Whether you are shipping orders to customers or putting personal belongings in storage, Staples desiccants can help preserve your items by keeping them dry for as long as you need. These drying agents come in small packets that users can add to packing materials while preparing shipping cartons to protect products vulnerable to moisture damage during storage and transport.

Choose between Silica Gel and Kraft Clay Staples Desiccants
Staples carries two major types of desiccant packets: silica gel and Kraft clay. Although the packets are permeable and allow the absorption of moisture, they are also robust and durable enough to resist tearing during use. Both are safe for keeping food and pharmaceuticals dry during storage or shipping. Silica gel packets contain granular silicate and have a high affinity for moisture. These desiccant packets can reduce the humidity level in a shipping container down to 40 percent. Although silica gel works best at room temperature, it can pull moisture from the air at temperatures up to 220 degrees Fahrenheit. Staples' clay desiccants come wrapped in Kraft paper and work well at temperatures below 120 degrees Fahrenheit.

Monitor Shipment Moisture Level With Indicating Silica Gel Desiccants
Besides regular silica gel packets, you can also find Staples desiccants that double as humidity indicators. These contain silica gel doped with a chemical agent that changes color when transitioning from a wet state to a dry state. The most commonly used reagent is cobalt chloride. It is deep blue when dry and pink when wet. These indicating silica gel desiccants are for monitoring moisture-sensitive shipments, and their color changes give quick visual indications of current moisture levels. They come in two varieties: three-dot and six-dot packets. The three-dot packets show color-coded humidity level changes from 5, 10 and 60 percent. The six-dot ones offer more detail with intervals at 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 50 percent relative humidity.

What are the Key Ingredients of Staples Desiccant Packets?
Staples' silica gel packets contain amorphous silicon dioxide. This is a naturally occurring compound that can absorb water without dissolving. It remains dry to touch even when fully saturated. This highly porous substance can absorb moisture up to 40 percent of its own weight. Staples Kraft clay desiccants contain Montmorillonite clay, another naturally occurring adsorbent. It is also a silicon-based compound, and it swells when absorbing moisture.

Are Staples Desiccants Toxic?
Silica gel and Kraft clay are not toxic, and the FDA approves the former for packaging foods and drugs. They are also non-flammable and non-reactive. However, you should take care not to break open the packets, eat the contents or rub them on the skin. Since they are drying agents, doing these may irritate the digestive and respiratory tract as well as the skin. Do not use Staples desiccants containing indicating silica gel for packaging foods and pharmaceuticals. Since they also include cobalt chloride, a toxic compound, it is best to completely avoid all contacts between the desiccant and consumables.

Can you Reactivate Silica Gel and Clay Desiccants?
Yes, it is possible to reactive and regenerate silica gel and clay desiccants. Doing so requires heating saturated silica gel in a microwave or oven. Saturated clay will lose its absorbed moisture simply by placing it in the sun. However, it is inadvisable to do this since it requires taking out silica gel and clay from their packets. Exposing the granular drying agents to high heat can also cause them to melt.