Custom Drawstring Bags: The Complete Guide for Australian Organisations
Discover how to choose, customise, and order branded drawstring bags for your Australian business, school, or event. Expert tips inside.
Written by
Issac Oteng
Bags & Totes
Drawstring bags might seem like a simple product, but they’re one of the most versatile and cost-effective promotional items available to Australian organisations. Whether you’re kitting out a corporate wellness day in Sydney, sending students home with school event merchandise in Brisbane, or handing out branded gear at a Melbourne trade show, a well-designed drawstring bag puts your logo in front of people long after the event is over. In this complete guide, we break down everything you need to know about ordering custom drawstring bags — from choosing the right material and decoration method to managing your budget and timeline like a pro.
Why Drawstring Bags Are a Perennial Favourite in Branded Merchandise
There’s a reason drawstring bags have remained a staple of the promotional products industry for decades. They’re lightweight, practical, and genuinely useful — three qualities that guarantee repeat exposure for your brand.
Think about it from a recipient’s perspective. A branded pen might sit in a drawer. A branded mug might stay at the office. But a drawstring bag? It gets thrown over the shoulder for gym sessions, packed for a weekend away, used at the beach, or carried to school every single day. That kind of daily visibility is hard to beat.
From an organisation’s perspective, drawstring bags also tick a lot of boxes when it comes to budget flexibility. They’re available at a range of price points, suit both small and large order quantities, and can be decorated using several methods depending on your artwork and finish requirements. For event planners in Adelaide, Perth, or anywhere else across Australia, they represent excellent value for money — especially when ordered in bulk.
It’s also worth noting that drawstring bags work across virtually every sector. Sporting clubs love them for presenting uniforms or gear to new members. Schools use them as showbags at events. Corporations include them in welcome kits for new staff. The crossover appeal is genuinely broad.
If you’re already thinking about how drawstring bags might fit into your next campaign, our dedicated custom drawstring bag product page is a great starting point for exploring your options.
Understanding the Different Types of Drawstring Bags
Not all drawstring bags are the same, and choosing the right style is an important first step before you get into decoration options and quantities.
Polyester Drawstring Bags
Polyester is the most common material for custom drawstring bags in Australia, and for good reason. It’s durable, lightweight, water-resistant to varying degrees, and accepts vibrant printed colours beautifully. Polyester bags are the go-to choice for sporting clubs, school events, and trade show giveaways where cost-effectiveness is a priority.
Standard polyester drawstring bags typically feature a single main compartment with dual cord drawstrings — simple, functional, and very popular. You can also find reinforced corner versions that add durability at stress points, which is worth considering if the bags will carry heavier items like shoes or equipment.
Non-Woven Drawstring Bags
Non-woven polypropylene is another popular choice, particularly for eco-conscious organisations looking for a reusable alternative to single-use plastic packaging. These bags have a slightly different texture and drape compared to polyester and are often used for retail-style packaging, gift bags, and promotional giveaways where a softer aesthetic is preferred.
For organisations interested in the broader landscape of reusable bag options, our guide to shopping reusable bags covers the full range of sustainable bag styles worth considering alongside drawstring options.
Cotton and Canvas Drawstring Bags
Natural fibre drawstring bags — particularly cotton and canvas — are increasingly popular with brands that want to communicate sustainability credentials. They have a premium, organic feel and align well with eco-friendly brand positioning. Cotton drawstring bags are commonly used by boutique gyms, health and wellness brands, and retail businesses looking for a more considered gift or packaging option.
The trade-off is cost. Natural fibre bags typically come in at a higher price per unit than polyester equivalents, so your budget will influence whether this option is viable at your required quantity.
Recycled Material Drawstring Bags
Recycled PET (rPET) drawstring bags, made from repurposed plastic bottles, are becoming a significant category in their own right. They offer a sustainability story that resonates with environmentally aware organisations and their audiences, while still delivering the durability and water resistance of traditional polyester. Councils in Canberra and Hobart, along with universities and charities, have been strong adopters of recycled material bags in recent years.
Decoration Methods: How to Get Your Logo on a Drawstring Bag
The way your logo is applied to a drawstring bag has a significant impact on the final look, feel, and cost of the product. Here’s a breakdown of the most common decoration methods used in Australia.
Screen Printing
Screen printing is the industry standard for decorating polyester and non-woven drawstring bags, and it’s easy to understand why. It produces bold, vibrant colours, handles large print areas well, and becomes very cost-effective at higher quantities due to the setup-heavy but run-cheap nature of the process. If you’re ordering 100 bags or more and your artwork features solid colours, screen printing is almost always the recommended choice.
One thing to keep in mind: each colour in your design requires a separate screen, which adds to your setup costs. Simpler artwork with one to three colours will keep costs down, while complex multicolour designs will increase setup fees accordingly.
Heat Transfer and Digital Printing
For smaller runs or designs with photographic detail, gradients, or many colours, heat transfer or digital printing methods can be more practical. These approaches don’t require colour-specific screens, making them more accessible for short runs or personalised applications. The trade-off is that they may not achieve the same longevity or vibrancy as screen printing on certain fabrics.
Embroidery
While embroidery is more commonly associated with apparel — like the custom men’s work polo shirts popular with corporate clients — it can also be applied to drawstring bags made from heavier materials like canvas and cotton. An embroidered logo adds a premium, tactile quality to the product, though it’s generally better suited to smaller, more structured designs rather than large print areas.
Sublimation
Sublimation printing is an excellent option for polyester drawstring bags when you want full-colour, edge-to-edge coverage. The dye is infused directly into the fabric, meaning there’s no cracking or peeling — ideal for bold, all-over designs. This method is particularly popular with sporting clubs in Queensland and New South Wales looking to create standout team bags.
Minimum Order Quantities, Pricing, and Lead Times
Understanding the practical logistics of ordering custom drawstring bags will save you time, stress, and budget surprises.
Minimum Order Quantities (MOQs)
Most suppliers work with a minimum order quantity of around 50 to 100 units for standard custom drawstring bags. Some specialised options — particularly sublimated or embroidered styles — may have higher MOQs due to production setup requirements. If you only need a small number of bags, it’s worth exploring whether a supplier offers a sample or pre-decorated stock option to bridge the gap.
Pricing and Budget Planning
Drawstring bag pricing in Australia typically ranges from around $3 to $15 per unit depending on the material, size, decoration complexity, and quantity ordered. Polyester bags at volume are at the lower end of this range, while recycled or natural fibre options with more complex decoration sit at the higher end.
Don’t forget to account for setup fees (usually a one-off charge per colour or screen), freight, and GST when building your budget. These can add up, particularly on smaller orders, so it’s worth factoring them in from the outset rather than being caught off guard at checkout.
Lead Times
Standard lead times for custom drawstring bags in Australia are typically two to three weeks from artwork approval. Rush options are available from some suppliers but usually attract a premium. If you’re planning for a specific event — a Gold Coast conference, a Darwin school sports day, a Melbourne product launch — build in at least four weeks from initial enquiry to delivery to allow time for artwork approval, production, and shipping.
Artwork Preparation: Getting Your Design Right the First Time
Submitting well-prepared artwork is one of the most important things you can do to ensure a smooth ordering process and a great final result.
Most suppliers require vector artwork files (typically .ai, .eps, or .pdf formats) for screen printing and embroidery. These files can be scaled to any size without losing quality, which is essential for large print areas. If you’re working from a raster file like a .jpeg or .png, check whether your supplier can redraw the artwork in vector format — some offer this as a service, sometimes for a fee.
Colour accuracy matters too. For screen printing, request PMS (Pantone Matching System) colour codes to ensure your brand colours are reproduced accurately. Discussing colour requirements upfront with your supplier avoids unpleasant surprises when the bags arrive.
Always request a visual proof before approving production. Most reputable suppliers will provide a digital proof — and sometimes a physical pre-production sample — for sign-off. Reviewing this carefully is the last line of defence against errors that would be costly and time-consuming to fix after production.
Alongside your drawstring bags, many organisations also order complementary promotional items to create a complete branded package. Custom umbrellas, personalised keychains, and branded glass cloth cleaners are all popular additions to event kits and welcome packs.
Creative Ways to Use Branded Drawstring Bags
Once you’ve decided on your product, it helps to think about how you’ll use the bags to maximise their impact.
- Event showbags and welcome kits: Fill them with branded merchandise and handouts at your next conference, trade day, or open day. A Perth real estate agency open home gift bag is a great example of branded utility in action.
- New employee welcome packs: A corporate onboarding kit is made infinitely more memorable when it arrives in a branded drawstring bag rather than a plain cardboard box.
- School and club merchandise: Brisbane primary schools and local football clubs around Victoria regularly use drawstring bags to deliver uniforms, training gear, or participant kits to members.
- Retail and loyalty gifts: Include a drawstring bag as part of a purchase incentive or loyalty reward programme to add perceived value and keep your brand in circulation.
- Charity and fundraising events: A well-designed bag acts as both a practical giveaway and a walking advertisement for your cause — perfect for charity fun runs and community events across regional and metropolitan Australia.
Conclusion: Key Takeaways for Ordering Custom Drawstring Bags
Drawstring bags are one of the most practical, cost-effective, and widely used promotional products available to Australian organisations of all sizes. When you approach your order with a clear understanding of materials, decoration methods, MOQs, and artwork requirements, the process is straightforward — and the results can genuinely elevate your brand’s visibility.
Here are the key points to take away:
- Choose your material based on your audience and values — polyester for budget-friendly volume orders, cotton or recycled rPET for eco-conscious positioning.
- Match your decoration method to your artwork — screen printing for bold, simple designs at volume; digital or sublimation for complex or full-colour artwork.
- Plan your timeline carefully — allow at least four weeks from enquiry to delivery for standard orders, especially around peak event seasons.
- Prepare your artwork in vector format and confirm PMS colour codes before submitting to avoid production delays.
- Think beyond the bag itself — pair your custom drawstring bags with complementary branded items to create a complete, cohesive merchandise package that leaves a lasting impression.
Whether you’re an event planner sourcing a thousand bags for a national conference or a local sporting club ordering fifty for a junior presentation day, custom drawstring bags are a reliable, impactful choice that delivers real promotional value. Get your brief together, clarify your artwork, and start the conversation with your supplier well ahead of your deadline.