What Is the Best Material for Cooler Bags?

Choosing Right Materials for Cooler Bags

You take a packed lunch to work, only to find the food has gone cold when you open it at noon. The fruits and drinks you bring for camping lose their coldness in less than half a day. The frozen and refrigerated ingredients you buy are a melted mess by the time you get home. Actually, it’s not that cooler bags are useless – it’s that you haven’t chosen the right materials. Only by selecting the core materials of cooler bags properly can “insulation” not be just a superficial feature. Today, we’ll reveal the best material combinations for cooler bags and help you avoid pitfalls when purchasing!

As a custom bags manufacturer, we know that the key to performance lies not just in design, but in the materials.

Manufacturers typically construct cooler bags from a combination of three parts: the outer layer, the insulation layer, and the inner layer. Therefore, selecting the best cooler bag materials requires consideration of all three aspects.

Outer Layer: Focuses on wear resistance and water resistance.

Oxford fabric or nylon is preferred, as they offer high toughness and tear resistance, ensuring durability in daily use. A PVC coating on the surface is even better, as it enhances water resistance and prevents external rainwater or stains from seeping in.

Insulation Layer: Determines the thermal insulation effect

Expanded Polyethylene (EPE) or Ethylene-Vinyl Acetate (EVA) are the mainstream preferred choices. As they are lightweight, have good thermal insulation properties, and offer high cost performance. For high-end needs, select vacuum insulation cotton or aluminum foil composite insulation layers. Which provide longer insulation duration (up to 8-12 hours). We recommend avoiding ordinary foam plastics due to their inferior insulation and susceptibility to damage.

Inner Layer: Focuses on safety and leakproofness

PEVA (environmentally friendly type) or TPU materials are optimal. As they are non-toxic, odorless, waterproof, and leakproof, making them safer for contact with food. It is necessary to ensure that the inner layer has good sealing performance to prevent leakage of water from melted ice.

Choosing materials for cooler bags essentially involves balancing three factors: “insulation performance, durability, and safety”.

For daily short-distance use (such as carrying lunch to work or buying chilled/frozen food from the supermarket). A combination of a PEVA inner layer, EPE insulation layer, and regular Oxford fabric outer layer is sufficient.

For outdoor or long-distance use, upgrading to a thicker insulation layer and high-specification Oxford fabric will provide longer-lasting insulation and better durability against damage.

The right materials enable a cooler bag to truly meet your core need of keeping items cold or insulated.