Desiccant Strips vs. Silica Gel Packets Which Is Best for Your Industry

Effective cargo protection starts with choosing a desiccant solution designed to perform under the demands of long-haul shipping. While unsealed silica gel packets have been the dry gel tradition, they can be sometimes ineffective with large-scale shipping, such as with containers. Desiccant strips, such as Sorbipkas Strips are purpose-built, high-performance alternatives to the ill-suited gel packets for containers. Sorbipaks are designed to meet the needs of the sophisticated logistics.

In industries like these, desiccant strips and silica gel packets are common protective solutions. However, when packaging, or exporting, selecting the best desiccant for shipping is not as straightforward as a “one-size-fits-all” model. In this moisture absorber comparison, their strengths, limitations, and ideal applications are explored, enabling an informed decision tailored to the user industry.

Understanding Desiccants: The Backbone of Moisture Control

Desiccants are the substances that a easily absorb moisture from the nearby atmosphere. They keep the products dry and safe.

Why Moisture Control Matters in Container Shipping

Shipping containers are vulnerable to humidity fluctuations, especially during ocean transit. Moisture buildup can lead to:

• Mold and mildew
• Corrosion of metal parts
• Packaging deterioration
• Product spoilage

The challenge of managing moisture in container shipping

The shipping of containers goes through an interstate of an ocean. While doing so, containers go through different level changes in temperature and moist of an ocean. This leads to a problem container rain. The condensation that forms drips down to the packed containers and causes a lot of damage in the process. This damage can also happen to goods that are perfectly sealed also giving damage to the surrounding moisture.

The Traditional Choice: Silica Gel Packets

Silica gel packets are small sachets filled with silica beads that attract and trap moisture with considerable ease. They find application in the pharmaceutical industry, food packaging, electronics, and some consumer goods as well. In small packaging scenarios, such as boxes, pouches, or sealed cartons, the use of silica gel packets works efficiently for the moisture control of products.

In contrast, some shipping companies continue to rely on silica gel packets for container shipping, often placing multiple 1kg packets inside a single container in an attempt to combat moisture. While this may seem like a practical solution, it is, in reality, an oversimplified approach to a far more complex problem. Shipping containers present unique challenges due to their large volume and exposure to fluctuating temperatures. In such environments, silica gel packets offer limited effectiveness and quickly reach saturation, leaving cargo vulnerable to condensation and moisture-related damage.

Limitations of Silica Gel Packets in Container Shipping:

Coverage area: Silica gel packets are intended for small enclosed spaces. A shipping container, as you can imagine, is too large.

Duration of Protection: Silica, when exposed to moisture, is absorbed and saturation is reached within a very small time period in high relative humidity areas.

Placement: The packets are often placed on or between the goods. This placement is highly suboptimal, as the absence of airflow makes it very difficult for the packets to efficiently draw moisture from the container atmosphere.

Moisture condensation: silica gel is ineffective as it fails to manage condensation droplets and renders moisture on walls and ceiling surfaces of the container.

Silica gel packets perform phenomenal to clog the moisture on smaller products, however, the effectiveness at larger containers become lesser.

The Modern Solution: Sorbipaks Cargo Desiccant Strips

The design of Sorbipaks Cargo Desiccant Strips is not traditional and so are the designs of Sorbipaks. While the rest of the pack is made to sit horizontally, these long packets which have a vertical configuration can be hung directly onto the walls of the container and kept suspended. This allows the cargo to be handily packed for longer durations at a time because the cargo is surrounded with an atmosphere of low moisture as these strips are capable of absorbing moisture from the entire atmosphere.

Key Advantages of Sorbipaks Cargo Strips:

Absorption Capacity

Sorbipaks strips have protective moisture absorbing capabilities because of their advanced modern technology. The unique design of the strips allows them to absorb more moisture as compared to traditional silica gel.

Sustained Protection

Silica gel needs to be refreshed frequently and is ineffective for longer voyages which have sea routes. Sorbipaks strips on the other hand give full protective moisture absorbing capabilities for the entire duration of the trip. This allows cargo to be retained for longer durations at sea and stores ports with moisture.

Container Coverage

Having Sopbipaks strips mounted on the walls of containers enables the strips to extract moisture from the open air rather than being limited to the inner atmosphere of the containers, which significantly reduces the chance of rain forming in the containers.

Sleek Space Design

Sorbipaks strips descend from the container ceiling, which helps in conservation of the floor and cargo space. As a result, these Sorbipaks strips are ideal for container loads, where keeping the packed cargo as dense as possible is necessary, and there is little space for additional desiccant containers.

User friendly

Sorbipaks strips are installed and removed in a matter a seconds due to their simple hook design. These desiccants are a far more convenient option as there is no scattering of desiccant packets, which drastically reduces the manpower needed for cargo operations.

Why Sorbipaks strips outperform silica gel?

Sorbipaks Cargo Desiccant Strips are specifically designed for containerized cargo. 

Here’s why they outperform silica gel:

Ideal for Industries Like:

• Automotive parts
• Pharmaceuticals
• Textiles & garments
• Electronics
• Food & beverage

Real-World Application: From 1kg Silica Packets to Container Strips

Many companies are still using 1kg silica gel packets in shipping containers, sometimes adding dozens to try to control humidity. Unfortunately, this investment does not pay off in any meaningful way packets saturate in a matter of days, and moisture damage is still a looming threat.

The Sorbipaks Cargo Strips come in to solve this problem directly. Instead of having to manipulate the geometry of multiple packets, logistics teams can rely on a few strategically placed strips for maximum protection.

Conclusion

While silica gel packets remain useful for small-scale packaging, they fall short in large container environments. Sorbipaks Cargo Desiccant Strips offer a purpose-built, high-capacity, and long-lasting solution that meets the demands of modern shipping logistics. Their superior absorption, ease of use, and compliance with global standards make them the clear winner for industries seeking reliable moisture protection.