By Elissa Sanci
Elissa Sanci is a writer on the discovery team. She has found that clear ice makes carbonated drinks taste better, and citronella candles don’t work.
Tote bags may be easy to come by these days—who among us doesn’t have a bag of bags languishing in a closet somewhere? But a quality tote that you actually want to use day in and day out is harder to find. Baggu’s line of reusable bags puts those cheaply made freebies collecting dust at the back of your closet to shame.
Baggu’s totes are practically indestructible (with normal use), incredibly spacious, and stylish enough to accompany you to the office, the grocery store, and everywhere in between. Whether you’re looking for a canvas bag you can sling across your body or a sturdy nylon bag you can wipe down between uses, Baggu offers tons of great options, so you’ll never take home a shoddy free bag again.
Convenient to carry, this reusable tote is surprisingly durable and can hold up to 50 pounds. You can wipe it clean or throw it in the wash after unloading your groceries, and it packs down into a tiny carrying case.
This durable tote has a 40-inch adjustable strap and top handles, so there are multiple carrying options. However, due to its thin canvas material, you may feel—and get poked by—the contents.
Buying Options
The Baby Baggu takes everything we love about the Standard Baggu and shrinks it down, so it’s easier for small kids to use. This simple-to-clean little bag can hold up to 50 pounds and comes in a range of fun and funky patterns.
Everything we love about Baggu’s reusable totes
We recommend three types of Baggu totes: the Baggu Duck Bag, a canvas bag with two top handles and an adjustable cross-body strap; the Standard Baggu, a vinyl tote meant to replace plastic grocery bags; and the Baby Baggu, a smaller version of the Standard Baggu that measures 18 inches by 10 inches and is 4 inches deep. Baggu totes are so beloved by so many staffers that Wirecutter has even created customized Duck Bags printed with our logo as company swag.
Though these bags differ slightly from one another, they share standout attributes that keep us beholden to Baggu:
- Extremely spacious and durable: Staffers have reported the bags last at least five years. Says outdoors staff writer Trey French, “I’ve had a Standard since 2018, and I never tire of the cashier scanning my items at the grocery commenting on how much stuff I manage to cram in there.” The lightweight vinyl Baggu totes can hold up to 50 pounds—and that includes the Baby Baggu (we tested it by toting around a 60-pound kettlebell!). The Standard Baggu is roomy enough to accommodate about three plastic bags’ worth of groceries, and the canvas Duck Bag can fit a 15-inch laptop or your bulky gym shoes. The Baby Baggu can’t fit quite as much as its larger counterparts; it fits a wallet, a book or Kindle, and a travel tumbler. Forager and influencer Alexis Nikole Nelson told us she carries a Baggu daily in case impromptu foraging opportunities arise.
- Easy to carry: The lightweight Standard Baggu has long handles that fit over your shoulder—even when it’s packed to the gills with groceries or beach towels—so this bag is supremely easy to tote around. And though most adults can’t sling the Baby Baggu over their shoulders, small kids will be able to shoulder it without it dragging along the ground. The Duck Bag has an adjustable strap that can be worn over one shoulder or across the body, depending on what you find most comfortable. It also has top handles for short-haul trips, like from the front seat of the car into the house.
- Unmatched versatility: Baggu’s machine-washable, reusable totes can (probably) be used in a hundred different situations. Many Wirecutter staffers use both the Standard Baggu and the Duck Bag for grocery hauls and running errands, on daily commutes to work or school drop-offs, for quick overnight trips, and to tote their essentials to the gym or yoga studio. Others reserve their Standard Baggus for trips to the beach in the summer or as a dirty-laundry bag on vacations. Parents on staff use their Duck Bags to carry around toys and snacks for their kids, as well as to tote books to and from the library. And they let their kids use the Baby Baggu as a trick-or-treating bag or to carry around their own little hauls (like a stuffie and a kids water bottle). The Baby Baggu is also a terrific arts-and-crafts bag, and one knitter on staff uses it to hold skeins of yarn and needles. In a pinch, the Baby Baggu makes a great impromptu purse for travel.
- Easy to clean: The Standard Baggu and the Baby Baggu are made of smooth vinyl that can be wiped down with a wet rag, rinsed in the sink, or tossed into the washing machine. The Duck Bag is also machine-washable, though we recommend letting it air-dry, rather than running it through the dryer.
- Plenty of colorways and patterns for peak self-expression: The Standard Baggu and Baby Baggu come in an array of bright colors and funky prints, including several adorable versions featuring Hello Kitty designs, psychedelic checkerboards, and New York bodega-bag lookalikes. Duck Bags are more muted, with subtle designs like stripes, checks, and embroidered florals. No matter your aesthetic, you’re bound to find a bag you like.
Flaws but not dealbreakers
There are a few things we’d change about Baggu’s reusable totes if we could.
- The Standard tote doesn’t replace a purse (but the Baby Baggu can). It doesn’t have inner pockets, so items like keys, phones, and wallets slide to the bottom of the tote and can be hard to find in a full bag. If you’d prefer a tote with a touch of built-in organization, the Duck Bag has a zippered interior pocket, to keep smaller items from getting lost in the fray. “I recently forgot a purse for a trip, but I had my strawberry Baby Baggu, and it was the perfect substitute,” says gifts supervising editor Hannah Morrill. “It’s great for traveling because it packs down so small and looks cute, too.”
- Baggu totes are so lightweight that you can sometimes feel (and get poked by) the things you’re carrying. This can be mildly annoying at times, but it’s far from a dealbreaker. These bags are so lightweight that it’s worth putting up with a little prod.
- The Duck Bag is washer-safe but not dryer-safe. After a tumble in the dryer, the Duck Bag loses its structure, and the pattern fades. Air-dry your bag after it goes through the wash, to preserve its shape and design.
This article was edited by Catherine Kast and Annemarie Conte.
Meet your guide
Elissa Sanci is a senior staff writer for Wirecutter’s discovery team based in Denver. Her byline has appeared in The New York Times, Woman’s Day, Marie Claire, and Good Housekeeping. When she’s not testing TikTok-famous products or writing about car garbage cans, you can find her hiking somewhere in the Rockies or lying on the couch with a bowl of chips balanced on her chest. There is no in-between.