The “Build Your House Method” & Other Grocery Bag Tips

I’m not organized in every aspect of my life, and I’m certainly not good at everything. But I’m very organized when it comes to bagging groceries, and I’m very good at it… at least I think I am. 

Looking to confirm this, I decided to ask the pros how they get their stuff home safely for this deep dive story that it is basically my destiny to write. I have strategies, people, because the stakes are high! As Madison Ireland, winner of the 2024 National Grocers Association Best Bagger Championship put it, “Groceries cost so much money these days and this is what you’re eating the rest of the week, feeding your family with. If the bagger is lazy about it, they’re wasting your money and your time.” 

In an effort to help you (and me!) be just as good as Ireland at this, I talked to a bagful of experts and unpacked their strategies for keeping those precious goods safe and sound as you transport them home. 

Pick the Right Bag

Step one to optimizing your grocery-bagging sitch is to make sure you have the right tools—meaning bags. To be nicer to the planet, opt for reusable ones. But you shouldn’t just grab any kind. The reason? Cross-contamination. 

According to Jason “the Germ Guy” Tetro, microbiologist and author of The Germ Code, “The grocery bag becomes a hub for microbes,” he says. “With raw meats and produce—especially if they’re being kept moist—there’s a good likelihood bacterium will transfer to the bag itself and then can transfer to other things.” 

Cotton Bags

For most items, he recommends bags that are washable and bleachable. “They should be white or light-colored so you can see stains and mold. They should also be cotton, or another porous material, so if liquid gets into the fibers, it will be absorbed.” He explains that there’s actually a greater chance of cross-contamination with plastic, because the water just sits on the surface of the material, creating optimal conditions for transferring bacteria. 

Cotton, on the other hand, can go right into the wash where the germs get rinsed away. “I looove hot water for killing bugs,” says Tetro. He suggests that with some bleach, following the recommended amount on the packaging, to sanitize bags.

Cooler Bags

But what about those non-machine-washable—and usually not cotton—cooler bags? “If you’re using an insulated bag, the inside is easy to access and has some resilience—it fights back. Perfect for a disinfectant wipe,” Tetro says. Whereas if you’ve ever tried cleaning the inside of a floppy plastic bag with a wipe, it’s not easy—and you’re definitely not going to do a thorough job disinfecting. So in this case, a rigid-ish, plastic material is acceptable.

Nylon Bags

Organization expert Lisa Ruff of Neat Method has her own bag policy that works for her. She says, “I’ve used nylon Baggu bags for over 15 years. I bought a whole set after law school in 2008, and I still have them. I love them because they’re small and take up zero space, and I can wash them. They don’t have structure, and I can see the pitfalls of that. But for me, being able to clean them is more important. And they last and still look really good.”

Stash Meat in a Plastic Bag

Before you pack up any meat, make sure it’s encased in another layer of plastic. “I recommend using an extra, disposable plastic bag or sleeve for any raw meat or poultry products,” says Nicole Arnold, Assistant Professor and Food Safety Field Specialist at Ohio State University. 

When I balked at the extra plastic, she was unfazed. “Unfortunately, food safety and sustainability don’t always go hand-in-hand.” She continues, “The extra bag serves as another way to reduce the risk of cross-contamination. Plus, many grocery stores now carry plastic bags intended for raw meat and poultry that are recyclable.” (This also guarantees less mess for you to clean up if any of the packaging is punctured—that extra bag will contain the leaking meat juices.) 

Put Stuff on the Conveyor Belt in the Right Order

Ruff intentionally places items on the checkout counter according to where they go in the kitchen. Then, as one of her two favorite cashiers moves it through, she’s ready to go, and they work as a team. 

Ireland also recommends “clumping things on the conveyor belt that you’d like to be bagged together. All the cereal can go in first. Bread later. Produce together. And if there’s a bagger, tell them, ‘I’m putting them in the groups I want them bagged in.’” 

Tetro has an order of operations I can get behind: “For the first step, you take your dairy and put them together. Next is your fruit and veg. Then the cans and such. Then last goes the meat. You should have one bag designated for meat only.” 

He has a few more tips that he admits are “Sheldon Cooper-ish.” Don’t mix onions with other veg or they’ll smell onion-y. Don’t pack apples, a big ethylene producer, with any lettuces, which are very ethylene sensitive and can go bad faster because of it. And make sure your fruit isn’t pierced, bruised, or moldy before you pack it. “There are bacteria known to get into fruit and cause spoilage and, potentially, illness,” he says.

Pack Like With Like

It seems obvious, but we’ll say it anyway: Cold things keep other cold things cold. Packaged goods and non-perishables can hang together—and can hang out the longest while you put the refrigerated stuff away. Keeping things together based on their kitchen destination—crisper, freezer, pantry, meat drawer—will make your job much easier once you get it all home. 

Arnold’s own rules for the road generally follow this logic. She bags all fresh fruit together and all (non-meat) frozen items together. “I do this for multiple reasons: 1) to avoid cross contamination; 2) to keep items needing refrigeration to more effectively hold their temperature; and 3) for convenience when it’s time to put groceries away at home.”

Use the “Build Your House” Method

Most pro-baggers recommend this method for packing packaged goods to ensure they’re buffered and won’t be damaged in transit. “There is a bit of a skill set here,” says Laura Strange, chief communications officer of the National Grocers Association. “You don’t want to overload or put something crushable at the bottom or for your foundation not to be right.”

Essentially, when you’re building your bag, be sure you’ve got boxes on the outside and anything precious inside. “Our baggers talk about how it’s like building a house. Heavy stuff goes on the bottom, and you reinforce your ‘walls’ with the boxes.” If you have canned items, that’s the foundation. Boxes of cereal, granola bars, and oatmeal go on the outside, lining the bag and creating that wall; your delicate pretzels, soft rolls, and the like go inside that cozy nest you’ve created. 

A few more rules from Ireland, whom I remind you is, literally, the best person in the country at this. (And yes, I’m a little jealous.) You shouldn’t stack anything besides boxes, whose edges should meet, for strength. Cans can’t touch each other. Glasses can’t touch each other. Crushables go on top. And the bags should be only as heavy as the handles—and you—can manage. 

If you’re trying to figure out how to calculate all of this quickly while the stuff is rolling down the conveyor belt, Ireland has a fix: “I try to always have two bags going. I’ll intentionally grab the boxes and make a wall inside the first one to protect stuff that’s more fragile. I’ll use the second bag exclusively for produce, because people are very particular about that.” Yes, we are.

All That Said, Do You

Listen, if you have a system that works for you, and stuff gets home intact, and nobody gets a bellyache, congrats! You’re winning! Even our pros admit they have certain peculiarities that they can’t scientifically explain.

Whatever your quirks, own them. And when in doubt, ask for help! There are baggers at the ready, and they aim to please, says Strange. “It’s totally OK to give baggers context. Most baggers appreciate some of that interaction. At the end of the day, they want to make sure the customer is leaving on a good note,” she says.

Just be nice to them, says Tetro. “That’s why I do my own bagging, because I get so Sheldon-y when someone else bags my groceries. It’s like, ‘You put grapes in with the chicken!? What is wrong with you? Do you hate me? Why are you trying to poison me!?’ And the bagger says, ‘Sir, it’s my second day.’” 

If you have your own technique that makes you feel like things are well in hand, have at it. Because that’s all any of us wants at the end of the day—a full cart, and no bruises.