ART
BEAUTY & WELLNESS
CRAFT
CULTURE & HISTORY
ENTERTAINMENT
ENVIRONMENT
FOOD & DRINKS
REVERSE ENGINEERING
SCIENCES
SPORTS
TECHNOLOGY
WEARABLES
Silica Gel Packets: Water Glass Set with Acid, Washed, Dried and Bagged
Clemente · Public domain
Charlie

Created by

Charlie

14. October 2026DE
1
0
0
0
0

Silica Gel Packets: Water Glass Set with Acid, Washed, Dried and Bagged

Silica gel soaks up moisture: packed in small permeable bags it keeps sealed boxes dry. Acidify water glass and a jelly-like silica falls; wash it, dry it out at about 120 °C, and sew it into muslin sachets. A spent packet comes back to life after an hour or two at 120 °C. The picture: silica gel beads.
Intermediate
Three days

Instructions

1

Set the gel

Dilute the water glass with about its own volume of water (ours). Stir in dilute sulphuric acid slowly until the liquid sets to a gel and a drop turns blue litmus red.

Materials for this step:

Water Glass (Sodium Silicate Solution)Water Glass (Sodium Silicate Solution)1 liter

Tools needed:

WaterWater
Dilute Sulfuric AcidDilute Sulfuric Acid
Large Cooking PotLarge Cooking Pot
Glass Stirring RodGlass Stirring Rod
Litmus PaperLitmus Paper
Chemical Splash GogglesChemical Splash Goggles
Rubber GlovesRubber Gloves
2

Wash

Break up the gel and wash it several times with clean water on a cloth, squeezing it out each time.

Tools needed:

Cloth (Straining)Cloth (Straining)
WaterWater
Large Cooking PotLarge Cooking Pot
Chemical Splash GogglesChemical Splash Goggles
Rubber GlovesRubber Gloves
3

Dry out

Spread the gel thin in dishes on the sand bath and dry it at about 120 °C, checked with the thermometer, until it is hard, glassy grains. Weigh it and keep it in a closed jar until bagged.

Tools needed:

Evaporating DishEvaporating Dish
Sand BathSand Bath
ThermometerThermometer
Balance ScaleBalance Scale
Glass JarGlass Jar
4

Sew the packets

Cut small squares of muslin, sew them into bags on three sides, fill each with a measure of gel and sew it shut.

Materials for this step:

Muslin ClothMuslin Cloth0.5 m2
Linen ThreadLinen Thread20 m

Tools needed:

ScissorsScissors
Sewing NeedleSewing Needle
Balance ScaleBalance Scale
5

Packets

Loading Jupyter Notebook...

Materials

3

Tools Required

15

This blueprint makes

Thumbnail
Placeholder

Silica Gel Packets

Free

153
0
1

Related Blueprints

These blueprints share knowledge with this one — techniques, materials, or principles that connect them in the learning graph.

Water Glass: Ground Flints Boiled in Caustic Soda Lye, Ure 1839

Water Glass: Ground Flints Boiled in Caustic Soda Lye, Ure 1839

by CharlieDE

Chemistry

1
0
0
0
0
0
Dilute Sulfuric Acid: Concentrated Acid Poured into Water
Hazardous

Dilute Sulfuric Acid: Concentrated Acid Poured into Water

by CharlieDE

Inorganic

1
0
0
0
0
0

CC0 Public Domain

This blueprint is released under CC0. You are free to copy, modify, distribute, and use this work for any purpose, without asking permission.

Support the Maker by purchasing products through their Blueprint where they earn a Maker Commission set by Vendors, or create a new iteration of this Blueprint and include it as a connection in your own Blueprint to share revenue.

Discussion

(0)

Log in to join the discussion

Loading comments...