Heat Sealers | Bag Sealers

An impulse bag sealer is a hand-operated heat sealer that sends a short burst of current through a sealing wire only while the arm is pressed down, melting the two layers of film together into a permanent seal. Because the wire is not heated continuously, there is no warm-up wait and the bar stays cool between seals. Both CelloBags.com sealers include a variable temperature intensity knob so you can dial the heat up for thicker films and down for thin 1 mil cello bags.

Choose a sealer whose seal bar is longer than the width of the bag you are closing, since the whole opening has to fit across the bar in one pass. An 8" sealer covers most cookie, candy and treat bags, which are typically 3" to 7" wide, while 12" and 16" models are the practical choice for bread bags, popcorn bags and larger gift bags. Bags wider than the bar can be sealed in two overlapping passes, but a single-pass seal is faster and looks cleaner on a retail package.

Yes. BOPP cello bags and true cellophane bags are annealed during manufacturing, which gives the film enough high-temperature stability to be sealed with a regular clothes iron on a low to medium setting. Lay the bag opening flat on a hard surface, press for one to two seconds, and test on a scrap bag first. An iron is fine for a home baker sealing a few dozen bags, but a bag sealer gives a straighter, more repeatable seal once you are packaging daily.

Our bag sealers seal cellophane, polypropylene and PVC cello bags, shrink bags, bakery and bread bags, candy and craft bags, and poly bags. Both true cellophane and BOPP are heat-sealable films, so biodegradable cellophane bags seal on the same equipment as standard clear cello bags — usually at a slightly lower heat setting. Paper bags, foil-laminated pouches and heavy multi-layer films are outside the range of a small impulse sealer.

Yes — shrink bags are two separate steps: you close the top of the bag, then apply heat to shrink the film tight around the basket. A heat shrink gun does that in seconds and gives the smooth, wrinkle-free finish customers expect on a retail gift basket. A hair dryer will shrink a small bag but runs much cooler, so it takes far longer and often leaves loose film at the corners.

Almost always the temperature intensity knob is set wrong for the film thickness. A seal that pulls apart means too little heat or too short a dwell — turn the intensity up one mark at a time and hold the arm down until the indicator light cycles off. A seal that cuts through or curls the film means too much heat; back the setting down. Also keep the seal area free of crumbs, sugar and grease, since contamination in the seal is the other common cause of bags that pop open in transit.