The Fritos bag passed the upside down test with both straw treatments.

We ultimately got the straw hack to work for most of our chip bags, but realized that for it to be successful, you need straws that are sturdy enough and sized appropriately to accommodate the open bag in question. Also, to get a good seal, consider how the bag was opened and cover any holes or tears accordingly. Should you have straws in-house and a bit of patience, you can try this hack and give some extra life to your chips and disposable straws.