While most of us aim straight for the bin, it’s a little-known fact that silica gel packets actually have a multitude of uses. The reason you’ll find these gel packets inside your new shoes, medicines, and handbags is for their ability to absorb moisture and keep things dry. So – instead of getting rid of them, why not keep them so you can reuse them for the purposes they are intended?
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Here are 10 ways you can re-use these handy moisture-absorbers.
1. Store them in your camera bag or any places your store your technology. They are great for keeping the moisture out of the electronics and help to prevent mould and mildew in your camera lenses.
2. Keep them for those times your phone gets wet. If it is a light splash, wipe it off and put in a sealable bag with the gel packets to dry. If you drop the whole thing in water, do the same thing with lots of the silica gel packets, and leave for a few days. You can add rice into the packet for extra absorption. Don’t try to turn your phone on until a few days have passed.
3. If you have a heap of old photographs stored in boxes, put the gel packets in with them. It will help keep moisture at bay that will cause the prints to stick together, discolour and deteriorate. You can even store them in the back of the bookshelves where you have your photo albums for the same purpose.
4. They are perfect at keeping musty smells away. Drop them in the back of your towel cupboard or in storage containers with blankets or clothing. They even work with old books, so if you have a favourite that has developed a smell, put both in a sealable bag and see what happens.
5. Place them in the back of your filing cabinets to protect the contents. Things like birth certificates and other important documents will be kept safe with this addition.
6. Gardeners will also find they can be useful. If you are collecting seeds, keep them with the gel packets to prevent them from going mouldy before you have time to plant them.
7. If you are making your own dried flowers, or drying out petals, the gel packets will help speed up the drying process. This also helps the flowers keep more of their original colour and shape too.
8. If you store them with your silver jewellery it helps to prevent tarnishing. This also works for needles in your sewing box and other similar items.
9. Hearing aids can get moisture in them from sweat, so you can dry them out with these gel packets too – just be sure to take the batteries out first!
10. If you use laundry powder instead of liquid detergent, pop a couple of gel silica packets in to prevent clumping.
When you are not using the gel packets, store them in a sealable bag. After a while of being used, if they are doing their job properly they will themselves be full of moisture and stop working. You can make them last longer by putting them in the oven for about two hours at 200 degrees.
Remember: They are not to be eaten so make sure you keep them out of reach of children and pets. You can tape them down if you are worried they will be found by inquisitive eyes.
This article originally appeared on Starts at 60
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