Smelly Shoes

Older shoes tend to develop odors thanks to all the wear and tear we put on them. Generally speaking, the smell is caused by bacteria that has accrued from all those times at the gym or out on the town, and the bacteria is often caused by moisture in the shoe. Silica gel packs can help absorb this additional moisture and keep your shoes fresher for longer.

Additionally, you can make odor-absorbent pouches (as seen above) by removing the little silica gel balls from the packets, putting them into a bowl, and adding essential or aroma oils. Dump the fragrant silica gel beads into a small pouch and place them inside your shoes.

Off-Season Clothes

When you pull your sweaters and heavy jackets out of storage for the winter, do they often have a musty smell from sitting in a closet all summer? You can easily prevent this problem by placing several silica gel packets around the shelves and in the stacks of clothes in your closet. The packets should help keep the musty smells away.

Window Condensation

During the colder months, we always see condensation build up on the windows, especially when we’re cooking dinner. But some well-placed silica gel packs around windowsills can help keep the condensation away, so you don’t miss any of that lovely(?) snowfall outside. Just be sure that the kids know not to play with the packs and they’re out of reach of any pets.

Dry Dog Food

Do you keep your dry dog or cat food in a big bin? If so, hopefully you’re aware that after a while it can attract moisture, get soggy, and bacteria can grow, potentially harming your pet if consumed. An easy fix is to tape a silica gel pack to the roof of the lid. The silica gel will absorb any moisture around the food, keeping it fresher for longer.

The Gym Bag

Well if it isn’t Captain Obvious! If you’ve been paying attention, then this one’s a no-brainer. The silica gel packs are designed to limit moisture in the air. What is one of the key things that bacteria needs to grow? Moisture. So yeah, throw some silica gel packets into your gym bag and keep them there. They’ll save you every time you forget to empty the bag right after your workout.

Musty Book Smell

This one could be controversial! There are plenty of folks out there who love the “musty” smell of older books. And while that smell certainly has an undeniable nostalgic effervescence to it, it can be a little too much at times. If you’d like to get rid of the smell from an old book, just place a silica gel packet in-between the pages somewhere and let it work its magic for a couple of days.

Heating Pad

You can make a heating pad with silica gel packets? Is there anything they can’t do?! Well, we haven’t seen them clean the gutters, but we’re still holding out hope. Anyway, to create a heating pad, you’re going to need a lot of packets, or you can purchase some on Amazon. Fill a large, old — but clean! — sock and tie it off. Place the filled sock in the microwave for about 30 seconds. Remove it, but be sure to test the temperature before grabbing hold of the whole thing; we don’t want you getting hurt! Place the heating pad wherever desired.

Smelly Laundry

That laundry basket filled with dirty laundry is emanating odors that you didn’t know were possible. Lucky for you, you don’t need to contend with that smell if you’re not ready (or able) to throw a load into the wash. Keep some silica gel packets in the bottom of the laundry basket and they’ll help diminish some of those odors. Just don’t throw the packets into the wash!

Save Your Old Photographs

If you have old photographs that you keep in a box, in a cupboard, in a storage closet, in the attic, or in the basement, they could be susceptible to damaging moisture in the air. The moisture can warp, curl, or allow mold to grow depending on how bad it gets. But of course you’ve got your handy silica gel packets laying around now, so drop two or three into the box or storage bin and those photos will stay protected from the damp air.

Water Damaged Phone

The standard solution to dropping your smartphone in water is to throw it in a bag of rice and wait with bated breath to see if it’ll ever work again. But silica gel packs actually work much better than rice. First, take your SIM card out of the phone, and then place the phone in a Ziploc bag with your trusty silica gel packs. Give it at least 24 hours, but just to be safe, maybe give it 48 hours. If anything can save your phone, it’ll be this remedy. Otherwise, we fear that your device may be beyond repair.

Reusing Silica Gel Packets

So far we’ve seen a handful of uses around the house where silica gel packets can help out. However, the little packets aren’t infinite vacuums for moisture in the air. But it turns out that you can reuse — or “recharge” — them to absorb more moisture again. If the weather is good, place the packets out in the warm sun for an hour. The sun should sap any moisture out of the beads. If you can’t put them outside, put them on a baking sheet and place them in the oven. Many home DIYers recommend setting the oven to 220°F for 30 minutes.