I get clothes dry cleaned a lot, so I use the plastic the clothing comes in to wrap the book first, and then a brown paper bag. This works great. I just wanted to share. It's cheaper than ziploc bags.

I've also used plastic grocery bags.  This and the dry clean bag idea are good ones because you are re-using plastic!

good idea

I try to re-use plastic too.  I still use saran wrap in a bind, but I'd rather re-use other plastics.  It's good to be green!  :)

Thanks for the great idea.  I use the grocery bags, but hadn't thought about the plastic from the dry cleaners.

Good idea! I have tons and tons of dry cleaning every week!

My favorite is the sleeve my newpaper is delivered in.  Perfect size for most books, and it's double-ply. 

I wonder if plastic grocery bags are technically a no-no for media mail.  Maybe I'm thinking of something else, but I thought that you couldn't send anything with advertising through media mail and since most grocery store bags have the name of the grocery store on them, isn't that a form of advertising?  I could be taking the no advertising thing a too literally, but I figured I'd throw it out here and see if anyone knows for sure.

My favorite is the sleeve my newpaper is delivered in.  Perfect size for most books, and it's double-ply.

ooh, i hadn't thought of that, but that'd be about perfect.    we also use those for scooping the cat box, which works great with the double-ply.

after the initial rush of sending out my first books, i often can wrap most of my outgoing books in plastic received on incoming orders.  i like this idea for the others.

i noticed at the bottom of my last couple of amazon boxes there were these plastic envelopes for 'cellphones for soldiers' or something like that.  they look about the right size for a book to me, though only for smaller books going first class.

I use the newspaper bag also, they're perfect.  Another great re-use item is those bags of air some companies use in liue of packing peanuts.  Slit them on one side, and tehy're a perfect fit for most MM paperbacks!

I've never thought about the advertising, but I can't believe the PO would look on it as such!

I use both dry cleaning plastic and newspaper bags.  Everything that gets re-used is a little better for all of us.

Maybe I'm thinking of something else, but I thought that you couldn't send anything with advertising through media mail and since most grocery store bags have the name of the grocery store on them, isn't that a form of advertising? 

You could just turn them inside out, or have the label go over the part with the store's name.

I've never thought of that. We always have tons of dry cleaner bags. I usually just use saran wrap. This will be much better.

Great idea on the dry cleaning bags! 

Regarding the grocery store bags, I personally don't think a store's name is in itself an advertisement.  But to be sure, we could try to use it while strategically obscuring or omitting the store's name.

ETA:  I just remebered.  I have had a few media mail boxes opened and inspected over the past couple of years.  I always use newspaper inserts--store ads, rather than the newspaper itself as packing material, and I've never had any of them not pass the inspection for it.  I think they really do differentiate packing materials as such and aren't hardlined on it.

Great ideas here!  Thanks for them!  The re-use of the Amazon air pillows is ingenius!  I use them for packing books in boxes where there's too much room and between the plastic wrap on the individual books and the air pillows nothing moves!   I keep all the air pillows I get (which is another clue among many about my packrat tendencies!).  I'll have to investigate the flattened air pillows I have!  I've just been using a roll of food wrap that has been around for a decade or so - I never use the stuff.  But all these other suggestions are too great to pass up! 

All of the books I have sent so far have been hardcovers.  I kinda ran out of things to wrap them in,(the outer cover)  so I have started using old file folders.  I just cut the tabs off and wrap it like a present!  It works very well!  With all the rain lately I have put the books in a zip lock bag first.   I have had a couple people PM me to thank me for that!