EN 
RU 
ES 
FR 
AR 
PT 
IT 
ID 
KO 
TR 
DE 
VN 
TH 
IN 
Standard Non-Woven Bag Sizes at a Glance
Before the chart, one distinction that trips up almost everyone: a PP woven bag and a non-woven bag are different products. Woven bags are made from woven polypropylene strips — the heavy-duty sacks you see on farms and construction sites. Non-woven bags use spun-bond polypropylene: fibers bonded by heat and pressure, never woven. Different fabric, different price band, different size logic. Everything in this guide is about non-woven.
Non-woven bag sizes are written W × H × D — width, height, and bottom depth (the gusset). Suppliers also quote plain “12-16 in.” when there is no gusset, so if you see two numbers, read them as width × height. Treat the height as your anchor number: it is the figure every buyer guide, price list, and quote rounds to.
Most orders — retail, promo giveaways, corporate gifts — land in the 40-50 cm (12-16 in.) bag height band. That number anchors every quote and guide you will read below.
| Size tier | Typical dimensions (cm) | Typical dimensions (in.) | What it fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small | 20 × 25 × 10 | 8 × 10 × 4 | Gifts, cosmetics, boutique retail |
| Medium | 35 × 40 × 10 | 14 × 16 × 4 | Everyday retail shopping, documents, lunch |
| Large | 45 × 50 × 15 | 18 × 20 × 6 | Groceries, events, corporate gift sets |
These are the ranges most-cited across suppliers: Kimecopak’s guide runs small 20 × 25 × 10 cm to large 45 × 50 × 15 cm, while printglobe’s tote sizing starts around 13 × 13 in. and settles on 15 × 16 in. as the most common — the same “large” tier in metric terms.
Now the catch: three sources, three “standards.” Printglobe calls 15 × 16 in. the standard tote; Xyholding says standard heights run 40-60 cm; Kimecopak’s large tier begins at 45 × 50 × 15 cm. None of them is wrong — they are describing different bag cuts, different handle styles, different market tiers. The confusion is not bad data; it is a missing framework.
40-50 cm (12-16 in.)
the mainstream non-woven bag height band — where retail, promo, and corporate orders sit
What Actually Determines a Bag’s Size?
A non-woven bag’s size is not a standalone number. It is the output of four constraints, and suppliers who quote you “standard sizes” without asking about the other three are quoting blind. Here is the chain, in the order you should walk it.
Use: What the Bag Must Carry
Purpose sets the size tier, and it is the only step with a fixed order — define the use before anything else. Promotional giveaways (trade-show swag, event bags) stay small: a bag people carry for an hour, then stuff in a drawer. Retail shopping bags sit in the medium tier: roomy enough for a few items, light enough for the customer. Corporate gift and grocery bags go large: they must survive a full carry. Skip this step and you will order the wrong size at any price.
Material: GSM Decides What a Size Can Hold
GSM — grams per square meter — is the fabric’s density, and it is the second variable in the price equation. The common range is 60-150 GSM: 60-80 GSM reads light and crumples easily; 80-120 GSM is the medium weight most shopping bags use; 120-150 GSM is heavy, stiff, and noticeably more expensive (Jet Paper Bags’ GSM guide lays out the same bands). Two bags with identical dimensions can differ in price by a third or more when one is 80 GSM and the other is 120 GSM. Same size, different product.
GSM also sets the weight a size can carry. At the light end, suppliers estimate roughly 85 bags per kg for a 40 GSM, 12 × 16 in. bag (one supplier’s conversion table), a reminder that light fabric means a light bag, and a light bag means a low load limit. The practical rule: decide what the bag will carry before you pick GSM, because a 70 GSM medium tote that holds a heavy bottle will tear at the handles long before the fabric fails.
Use
what the bag must carry
Material GSM
weight & load limit
Structure
handles & form
Printing
imprint area
Structure: Handles and Form Change the Size Logic
The same size exists in several structures, and each one carries differently. D-cut bags have the handle cut directly out of the bag body — cheapest to make, print area sits below the handle. W-cut widens the opening for easier packing. U-cut deepens the handle recess. Box bags add a gusseted bottom and stand on their own, but use noticeably more fabric for the same nominal height. Loop-handle bags attach a separate PP loop, which adds a material and a welding step.
The failure point hides in the ratio, not the size: a 45 × 50 cm bag with a small cut-out handle is a bag waiting to break. Handle height scales with bag height — a large bag needs a handle deep enough to grip over a full load, and the load limit of any non-woven bag is bounded by its handle construction, not by the fabric. If a quote gives you a big bag and a small handle, ask for the handle spec before you order.
Printing: Your Imprint Area Sets a Floor
The print area you need is the fourth constraint, and it is the one most first-time buyers forget until the proof arrives. The imprint area is bounded by the bag’s usable face: a 10 × 10 × 10 in. bakery tote carries a generous 20 × 14 in. imprint area (nonwoventotes’ spec sheet), while a small 8 × 10 in. bag gives you a postage-stamp face for a logo. Multi-color artwork and large logos need large faces — on small standard sizes they simply do not fit.
Printing also multiplies cost by the face count. One screen printer working a 10,000-bag order summarizes the math bluntly: double-sided printing means 20,000 impressions, double the labor and ink (r/SCREENPRINTING). Decide the imprint area and the number of printed faces before you finalize the size, not after.
When “Standard” Sizes Stop Working
The chart in the first section works for plain, unprinted, mid-GSM shopping bags. Outside that envelope, “standard” becomes a trap. Two groups of failures, and how to catch them before you order.
Structure and Load Failures
Laminated (BOPP-coated) bags behave differently from plain fabric: the coating adds stiffness, a slick finish, and a step-change in cost per bag. The lamination layer also makes the bag heavier for the same nominal GSM, so a “standard” 80 GSM laminated bag is not the same product as an 80 GSM plain one. Oversized bags (above roughly 50 cm height) push the handle and seam construction to their limit — the fabric will hold, the handles and stitching will not. Box bags and drawstrings follow their own geometry: a box bag’s width and depth are independent design choices, not a ratio off the size table, and drawstrings need a casing that plain bags do not have.
Printing and Customization Failures
Light fabrics (under roughly 70 GSM) wrinkle under heat-transfer and lamination processes. The heat that sets the coating shrinks and puckers thin fabric. And as noted in the print section, multi-color or full-bleed artwork simply cannot live on a small standard face. If your artwork needs a 20 × 14 in. print area and your product needs a 25 × 35 cm bag, one of those requirements has to move.
| Size tier | Holds up to | Fails when | Check before ordering |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small 20 × 25 × 10 | Light gifts ≤ 1 kg | Heavy items — tears at the handle | Confirm GSM ≥ 80 for anything over 1 kg |
| Medium 35 × 40 × 10 | Daily shopping, 3-5 kg | Overpacking — seam stress at the gusset corners | Ask for the seam reinforcement spec |
| Large 45 × 50 × 15 | Groceries, events, 5-8 kg | Handle and stitching become the weak point | Confirm handle type and attachment (cut vs loop vs sewn) |
| Any size, 2+ color print | Imprint area up to 20 × 14 in. | Small faces can’t hold multi-color artwork | Confirm imprint area fits before locking the size |
The “standard size” chart stops being useful in three situations: laminated fabric, bags above 50 cm, and multi-color printing. If your order touches any of them, spec from the print area and load upward — do not pick a size off a chart.
How to Spec the Right Bag
Ordering becomes simple if you walk four steps in a fixed sequence — this is the sequence suppliers wish every buyer used.
Step 1 — Define the use. What goes in the bag, and how far does it travel? This sets the tier: promo, retail, or grocery/corporate.
Step 2 — Fix the size. Use the table from section one, and write it in full W × H × D with units. “Medium” means nothing to a supplier; “35 × 40 × 10 cm” does.
Step 3 — Set GSM and structure. Match the fabric to the load you defined in step 1: 80 GSM minimum for anything above 1 kg; D-cut for budget, box bag if the product must stand on shelves.
Step 4 — Confirm the imprint. Send the artwork dimensions and the number of printed faces to the supplier and get a written confirmation that the imprint fits the bag face. This is the step that prevents the most rework.
5-point spec to send any non-woven bag supplier
Size (W × H × D, with units)
GSM (fabric weight)
Structure (D-cut / W-cut / U-cut / box bag / loop handle)
Handle type and attachment
Imprint area and color count
Example filled in: 35 × 40 × 10 cm / 80 GSM / D-cut / cut-in handle / 20 × 14 in. imprint, one color.
A complete spec looks like this: 35 × 40 × 10 cm, 80 GSM, D-cut, cut-in handle, 20 × 14 in. single-color imprint. Hand a supplier those five numbers and the quote you get back is comparable to any other quote in the market, which is the point.
What Your Size Sheet Means If You Make Bags
If you run a bag-making line — or are deciding whether to start one — the size discussion above reads differently. The buyer’s size sheet is your production spec sheet in disguise.
First, the volume argument: the mainstream order band of 40-50 cm bag heights means your equipment’s width floor is a real number, not a guess. Printing widths starting at 600 mm cover every common size in the chart above, from the small 8 × 10 in. tote to the 18 × 20 in. large tier; wider machines only buy you margin for exotic sizes, not for the standard order flow.
Second, the margin argument: buyers quote in size, GSM, color, and structure — the same five variables from the checklist. The factory that can translate “45 × 50 × 15 cm, 80 GSM, D-cut, one color” into fabric width, welding cycles, and per-bag cost on the spot is the factory that wins the order and keeps the margin. That translation skill is the actual product; the bags are the output.
Third, the profit-structure argument: as the printing section showed, the number of printed faces — not the bag size — drives the labor component of cost. Bags are low-margin; print is where the money lives, which is why the market keeps moving toward printed, laminated, and higher-spec bags. The non-woven bags market is projected to grow from about USD 5.08 billion in 2026 to about USD 9.38 billion by 2035 (roughly 7.5% CAGR, Market Growth Reports), and the wider reusable shopping bag market from about USD 16.67 billion in 2026 to about USD 28.87 billion by 2034 (roughly 7.1% CAGR, Fortune Business Insights) — both driven by plastic-bag bans.
For a buyer, a bag size is a choice. For a bag maker, it is the start of a spec — and the factories that treat it that way are the ones compounding. Non-woven bag making machines from D-cut to box-bag styles run at speeds up to 220 bags per minute with ultrasonic sealing (no thread to break). Whatever you decide: five numbers, one sheet, and the chart above — that is all the size knowledge you need to buy right.
Spec the line behind your size sheet
Send us your target sizes, GSM, and print faces — we’ll propose the bag-making and printing line to produce them, D-cut to box bags.
Request a line quoteReferences
- Market Growth Reports. “Non-woven Bags Market Size, Trends, Growth | 2035 Report.” https://www.marketgrowthreports.com/market-reports/non-woven-bags-market-104239
- Fortune Business Insights. “Reusable Shopping Bag Market Size, Share | Growth [2034].” https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/reusable-shopping-bag-market-112255
- Kimecopak. “Non Woven Bag Sizes: Choosing the Right Dimensions for Your Needs.” https://www.kimecopak.ca/blogs/news/non-woven-bag-sizes
- PrintGlobe. “What are standard sizes for tote bags?” https://www.printglobe.com/answers/4941896/What-are-standard-sizes-for-tote-bags
- Xyholding. “What is the size of a standard non-woven shopping bag?” https://m.xyholding.com/blog/what-is-the-size-of-a-standard-non-woven-shopping-bag-2360745.html
- Jet Paper Bags. “Understanding GSM in Non-Woven Bag Quality.” https://jetpaperbags.com/blogs/paper-bag-blogs/gsm-in-non-woven-bags
- NonwovenTotes. “Custom-Printed Non-Woven Bakery Tote Bags 10 x 10 x 10.” https://nonwoventotes.com/products/custom-printed-non-woven-bakery-tote-bags-10x10x10-squared-tote-bags
- Reddit r/SCREENPRINTING. “Printing 10,000 non-woven tote bags in-house.” https://www.reddit.com/r/SCREENPRINTING/comments/1fxdzz3/seeking_advice_printing_10000_nonwoven_tote_bags/
- KETE Group. “Case Studies.” https://www.ketegroup.com/case-studies/
- KETE Group. “Contact.” https://www.ketegroup.com/contact/
- KETE Group. Homepage. https://www.ketegroup.com/
