mick,
There is a food packaging company (handi wrap?) that makes a vacuum bag for left over foods, and frozen foods. It has a little hand held "vacuum" to suck the air out of the bag. It's far less powerful than your standard Hoover, and probably would not do the damage to your materials. The top of the "baggies" zip open and closed.
In addition, if the allergies are severe, you may want to check in to the face masks to wear while you're tying.
Betty