Using silica gel

Uncooked rice does the same job as silica gel.

@MCB said:

I use a small gass jar with a screw top. The lower part of the jar is filled with packets of desiccant (silica crystals) from the pharmacist. He saved so many for me that I have maybe two pounds of them in a plastic bag.

thats a good tip… i’ll ask my pharamacist if she can get some from me

@african888 said:

thats a good tip… i’ll ask my pharamacist if she can get some from me

For around $10, you can buy a Dry and Store. It has reusable desiccant. You recharge it in the microwave. Seems like a silly thing versus $10 for a better solution.

It does not.

@Seamaster said:

Uncooked rice does the same job as silica gel.

I save packets of silica gel that come with vitamins, electronic equipment, whatever (as long as they’re clean) and use those. There seems to be an endless supply. The little envelopes they come in are meant to be very porous so I can’t think of any reason to not leave the silica gel inside the little packet just the way it is (and in my not-entirely-inexpert opinion, there’s absolutely no chance of anything bad happening regarding contact with batteries) (although don’t forget that zinc-air batteries discharge whether you’re using them or not so I think this question is probably immaterial). Every couple of months I put the little packets in the toaster oven, set on the lowest of the low super-low just-warm setting, for an hour or two or until I remember them and dry them out. I’ve had some of these for years. The screwtop jar or other airtight container is good advice, since you want the silica gel to be absorbing the humidity just from inside the container, and not your whole house.

[edit] And I agree about the rice. I think it’s a bad idea, first because it doesn’t seem to work, and second because although it’s pretty inert it’s still basically food. And the silica gel technique is so very easy…