Guide to Choosing the Right Mil for Reclosable Plastic Bags It is important to choose the right size packaging material to protect and secure the product you are working with. The “right” packaging material does not only include length and width dimensions, it also includes appropriate thickness, which determines the protection capacity of the packaging material. If you prefer selecting a smaller thickness to save on costs, that is your choice, but you risk puncturing or breaking your product. Take, for instance, reclosable bags; There are many different options regarding Mils, but how do you determine which one is right for your application. You want to watch costs, but you don’t want cheap material. On the other hand, you may end up spending more for a thick gauge that is not needed for your application. And what is a “Mil”? Mil is a unit of measurement that is used to measure the thickness of the film in thousands of an inch: 1 Mil = 1/1000 inch. A Mil is listed in decimal as thousands of an inch. For example, a 2 Mil bag is listed as .002. Therefore, conversion of decimal to Mils can be done by shifting the decimal over by three, like .004 to 4 Mil.
Selecting the Mil thickness depends entirely on the application. If the product is heavy or has sharp corners, we recommend selecting a heavier gauge rather than a lighter one, to withstand the demands that your product will produce. Alternatively, you would not want a 6 Mil clear zip plastic bag to carry fruits, food items, or vegetables.