A little known fact about tote bags is that they multiply when left in dark spaces. This is why you have so many in your house, and car, and at the back of various cupboards, but none when you actually need one.
This fact is little known because it’s not so much a fact as an urban legend. A real fact about tote bags is that they come in a variety of materials, chosen for their strength, durability, and ability to showcase an imprinted design.
To help you next time you’re ordering customized tote bags, here’s some more information about those different materials – plus a glossary of terms you’ll often see on listings. (We know because we’re the ones who put these terms there.)
Two Types of Tote Bag Materials
For the sake of readability (assuming I haven’t failed that test already), I’ve divided tote bag materials into two categories: plant-based and plastic. As you’ll see, there’s really only one main plant-based material, and loads of plastics that all share similar properties.
Plant-Based Tote Bag Materials, i.e. Cotton
The most commonly used plant-based tote bag material is [drumroll] cotton. Cotton is the Taylor Swift of plant-based tote bag materials: ubiquitous because it’s just so darn good at its job.
It helps that cotton has been grown, spun into yarn, and woven into fabric for centuries, so manufacturers today have that tricky part of the process down. Ditto for cutting and sewing the cotton into bags.
Once it’s become a bag, cotton is easy to print on, easy to clean (you can wash cotton tote bags in the washing machine on a gentle cycle), and strong. That last one is so important that we even did a whole tote bag strength test.
If cotton has one flaw as a tote bag material, it’s that since it’s made up of plant fibers, it naturally deteriorates surprisingly quickly. We’re talking as little as five months in the correct composting conditions. However, assuming you’re not going to be composting your cotton tote bags, you can easily get at least a couple of years’ heavy use out of them.
Plastic Tote Bag Materials
While cotton is the number one plant fiber that’s mainly used for bags, a frankly mind-blowing variety of plastics can be turned from happy little atoms and molecules into the things you use to carry your groceries.
Without turning this into a chemistry lesson, plastics are polymers, and polymers are freakin’ cool. While cotton grows out in the sunshine, plastic is made by clever people in labs wearing big (plastic) safety glasses and white (cotton) coats. If that’s all you need to know, skip the next paragraph.
Polymers are chains of carbon and hydrogen molecules that link up with other carbon and hydrogen molecules. And sometimes with atoms of other elements, or molecules combining other elements. And sometimes with other hydrogen or carbon atoms. They are typically unreactive, which just means that they don’t (often) do anything interesting when they meet other chemicals – the same reason gold doesn’t tarnish.
Although there are loads of different types of plastics, most plastic tote bags are made from polypropylene, polyester, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyurethane (PU), or nylon. These are chosen because they are:
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Strong but lightweight
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Durable
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Water resistant
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Easy to clean (You can wash polypropylene, polyester, and nylon on a gentle cycle in the washing machine, and wipe clean PVC and PU)
The pro and con of plastic is that it lasts a very long time. Empires have come and gone in less time. In 200 years, you and I will be long gone, and our alien/AI overlords will be in full control, but there’s a not-zero chance the plastic tote bag bearing your company’s name will still exist.
What Common Tote Bag Material Terms Mean
I’ve broken this mini glossary into two sections: terms that explain how a tote bag material is constructed, and terms that describe a fabric’s weight (i.e. how dense it is – not how heavy it would be to pick up.)
Fabric Construction
First, the world’s shortest fabric lesson.
There are two main types of fabric construction: knit and weave. (That’s a lie I’m going to bust in about 2 minutes, but go with it for now.)
Knitted fabrics are made using interlocking loops, whereas woven fabrics are grids of interlocking strands. The strands that run lengthwise are called the warp. The strands that go from side to side, over and under the warp, are the weft. (I remember it as right to left = weft.)
Commercial tote bags are usually made from woven fabrics, because knitted fabrics have a tendency to stretch under weight. Knitting is great for socks, not so great for bags.
Canvas
Canvas fabric is woven in what’s called a plain weave: a 1×1 pattern. The weft strand goes over one warp strand, under the next, over one, under the next, etc. Importantly, each row alternates, so if you start row 1 with your weft strand going over the warp, row 2 will start with the weft going under the warp, etc.
Canvas is often made of rough cotton or linen, which combine with this sturdy weave pattern to make a strong, durable fabric perfect for tote bags. And also shoes, tents, sails, and paintings.
Twill
Twill is a specific weave pattern (and less commonly, the name of a fabric that follows this pattern.) In a twill weave, the pattern shifts to the right or left every time you start a new row. So if you start by having your weft go under two, over two, under two, over one, your next row could move one to the left, and start under one, over two, under two, over two. Repeated over many strands, this gives twill its distinctive diagonal pattern (called a wale.)
There’s a pretty good chance you’re wearing a twill right now: denim! Or tweed, depending on your style. While twill – like canvas – is durable enough for bags, it has more drape, which makes it better suited to clothing than canvas. (Drape is the Fashion way of describing a material that flops, stylishly, instead of holding its shape.)
Non-Woven
Remember two minutes ago when I said that fabric is either knitted (a series of interlocking loops) or woven (interlocking strands)? Well, as the name hints, non-woven fabrics are neither! I lied! I’m sorry.
Knitted and woven fabrics are both made of yarn – long strands of fiber created by spinning small bits of fiber together into a long thread. The fabric is formed by looping yarn through itself (knitting) over and over, or by pulling one strand of yarn over and under other strands of yarn (weaving).
Non-woven fabrics say no thanks to all of that. Instead of turning short fibers into a long strand and connecting it to itself over and over, these fabrics take the unspun fibers and mash them all together in random patterns using heat, force, and/or chemicals. This creates a kind of mesh sheet called a veil. Then you compact multiple veils together to create a strong but lightweight and durable fabric that can be cut and sewn into a bag.
Fabric Weight
I have to apologize again, because this term is unnecessarily confusing. (To be fair, I didn’t come up with it, but I’m still sorry.) This doesn’t mean how much a fabric weighs when you pick it up. It’s more like how thick or dense it is.
I think t-shirts are the most relatable demonstration of fabric weight. Think of two t-shirts you own that are the same size, but one is made from a thick fabric and one from a thin fabric. Imagine wearing each of them on a 100F day. In the noon sun. At a very long parade.
That’s why fabric weight matters.
What makes this even more confusing is that there’s more than one way to determine fabric weight. (Again, I’m sorry, I wasn’t consulted either.)
| Unit of Measurement | Method for Determining Fabric Weight | Explanation | Common Tote Bag Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ounces per square yard (oz/yd²) | Weigh a section of the finished fabric. | If I cut a 1 yard x 1 yard square of this fabric (i.e. 1 square yard), how much does it weigh in ounces? Sadistically, sometimes written just as ounces (oz). A higher oz/yard² indicates a denser fabric. | “5oz/yd² cotton canvas” This means that 1 square yard of this fabric weighs 5oz. That’s considered mid-weight for cotton, perfect for bags. |
| Grams per square meter (GSM) | Weigh a section of the finished fabric. | Shoutout to my metric system fans! If I cut a 1 meter x 1 meter square of this fabric (i.e. 1 meter squared) how much does it weigh in grams? The more it weighs, the denser the fabric. | “80GSM polypropylene” For the metrically challenged, imagine a square of fabric that’s a little over 3 ft x 3 ft (about 1 yard x 1 yard) and only weighs 2.82 oz. 80GSM is lightweight, which is why you’ll often see this in reference to a non-woven plastic – lightweight but strong. |
| Denier (D) | Measure the thickness of the fiber that makes up the fabric. (Specifically, you weigh 1,000 meters (m) of that fiber and divide that weight by 9,000. I kid you not.) | Denier is fussy and a bit pretentious. (It’s French.) Instead of measuring the thickness of the final fabric, denier refers to the thickness of the thread or yarn that makes up the fabric. Even fussier and more pretentious is how 1D is determined: It’s the thickness of a strand of silk that is 9,000m long and weighs 1 gram (g). So, very thin. |
“210D polyester” Two reference points for those of us who have never knowingly encountered a 1 g 9,000m strand of silk: 1) Outdoor gear – bags and chairs especially – is often made of 210D polyester. 2) Sheer tights (and a strand of human hair) are around 20D. |
| Threads per square inch (T) | Count the threads in a section of the finished fabric. | Take a square inch of your finished fabric and count how many threads are in it, including the warp and the weft. The higher the count, the denser the fabric. | “190T” You might be more familiar with thread counts in relation to bedsheets. It’s not the most commonly used metric for bags, but if it helps, 190 threads is the same as some tents, so that’s pretty hard-wearing. |
The Bottom Line
By now, I hope you feel like you have a better understanding of why tote bags are made from certain materials, the meanings of certain terms applied to these materials, and what a crazy unit of measurement a denier is. Sorry it’s all so complicated, but at least now you know what to look for and why.
Natasha Lavender
Natasha is an experienced writer and editor who has covered topics including technology, health and safety, business, and pop culture. Her work has been published by Good Housekeeping magazine, Forbes, Success, and more.
