Self-Storage Tips: Prevent Moisture Damage By Creating A Desiccant Bag

The presence of moisture in a self storage unit can not only damage moisture-sensitive valuables such as paintings, but also encourage mold growth. It is for this reason that it is always advisable to put in place measures that can prevent the formation of excess humidity in your unit. In addition to ensuring that a unit is free of damp pieces of clothing, most storage unit owners usually find success by using desiccants.

Silica gel is one of the most commonly used moisture-controlling agents because of two reasons. The first is that it has superior adsorption powers when compared to most chemicals. The second reason is that it usually adsorbs a lot of moisture before becoming wet – which helps reduce the number of times that one has to change or recycle the bag.  The following are tips that will come in handy in helping you to come up with your own moisture-preventing silica gel bags that will help keep your property safe from moisture damage.

Things you need

Silica gel is the primary material. You can buy it from the local hobby store. When buying it, make sure that "indicator crystals" are included. Since they usually change color when the silica gel has almost reached its adsorption limit, they will come in handy in helping you to tell when it is time to change or recycle your bags.

You will also need a piece of cloth – any will do provided it can contain the silica gel particles. A sizable piece of vinyl will be necessary, and so will be a sewing machine.

Creating the pocket

Cut two equal squares – a vinyl square and a cloth square. Place the squares together, and using the sewing machine, stitch them together on three sides. The fourth unstitched side will serve as the bag opening. After you are done, turn the pocket inside-out in such a way that the side with the exposed stitches becomes the inside of the bag.

Filling the bag

Now, you should have a bag that has one transparent side. Fill it with silica gel, making sure that you leave enough space to allow for easy stitching. After that, stitch the bag shut. This should be enough to give you a functioning and effective moisture-trapping bag that will help to keep your storage unit as moisture-free as possible.

It is important to note that using a couple of small silica gel bags is more effective than using one big bag. This is so mainly because with the small bags, a larger surface area of silica gel is exposed to the environment and hence guaranteeing more moisture-adsorbing opportunities.

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