Wild Uses for those New-Shoe Packets

You know those silica gel packs that are always in new shoe boxes and vitamin packets? Turns out there's an amazing number of clever re-uses for them. Coolest one: Keep garden seeds fresh. Wildest one: Keep your gun collection moisture-free.

Silica gel is a desiccant, a substance that absorbs moisture. Despite its misleading name, the silicate is actually a very porous mineral with a natural attraction to water molecules. Manufacturers utilize the gel to keep goods from spoiling, molding or degrading due to humidity. The gel itself is nontoxic, but can have a moisture indicator added (cobalt chloride) which is a known toxin that turns pink when hydrated and is otherwise blue in its dry form.



Then I discovered several great suggestions for using these packs around the house and keeping them from the landfill just a wee bit longer.

Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Southern Hope.


Comments (14)

Newest 5
Newest 5 Comments

You can buy 2 lb boxes of silica desiccant at Harbor Freight for like $4. It even turns pink when it's been saturated, so you know to change it out.

Even better, you can bake it in the oven at 200 degrees F for 15 minutes and it's good to go again.
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CYBret: actually, you can dry silica out in the oven and it will "reactivate" it. i can't remember the exact temps or time, but IIRC, it's something like 200 degrees F for about 3 hours. you can reuse it pretty much indefinitely. just make sure you take it out of the little plastic baggie first (the baggie will melt.) once it's "dehydrated" again, you can put it in a ziploc bag that has some holes poked in it and use it again.

Sininen: you're kind of right about silica being dangerous to breathe BUT....that only applies to silica that is super-fine (ie, dust-size.) the silica packets in food and clothing contain nuggets that are far too large to inhale (it's usually almost gravel-sized) and are perfectly safe, aside from any chemical additives (as the article states.) silica by itself is perfectly safe as long as you're not inhaling a dust version of it. even if you somehow manage to eat some of those "nuggets" of silica, the worst that's going to happen is MAYBE an upset stomach if you eat enough of them (although most likely they'll just pass through your body and you'll never know and be no worse for wear.) and as far as silica causing "burns" on the skin?!?! i don't know where you got that from, but that's completely false. silica is basically just sand, pure and simple.
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Well, it's hard to listen to the lyrics and not agree with (1971) John's assessment that it is virtually the Communist Manifesto. It's so obvious that I don't think one even needs to do a point-by-point.

I am a big John Lennon fan. He was tremendously talented. At that time, he was also incredibly naive, a nasty drunk and, frankly, a bit of a dick even when sober. Let's not forget that he was barely 31 when this song was released, and a very immature 31 at that - given what had happened to him to that point, that's hardly a surprise.

This is one of the saddest aspects of his assassination just 9 years later. By that time, it seemed like he had broken through at least some of his issues and was just about to hit a new gear - sadly, it is left to us to "Imagine" what might have been...
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I disagree a bit. It does say "imagine" all these things. I don't believe he is advocating for communism so much as saying that when you deal with other people and argue about, say, religion, or possessions, then think about a world without them and treat people that way. I think it strives for a better understanding of people in different situations. At least, that's the way I like to interpret it.

All this reminds me of the WKRP episode dealing with a religious leader attempting to censor the station's programming. They used this song in it.

One more note - it is funny that performers wish to exclude the "no religion" line. I mean, I see where they are coming from, but considering religion has, throughout history, been a huge source of conflict in the world, it would be totally wrong to exclude it. Good for you, Yoko!
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Never a big fan of the song. And I completely disagree with Eddie about George Harrison's signature song. I would argue it's "Something", the favorite Beatle song of Frank Sinatra (who considered it the greatest love song written in the 20th century). He also incorrectly credited it to Lennon-McCartney.
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One of the greatest songs ever written. To me, it was song that showed the REAL John Lennon, or at least the one influenced by Yoko. Too bad not that many people really listened to what he was trying to say. I live about 20 minutes from where Mark David Chapman is being held and this time of year always makes me depressed. Seems like yesterday (no pun intended). Hard to believe it's been 32 years now.
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I agree that "Something" is George Harrison's signature song. It was the only Harrison song to be released as a single by the Beatles. Interestingly, it's also the second-most covered song recorded, with "Yesterday" the first.
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It's funny... I was a big Beatles fan during their heyday - but I was never much of a John Lennon fan.

Feeling a sense of negativity and rebellion in the aura Lennon gave off, I thought the balance of McCartney's warmer disposition brought John Lennon more towards the middle.

I liked "Woman" and "Imagine", but "Give Peace a Chance" and "Instant Karma" eluded my tastes. Teenage life was already hard enough... I think I was wanting to have music as an escape from the worries and challenges, more than having to make heavy statements.

Oh............ and somehow I NEVER understood "Yoko Ono" - Period.

Still, a very interesting article Eddie, it helps peek into that mysterious mind of John Lennon that I just never quite adjusted to.
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