If you're starting an e-commerce business or you're selling things from an online auction site and sending products through the mail, then you may be concerned about how your products will survive during transit. Your customers expect to receive their orders in pristine condition, and one small thing you can do to help is use silica gel packets in your shipping containers. Here's why these are helpful, as well as and how you use them.

Why You Should Use Silica Gel When Shipping 

The purpose of silica gel is to pull moisture out of the air. By sucking humidity into the packets, the moisture can't hurt the goods inside the box. Silica gel packets contain tiny beads of silica, and each one can absorb moisture without expanding or making a mess. This makes them very useful for placing inside boxes that contain electronics, food, leather goods, and anything else that might be affected during transit to a customer's home.

Packages aren't kept in climate-controlled conditions unless you pack them in insulated boxes with ice packs. They are exposed to the outdoor conditions when they ride in a delivery truck. The truck may protect them from rain, but they could still be rained on while sitting by your customer's front door.

While on the truck, the packages are exposed to hot and humid conditions in the summer and humidity from wet conditions in snowy winter weather. A cardboard box doesn't offer much protection, but by adding silica gel to the boxes, the inside of the box will stay as dry as possible.

How To Use Silica Gel

Silica gel is best used in packet form when you're shipping things. This makes it easy to toss a packet or two into each box you fill. You can buy the packets plain, scented, or with a color-changing ability that lets you know when they've absorbed the maximum amount of moisture. If you're shipping food, choose plain packets so that the scent or color-changing chemicals don't contaminate the food. Plain silica gel is safe to use around food, although it has a warning not to eat it. You can buy silica gel packets in different sizes, but you may want to buy the smaller size in bulk amounts and use multiple packs when needed rather than stocking different sizes.

The packets come with instructions on how many to use for different box sizes, depending on the size of the packet. While many of your customers may throw the packets out as soon as they open the boxes, others may save the packets and use them around the house since the packets can be dried out and used again. That gives the packets extra use and keeps you from feeling like you're adding more waste to the packaging.