There was a great Dr. Seuss tale called “The Lorax” that unraveled the story of a greedy industrialist who left a trail of collateral damage behind in the name of profit.

It alluded to the Once-lers, who basically used natural resources once and then never bothered to recycle or repurpose anything until the whole world was a left in utter ruins. And while the lesson of that Dr. Seuss tale is more evident and prescient today when it comes to natural resources than it was when it was introduced decades ago, many people still struggle with how EXACTLY to reuse all kinds of stuff (small and large) in a way that is practical and useful. And although our customers are not conglomerates chopping down entire rainforests, they do run into scenarios whereby they end up with something that appears useful but may be puzzling to actually reuse. That’s where Hal comes to the rescue!

This particular dialog was with a person who, each time she bought new shoes or sneakers, had a question that many people have but rarely bother to ask: what are those little packets that feel like sand doing in the shoes and can I repurpose them for anything that will actually be helpful?

As it turns out, they can be very useful and extremely multi-purpose items to keep and collect! They are called Silica Gel Packets and the texts we shared back and forth got really interesting when the customer asked about them and their potential reuse. It went something like this:

Hal (aka Me): “Just a sec…I’m here…how can I help you?”

Customer: “Hey Hal! I buy a LOT of shoes (don’t ask!) but every time I open the box I see these little packets that have like beads or sand in them. I know that they must be useful for shipping or something, so I just kept them all for some weird reason because I wanted to get around to asking someone what I could do with them. So..what can I do with them, since I def don’t keep them in my shoes any more, once I take them out of the box?”

Hal: “Great question! Actually, these little packets are Silica Gel or Silica Beads and they have LOTS of uses well beyond keeping shoes dry in transport. Let’s dive into a few other uses that you may find helpful! First off, if you decide to open up two of those little packets and put them all into a Ziploc bag for reuse, you can use a small amount of beads with your dish soap to clean out stubborn stains in hard to reach places like inside bottles (or glassware that has a long neck) — any areas that you basically cannot stick your hand into but needs a scrubbing. It’s a miracle to see how it unearths ANY stuff left behind when you just add the beads, water, and dish soap and give it a few shakes. Poof! Everything inside that glassware is completely stain free in no time!”

Hal: “Secondly, have you ever mistakenly “over-watered” an indoor plant and had the water leak out of the bottom and onto your table or counter? Well, now you can open about 5–6 of those little packets and sprinkle the beads into the soil of any plant/flower pot you have indoors, like those on a kitchen counter or a tabletop. Next time you water those plants/herbs/flowers, any excess water you add will be immediately absorbed by the Silica Gel crystals and prevent the water from spilling all over the table or countertop out from the bottom of the planter. No more mess even if you are a little too generous with the water!”

Customer: “I actually have a tiny herb garden for basil and stuff so that would be cool! What else?”

Hal: Third, if you leave your disposable razors in the shower or near the sink, you usually see little rust spots show up fairly quickly. Next time, just place a little packet near the metal portion of the razor and it will prevent the rust from forming on the blades to you can get some additional life out of that disposable razor! If you really want it to work faster, stick the razors into a small Tupperware container, drop in the Silica Gel packets & close the lid. That will accelerate the process for you.

Hal: Fourth, you can open a bunch of Silica Gel packets into a cup and if you spill your coffee or beverage of any kind onto a notebook or paper that you are writing on, just sprinkle a healthy amount of Silica Gel beads over the whole spill on the notebook, place a napkin or folded paper towel over it and press down gently. Let it sit for about 5 minutes and presto — -the paper is complete clean and the color of the liquid is completely absorbed into the crystals…and your paperwork is now pristine to write on once again — no more redoing that homework all over again or re-writing that letter!

Customer: Wow…that’s awesome! I journal a lot and this would be IDEAL for that!

Hal: But wait…there’s more! Since these magic little beads absorb moisture and prevent humidity from ruining things, you can stick a couple packets into a toolbox to remove rust from any of your tools! This also works with knives that may have little rust spots as well.

Hal: Another great use is that you can put a bunch of Silica Gel packets into an extra large Ziploc bag along with smaller clothing items & seal it — and then use it for packing clothes in your suitcase to keep them fresh…or stick the slightly open, small Ziploc bag and put that inside your sneakers to absorb all the sweat and keep them dry for the next trip to the gym. Some ppl even put the crystals into those “sachet” bags that have very tiny little holes in them and make them into sachet bags for their sneakers as well.

Hal: As if that isn’t enough, I will leave you with two other cool things about those little packets you’ve been saving: the first is that you can REUSE them constantly by putting them in a microwave on the DEFROST cycle for about 9–12 minutes for every 10 packets, and all the moisture they collected (after a month or so) will be “cooked out” of the packets — and now they are ready to be re-used all over again. It’s an endlessly renewable little packet of magic!

Hal: And if you see all this value but you aren’t willing to buy more shoes just to get more Silica Beads (LOL) — or you just aren’t sure WHEN to put them in the microwave, you can buy a color changing set of Silica Beads on Amazon for around $10.00. Once the color changes from orange to dark green, it means the crystals need to be put in the oven so they can do their job for you all over again. The color change takes the guesswork out of when to take them out of use and put them in the oven to ‘recycle’ them for reuse once again. It’s a very inexpensive option if you find yourself using them more often for more applications.

Customer: Ok Hal …you have officially blown my mind and made me VERY happy that I saved all these little packets for the last few months! This is great stuff. I will be putting them to use all over the house now, thanks to you. And it is kinda cool that I’m being environmentally friendly by reusing them instead of just dumping them into the garbage. Total win/win! Thanks Hal!

MAVRick

Image: https://superrare.com/artwork-v2/stuck-in-the-routine-37285