A Query About Silica Gel parcels ...

Urban Hermit

Urban Hermit

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Location
Sheffield, UK
Anybody have any solid advice/guidelines regarding how many pouches of Silica gel are enough to keep how many blades in a good anti-rust/anti-deterioration environment inside a plastic box or biscuit tin?

BoxofCurrentBlades-001-withSilicaGels.png
 
Might be worth PMing Paul at Connaught, though I don't know if he uses them as part of his packaging.

My guess is one little bag per 75 blades. What's the prize anyway? :p
 
Pig Cat said:
What's the prize anyway? :p
Click to expand...

Um, maybe I might stop asking daft questions of this nature ...

  • Maybe.[/list:u]
      • Though I'd probably still ask daft questions of other natures*.[/list:u][/list:u]


        *Examples:

        How natural is it to believe that most other hominids on the planet you live on, actually can be outsmarted by chairs?

        Would it be more, or less natural to maintain this belief, if you are certain that your parentage is at least 50% contributed to by visiting upholsterers from the Zig-Zaggity dimension of Alpha Chromathatuna?
 
A serious answer. Unless you're planning on storing them in a very humid environment for many years then I don't think it's going to be an issue. If you are planning on storing them under these conditions for a long time and are worried about moisture, just chucking them in a Tupperware box with a few silica packs won't make a difference over the long term as moisture will continue to diffuse into the box. You'd need to store them in an air tight container and place the silica packs within this. The adsorbent capacity of silica gel is about 25-35%, you could work out the size of whatever you're storing it in and how humid it was and calculate how many to use based upon this but it probably won't make much difference to the life of the blades. People are still using blades from decades ago with no issue but for piece of mind I suppose it won't make much difference chucking a few packs in with them.
 
Ah, thanks muchly for that answer, YellowJim.

It seems technical and logical enough to make sense to me, without being something I'd already known, or actually understand, entirely.

I'm not sure what qualifies as too humid etc., but I think I get the gist of what you're saying...

Cheers.
 
I bought a load ages ago that change colour when they have reached they absorbency maximum, then you just spread them out on a tray in a low oven and dry them out and they change back.

I have a small box in the bathroom which is just about airtight (without being silly to get open) and I have three in it. The place I had them from had a calculation for their pack so you could work out how many you need for a given volume. The rest of th blades, the bulk ones, live in a dry cool cupboard under the stairs in big IKEA boxes with a few packs in each as well. May seem a bit overkill but never had any rust or even musty smell in the ten years I have did this.

This is not who I got mine from but an example of the stuff I mean;

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SILICA-GEL-COLOUR-CHANGE-CAMERA-ETC-8-X-50gm-BAGS-/270672750618?pt=UK_Packaging_Materials&hash=item3f055a681a" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SILICA-GEL-COLOUR ... 3f055a681a</a><!-- m -->

You can get them pre bagged in small sachets from many sellers or make your own bags (or ask Mrs UH) to stich up some voile wedding favor bags to suit your size of container.
 
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