How to reuse silica gel - 8 ways
8 ways to reuse silica gel
A few weeks ago I found a packet of silica gel in a pair of shoes. It said on the pack “Silica Gel - THROW AWAY”
That’s not much good for a family on a mission to put nothing into landfill this year!
Fortunately, you all came to my rescue with your brilliant suggestions for how to turn our rubbish into a resource. Rather than keep all the information to ourselves, we decided to compile a list so everyone can benefit from the wisdom of your knowledge.
So here it is, 8 ways to reuse silica gel as suggested by you!
Protect seeds
Compost Woman uses packs of silica gel to keep her seeds in tip top condition, ready for planting out.
Prevent condensation
Brian and Susi suggest we placed packs of silica gel in shallow trays on window sills to absorb moisture, stop condensation and deter mould.
Wardrobes
Sandy puts silica gel in the bottom of her wardrobe, in the lid of an old shoe box.
Reuse
Magdalena has a similar idea; she use it in closets or in the bottom of stored suitcases. But she suggests we try to remember to leave it at the store next time so it can be reused - great point, Magdalena!
Stinky shoes
Nadine puts silica packets inside boots to keep the bacteria and fungi count down.
Flowers
Nadine also suggests using the crystals in an empty vase to dry some flowers for dry bouquets.
Dishwasher tablets
Pippa suggested using silica gel packets in the dishwasher tablets box. She tells us, as it absorbs the moisture, it’s especially handy with tablets wrapped in water-dissolving material.
Car windscreens
Pippa also made the fantastic suggestion of keeping a packet or two to your car’s dashboard - they’ll help to keep the window less foggy in wintertime. I’m definitely going to try this one out!
Getting Top Dollar when recycling your mobile phone
Never judge a book by its cover
Mrs Green recycles breakfast
Do solar panels really work during the winter?
is zero waste fuel here?
Recycling in the garden
Mrs Green reflects on E.ON Innovation
Reducing waste at work
that’s the way to gather all tips on one subject, perhaps the collaborative process would work for many different items, like “Wednesday’ s waste-free tips” <almost sounds exciting!
i love it here among kindred spirits. thank Greens et al.
When your silica gel has absorbed moisture it will stop working. You can revive it by baking it in the oven.
@nadine Sellers: Thanks Nadine; and thank you for your contribution to the article. What’s great about hosting posts like this is that it gives me a day off from writing about myself
@ChemGrad: Great advise Chemgrad - thank you for stopping by to share your knowledge!
Hi Mrs. Green,
Love this article on reusing silica gel and just re-posted to our FB page. It is great, every day examples like this that can really help all of us be more utilitarian!
If you have more reuse examples (or if you’ve written more articles on them), I would love to hear about them and post to our FB page - http://www.facebook.com/pages/ReUseConnection/253021991560.
Thanks again for your article.
Warmest wishes,
Ian Moise
imoise@reuseconnection.com
http://www.reuseconnection.com
@ianmoise
Put it in your photographs drawer to keep the mould away from them?
@Ian Moise: Hi Ian, welcome to the site and thanks for the link to your FB page. As you know I’ve become a fan and I hope we can work together in the future
@Jane: Thanks Jane; sounds like a good idea for preserving memories!
I’ve heard the silica packets can help prevent condensation from building up and damaging camera lenses, so I keep a couple packets in my dSLR camera case.
@Bethany: Hi Bethany; thanks for this - another great reuse idea to add to the mix
I’ve also heard that putting these packets into boxes of fabric (for sewing) is a good idea, but I can’t remember why now!
@Kate: Hi Kate, no I’m not sure, but I guess if there is a chance the fabric might get damp it would be good. Perhaps it’s a moth repellent or something too!
Hi, it’s my first time to this website and I love it! Wished I found it earlier!
Just want to say that I use those silica gel packs to keep my leather bags and shoes mould free. ^.^
@Suzanne: Hi Suzanne; welcome - I’m glad you found us! Thanks for sharing your tip about silica gel
The other side of the coin is that there are places that need to be kept humid. Kleeneze and similar outfits used to sell these narrow tubs that could be filled with water and hung on radiators, but I wonder if used teabags could be employed instead, and put in the food waste bin when they were sufficiently dessicated, or would they leave tannin stains on the walls? Tell me I’m being crazy…
@Joe K: Oh gosh; I remember those pottery radiator things; I used to think they were very cool when I was young and always said I’d have them in my own house. It turns out I moved into a home without any central heating; so that idea went out the window.
As for teabags; yeah you’re definitely crazy …
We collect up every one of those packs we can find and use them in our caravan to keep damp and mould at bay - in every cupboard, drawer, shelf, under the bed……
@elrohana: Hi Elrohana, thanks for leaving your comment. It sounds like you have lots of great uses for these packets or silica gel
We loved this post so it was included in our 25 Top Blogs About Upcycling and Vintage Fashion:
http://www.sheinspires.com.au/fashion/25-top-tips-for-going-green-with-upcycling-vintage-clothes
Do check it out and let us know your thoughts.
All the best,
Belinda
@Belinda from She Inspires: Hello Belinda; great to see you and thank you for including this in your post. It’s a great article you have written with lots of useful advice
Hi Mrs Green,
I found this Website on my search for ideas to lower the (negative) impact I have on the ecosystem. This site is a great inspiration. However, when I read about the suggestions to reuse the silica gel packs found in new shoes, bags etc. I cringed. While silica gel is perfectly harmless (more or less), these packs are often loaded with DMF (Dimethylfumarat), a fungicide to prevent moulding in the goods while they travel round the world. You don’t want to make contact with that stuff! Since most of our goods are nowadays produced in China, and as recent scandals have shown, poisonous additive are not uncommon there, I suggest extreme caution.
The wise way to tread these silica gel packs is to not touch them and dispose of them safely. (Google DMF and its health effects). Pure silica gel can be purchased in a pharmacy or drug store if one wants to keep places dry.
Greetings Stefan
@Stefan: Hi Stefan, welcome to the site
Thank you for raising your concerns and giving information about silica gel to our readers. It ’s good to share knowledge and empower others to look into these things further so that we can all stay safe.
I wonder what to do with the packs when they have absorbed all they can absorb?
@Nathalie Marshall: Hi Nathalie, well then I guess it’s landfill. That’s why REDUCE, comes before reuse and recycle as the end of reuse is pretty inevitable
Can u use silica gel to keep moisture out of computer cabinets? is it harmful to the electronic equipment in a computer cabinet?
@vdrogba89: no problem at all and a good addition to electronic equipment
Silica gel packs can be regenerated, drive the water off by heating in an oven at 120°C for an hour or so or they can heated at a low setting in a microwave oven for 5 to 10 minutes, take care they can get very hot.
Looking at some ersatz double glasing I thought wouldn’t it be a good idea to put a packet or two of silica gel in the corner to collect the moisture.
@DenLong: Hi DenLong, welcome to the site and thanks for sharing your reuse tip for the silica gel; I didn’t realise it could be bought back to life!
@Mrs Green: We use silica granules in the lab and they can be revived indefinitely - but if it’s the self indicating stuff which contains a blue cobalt chloride dye which turns red when wet, that eventually stops indicating if it’s wet or dry and does tend to result in us throwing it out and replacing for convenience.
One way to avoid wasting the granules when the dye is depleted is to just add a few fresh ones to the main batch. These can continue to indicate whether the Silica gel batch has become depleted and/or regenerated.
Remember those small plastic cases for photographic films? Or any small plastic container…
I have a few of them, drilled many holes with a small drill and filled each one with silica gel from a big pack that came in an eletronic equipment… The remainder I keep in a glass jar.
These small plastic containers, now filled with s-gel make a great humidity absorber for various situations… Medicine cabinet, camera box, even to keep watercolor pencils and art stuff dry.
Whenever the S-gel gets “bad” in absorbing humidity, I throw it in a metal dish and “recycle” it for about an hour in the oven (not too hot!).
>> Voil’a!!<< Silica-Gel ready to be used again!
@Rubens Sayegh: So many great ideas; Thanks for adding your Rubens - I’m learning new skills all the time
you can put them also into geocache boxes
… well it’s not that important way to reuse it, but it is actually very helpful
@Sophie: Hi Sophie - now you’ve got me; I don’t know what a geocache box is!
If you’ve ever dropped your phone or MP3 player into water. and it wont start
putting it in a sealed box with silica gel can help revive your technology