I have a question. I am at work right now, so I can't try out my theory, so I thought I'd post it here and see if anyone knows. I am wondering if you can use ziplock freezer type bags instead of the normal icing bags. You can still cut them and put couplers and tips in them, and the freezer type are pretty heavy duty, so they should withstand the squeezing. They are tons cheaper and you could just toss them when you're done. I absolutely hate to wash those bags. Has anyone ever tried this and are there any drawbacks that I haven't thought of?

I tried them in the very beginning when I was desperate to decorate and didnt have any bags on hand.

I had a few problems:
Occasionally the seams would burst, especially if my icing was thick or I was using a smaller tip.
I couldn't really fill the bag up too much past the ziplock part; it would never stay fully sealed and made twisting the bag closed difficult. This lead to not having very much room for icing, and I kept having to refill.

I have used the freezer bags many times without any problems. You're right, they are very sturdy and didn't crack for me at all. One time I used a "regular" zip lock bag and that was a mistake. But the freezer kind is much sturdier. To be honest, I didn't even use the kind made by the brand ZipLoc. I bought mine at a Target store and used the in-house Target brand freezer bags which worked too (and they were even cheaper than the ZipLoc kind).

I also bought a box of 100 disposable Wilton piping bags at Michaels. It's $20 but I used my 40% off coupon and got them for $12 instead (which I didn't think was too bad).

Good luck!

~ Hanaa

I have bought bulk rolls of parchment paper and cut my own triangles... great for little bits of coloured icing and you just throw them out when your done. The ziploc bags do work, I have used them for piping gel and just cut a small tip in them.

I have never tried the ziploc bags. I only use Keeseal decorating bags...I will never use wilton bags again!

I have used Zip loc bags in the past. I tend use them during what I call my LAC period. That's when I am too LAZY to have to wash all the featherweight bags AND too CHEAP to waste good disposable bags that I can wash and re-use.

I use Kee-Seal as well. They are GREAT!

www.keeseal.com

Wow thanks for the link. They aren't that expensive either, no cleaning the bags too which I like.

Here is another vote for Kee-seal

I used to work in a bakery that used kee-seal and I loved them... I am working on using up all my other bags first. So hopefully soon I can order them again.

Leily