Desiccant Packs - Funny Name But a Powerful Tool

We have all seen desiccant packs. However, can we describe their use to anyone else? Most of the time we get them as part of the packaging material of a product we have purchased and they end up going into the trash. Nevertheless, these little packets can be quite a useful addition to your toolbox.

Simply put, a desiccant is a drying agent. Removing excess humidity from the product packing material of products sensitive to moisture, is the primary use of desiccant packs. Packaging materials from electronic products are the most common source of these small self-contained packages with which consumers are most familiar.

Rice is a frequently used "low-tech" alternative many of us may have used. Do you remember the few grains of rice in the saltshaker? The purpose was for the rice to remove excess moisture from the salt.
Other than product packaging and shipping, are there other uses for these little sachets? Should the consumer be stashing them away in a drawer or toolbox for later use? Let us look at a few options.

Uses for desiccant packs, commonly called silica gel packs:

1. Remove excess moisture from soaked cell phones or other electronics. With all electronics, remove the battery as quickly as possible to avoid as much damage as possible. Through shaking, toweling, and whatever other means are possible, remove as much of the visible water as you can. However, do not use heat devices such as a hair dryer as this can do further damage to the electronic device. Cover the device in a bowl of silica gel packets overnight to remove any remaining moisture.
2. Keep submergible housings on underwater cameras free from water and fog from condensation by adding silica gel packets inside the casing along with the camera.
3. These desiccant packs will be an additional level of insurance when added to zipper storage bags that contain various electronics or batter chargers.
4. Keep firearms and ammunition free from moisture in high humidity areas. Add desiccant packs to your gun safe to keep rust at bay. Do not forget to change out the packs regularly to keep them functioning effectively. These packets will normally be larger than those found most often in consumer electronics packaging. Check with your local firearms dealer.
5. Preserve photographs and documents by placing them in an airtight container with desiccant packs to ensure protection from excess moisture.

There are other desiccant packs other than the silica gel packs. While these are more familiar to us, other drying agents work as well or better. Kraft has a pack composed of an alumino silicate clay compound, which they claim to be more economical than silica gel. This product controls moisture in contained environments in many different industries, including pharmaceuticals and electronics.