5 ideas to reuse silica gel packets

What can you do with them?

Many times when we pair a pair of shoes there’s also in the box a small packet that looks like a sugar packet. We’ve many ideas on how to reuse said boxes (you can see some here), but what can you do with these packets?

These packets contain something called silica gel, which consists of small see-through or blue beads formed by the reaction between sodium silicate and sulphuric acid that thus form a hydrosol that becomes a structure called hydrogel. The solid gel’s washed to remove the reaction’s by-product. Afterwards, this gel’s processed to meet different goals, from cosmetic silica (for exfoliant) to silica gel, which is what we’ll talk about today on the EscapeShoes blog!

So, silica gel works as a desiccant, i.e. it absorbs moisture and thus extends objects’ useful lifetime. Since many of us don’t know what to do with these small packets, they end up going to the garbage when they should be reused somewhere else, like drawers, wardrobes, etc… Read below 5 ideas to reuse these silica gel packets:

1-Prolong the lifetime of your pictures or important documents

If you’re like me and save your keepsakes, from letters to pictures or even important files such as invoices, place one or two silica gel packets between them to protect them from moisture.

2-Stainless jewels

Over time jewels or other silver objects can get stains, so if you place a silica gel packet near the compartment where you keep them you’ll notice that those stains never appear again!

3-Shoes and clothing

This one may appear obvious… Place a silica gel packet inside your shoes and/or jacket pocket to prolong their useful lifetime and to keep them from smelling like mould.

4-Seeds free from moisture

If you like gardening, keep your seeds free from moisture by adding a silica gel packet to each bag or jar with the seeds until they’re ready to be planted.

5-Impeccable razor blades

Gather all your shaving razor blades into a container together with several silica gel packets to keep them from oxidizing. Of course it’s important to first dry the razor blades.

Usually when the silica gel beads start to get a pinkish colour it means that they’ve gathered all the moisture that they could! You can reuse them by heating up a tungsten lamp and leaving the silica gel there for 3 hours. This action will make all the moisture evaporate. As soon as this happens the silica gel goes back to its original colour. You just need to wait until it cools down and you can use it again!

Now that you already know some uses that this silica gel has, you can start by putting them into practice! If you’ve children or pets at home remember to place these packets out of their reach since they’re not edible! If you still don’t have enough packets you can always choose to buy one of our pairs of shoes at EscapeShoes! We’re sure that you’ll love it and this way you can combine business with pleasure!