Pick up a vacuum bag and run your thumb across it. If one side feels like fine sandpaper or has a diamond pattern, it's embossed. If both sides are smooth and glossy, it's a smooth pouch. That one detail decides which machine it works in, and it's behind a three-to-one difference in price.
What the embossing is for
Edge sealers, the FoodSaver type, pull air out through the open end of the bag with a nozzle. As the air leaves, atmospheric pressure squashes the bag flat, and flat smooth film seals itself shut before the air is out. The embossed pattern is a set of tiny channels moulded into one side of the film. Even when the bag is pressed flat, the channels stay open and the air keeps flowing to the nozzle. No channels, no vacuum.
That's the whole function. Embossing doesn't add strength, barrier or shelf life. It's plumbing.
Why smooth pouches exist
A chamber machine doesn't suck through the bag at all. The bag sits inside a chamber, the lid closes, and the pump takes the air out of the whole chamber. The pressure inside the bag and outside it drop together, so nothing squashes shut. When the chamber is at vacuum, the seal bar closes the bag, air comes back into the chamber and pushes the film onto the product. Smooth film does this perfectly, and it's cheaper to make because there's no embossing step.
Our whole range is smooth pouches for chamber machines. The chamber vs edge sealer guide compares the two machines.
Side by side
|
Embossed bag |
Smooth pouch |
| Machine |
Edge sealer only (works in a chamber, wastefully) |
Chamber machine only |
| Surface |
One side textured with channels |
Both sides smooth |
| Typical price, 200×300mm |
8p to 15p |
2.7p (ours) |
| Liquids |
Pulled into the seal; freeze first |
Fine, pressure is equal |
| Vacuum achieved |
70 to 90% |
99%+ |
| Appearance on product |
Texture prints into soft food |
Clear, glass-like finish |
| Barrier and shelf life |
Depends on the film's PA layer, same as smooth |
Depends on the PA layer |
| Sold by us |
No |
Yes, 47 sizes and finishes |
Common confusions
"Universal" bags. Some bags are sold as suitable for both machine types. They're embossed bags. They'll work in a chamber machine, at embossed prices. There's no such thing as a smooth bag that works in an edge sealer.
"Textured" and "channel" bags. Same thing as embossed.
"Chamber bags". Same thing as smooth pouches. That's us.
Thicker must mean embossed. No. Our 130 micron pouch is twice the thickness of the standard one and completely smooth. Thickness is puncture resistance; texture is airflow. The film guide covers what the layers do.
Which to buy
- Edge sealer: embossed bags, from the machine maker or a general supplier. Not from us.
- Chamber machine: smooth pouches. Start with 200×300mm and 250×350mm.
- Not sure which machine you have: the compatibility guide has a ten-second test.
Chamber machine and want to try smooth pouches? A free sample pack in your sizes will settle it in one cycle.
