The air inside the pack is what holds the moisture. Volume is the single biggest driver, which is why the carton tab starts from length, width, and height.
Silica gel calculator: how much desiccant do you need?
Work out sachet quantity, total desiccant weight, and an indicative order value - from a piece count, a carton size, or a kilogram target. Built by a silica gel manufacturer, using the same formats and rates we quote from.
1,000 pieces of 0.5 gm, 500 grams total.
What to order
1,000 x 0.5 gm sachets
500 g total - Small Sizes
- Format
- 0.5 gm
- Pieces
- 1,000
- Total weight
- 500 g
- Rate / 1,000
- $3.50
- Indicative order value
- $3.50
Show the calculation
- 1,000 pieces x 0.5 g = 500 g total desiccant
- 1,000 x $0.0035 = $3.50
Indicative only. Final pricing depends on quantity, packing, artwork, and Incoterm, and is confirmed on the quotation.
Sizing a full shipping container instead? The container desiccant calculator models air exchange, cargo moisture, and route climate, which a per-carton rule cannot do.
Turn that number into a price.
Send the size and quantity the calculator gave you. The Karachi factory desk replies with a firm rate, MOQ, and lead time, usually within 1 hour in business hours (PKT) and same day otherwise.
How much silica gel do I need?
There is no single number that is right for every pack, and any supplier who gives you one without asking about your packaging is guessing. Six things move the answer.
A foil laminate lets in a fraction of what corrugated board does. The same product in a different bag can need several times the desiccant.
A two-week domestic move and a ten-week ocean voyage are not the same problem. Longer means more moisture ingress to absorb.
Monsoon-season Karachi to Rotterdam behaves differently from a dry inland route. Tropical and maritime legs raise the requirement.
Precision electronics, leather, and pharmaceuticals tolerate far less humidity than hardware or plastics.
Whether the desiccant sits loose in the carton, is stitched into a liner, or hangs as a container strip changes how effectively it works.
The practical approach for most buyers: use the planning rate above to get a defensible starting quantity, then adjust for your route and barrier material. If the cargo is high-value or the voyage is long, ask us to review the specification before you commit to a production run - that review is free and it is faster than a claim.
How the calculation works
Nothing here is hidden. These are the exact formulas the tool runs, and the worked examples come from the same code that produces your result.
From a piece count
pieces x sachet grams = total grams
1,000 x 0.5 gm = 500 g of silica gel. Multiply the piece count by the unit rate for the indicative order value.
From a carton size
(L x W x H) / 28,316.85 = ft³ · ft³ x 56 = grams
A 40 x 30 x 25 cm carton is 1.06 ft³, so about 59 g of silica gel - which is 12 x 5 gm sachets once you round up. Use 1,728 as the divisor when measuring in inches.
From a weight target
total grams / sachet grams = pieces
25 kg of 10 gm paper sachets is 2,500 pieces. This one rounds up, so you always reach the weight you asked for rather than falling just under it.
What the 56 g/ft³ figure is, honestly. It is a long-standing packing rule of thumb for cartons that are opened and closed repeatedly - not a laboratory-derived constant, and not a substitute for a moisture-load calculation on a sealed pack. It is a good planning basis and a poor specification. Where the difference matters, ask for a technical recommendation.
Silica gel sachet and pack size guide
Every format we manufacture, with the total desiccant weight at three common order quantities. These are the same formats the calculator offers. Note that the Bulk & Strip group is not sachets: those are large packs and container strips, sized for master cartons and container loads rather than for dropping inside a retail box.
| Size | Format type | Typical use | 100 pcs | 500 pcs | 1,000 pcs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.5 gm | Small Sizes | Retail packs, cartons, instrument cases, electronics trays | 50 g | 250 g | 500 g |
| 1 gm | Small Sizes | Retail packs, cartons, instrument cases, electronics trays | 100 g | 500 g | 1 kg |
| 1 gm XL | Small Sizes | Retail packs, cartons, instrument cases, electronics trays | 100 g | 500 g | 1 kg |
| 2 gm | Small Sizes | Retail packs, cartons, instrument cases, electronics trays | 200 g | 1 kg | 2 kg |
| 3 gm | Small Sizes | Retail packs, cartons, instrument cases, electronics trays | 300 g | 1.5 kg | 3 kg |
| 4 gm | Small Sizes | Retail packs, cartons, instrument cases, electronics trays | 400 g | 2 kg | 4 kg |
| 5 gm | Small Sizes | Retail packs, cartons, instrument cases, electronics trays | 500 g | 2.5 kg | 5 kg |
| 1 gm | Paper Sachet | Food-adjacent packing, pharmaceutical cartons, garment bags | 100 g | 500 g | 1 kg |
| 2 gm | Paper Sachet | Food-adjacent packing, pharmaceutical cartons, garment bags | 200 g | 1 kg | 2 kg |
| 3 gm | Paper Sachet | Food-adjacent packing, pharmaceutical cartons, garment bags | 300 g | 1.5 kg | 3 kg |
| 10 gm | Paper Sachet | Food-adjacent packing, pharmaceutical cartons, garment bags | 1 kg | 5 kg | 10 kg |
| 15 gm | Paper Sachet | Food-adjacent packing, pharmaceutical cartons, garment bags | 1.5 kg | 7.5 kg | 15 kg |
| 20 gm | Paper Sachet | Food-adjacent packing, pharmaceutical cartons, garment bags | 2 kg | 10 kg | 20 kg |
| 25 grams | Bulk & Strip | Master cartons, pallets, machinery crates, container loads | 2.5 kg | 12.5 kg | 25 kg |
| 50 grams | Bulk & Strip | Master cartons, pallets, machinery crates, container loads | 5 kg | 25 kg | 50 kg |
| 100 grams | Bulk & Strip | Master cartons, pallets, machinery crates, container loads | 10 kg | 50 kg | 100 kg |
| 200 grams | Bulk & Strip | Master cartons, pallets, machinery crates, container loads | 20 kg | 100 kg | 200 kg |
| 250 grams | Bulk & Strip | Master cartons, pallets, machinery crates, container loads | 25 kg | 125 kg | 250 kg |
| 500 grams | Bulk & Strip | Master cartons, pallets, machinery crates, container loads | 50 kg | 250 kg | 500 kg |
| 1 kg strip | Bulk & Strip | Master cartons, pallets, machinery crates, container loads | 100 kg | 500 kg | 1,000 kg |
| 2 kg strip | Bulk & Strip | Master cartons, pallets, machinery crates, container loads | 200 kg | 1,000 kg | 2,000 kg |
| 3 kg strip | Bulk & Strip | Master cartons, pallets, machinery crates, container loads | 300 kg | 1,500 kg | 3,000 kg |
| 5 kg strip | Bulk & Strip | Master cartons, pallets, machinery crates, container loads | 500 kg | 2,500 kg | 5,000 kg |
Weights are exact arithmetic on the fill size. We publish no moisture-capacity figure per sachet, because adsorption depends on temperature and relative humidity rather than on the packet alone - the silica gel packets range and the technical documentation carry the material specifications.
Desiccant quantities by application
How buyers in each sector actually approach the question. Silica gel is not the right answer everywhere - for very high moisture loads in containers, calcium chloride absorbs several times its own weight and is usually the better tool.
How much silica gel for electronics packaging?
Boards, connectors, and assemblies corrode long before they look wet. Unit-level sachets inside the ESD bag plus a larger pack in the master carton is the usual arrangement.
How much silica gel for leather and footwear?
Leather grows mould on humid ocean legs. Sachets go in the shoe box and larger packs in the export carton; this is one of Pakistan's highest-volume desiccant uses.
How much silica gel for garments and textiles?
Mildew and musty odour are the failure modes, and both show up on arrival rather than at dispatch. Poly-bagged garments take small sachets; bales take bulk packs.
How much desiccant for pharmaceutical packaging?
Dosage here is governed by the product's stability data, not by a rule of thumb. Use this calculator for procurement quantities and confirm the specification with your QA team.
How much silica gel for machinery and spare parts?
Machined surfaces rust in transit. Larger 100 g to 500 g packs sit alongside the part inside a sealed liner.
How much silica gel per export carton or pallet?
Palletised freight is where per-carton sachets and container-level desiccants meet. Most exporters use both, sized separately.
How much desiccant does a shipping container need?
A different question with a different answer, and it deserves its own tool rather than a rule of thumb stretched past its limits.
A 20 ft or 40 ft container is not simply a very large carton. Its requirement is driven by the moisture the cargo itself carries (timber, agricultural goods, and textiles release a great deal), by daily air exchange through vents and door seals, by the temperature swing between day and night at sea, and by the length of the voyage. Those variables interact, which is why a per-cubic-foot rate gives the wrong answer at container scale.
The container desiccant calculator models all four and returns a unit count for pole, strip, or blanket formats. If you already know your format, the shipping container desiccant supplier page covers specifications and supply, and container rain and how to prevent it explains the failure this is all guarding against.
What to send a silica gel supplier
A quotation is only as good as the brief. Sending these eight things with the first email removes a round trip and gets you a firm price rather than a range.
- Sachet size and format - the fill weight and whether you need PP, paper, or non-woven. Your calculator result above answers this.
- Quantity - in pieces, and the total weight if you know it. Both, ideally: the mismatch between the two is the most common quoting error.
- Application and packaging - what the desiccant is protecting and what it sits inside.
- Destination and Incoterm - EXW Karachi, FOB Karachi, CIF to your port. This changes the price more than most buyers expect.
- Documentation - whether you need COA and SDS, and any customs paperwork your destination requires.
- Printing or private label - stock sachets or buyer-branded packets with your artwork.
- Repeat volume - a monthly or quarterly programme prices differently from a one-off.
- Timeline - your required dispatch date, so lead time is quoted against something real.
Ready to send it? The export quote request form asks for exactly these fields, or compare formats first on the silica gel price list. For volumes above a tonne, the bulk silica gel desiccant page covers how repeat supply is structured.
Silica gel calculation FAQs
How much silica gel do I need?
It depends on the enclosed volume, the barrier material, how long the goods are stored, and the humidity on the route. As a planning starting point for cartons that are opened and closed, allow about 56 grams of silica gel per cubic foot of internal volume - the carton tab above does that conversion for you. For sealed export packing or a full container, the requirement is calculated differently.
How many silica gel packets do I need?
Work out the total grams first, then divide by the sachet size and round up. A carton needing 140 grams takes 28 x 5 gm sachets, or 47 x 3 gm sachets. The calculator does the rounding, because a part-sachet does not exist.
What size silica gel sachet should I buy?
Match the sachet to the pack, not to the price. Small 0.5 gm to 5 gm sachets suit retail packs and instrument cases; 10 gm to 20 gm paper sachets suit cartons; 25 gm to 500 gm packs suit master cartons and crates. The size guide table on this page lists every format we make - sachets, bulk packs, and container strips - with its total weight at 100, 500, and 1,000 pieces.
How do I calculate silica gel quantity by carton size?
Measure the carton's internal length, width, and height, convert to cubic feet, and multiply by 56. That gives grams of silica gel; dividing by your sachet size and rounding up gives the piece count. Use the "By carton size" tab to do all three steps at once.
What is the difference between sachet size and total desiccant weight?
Sachet size is the grams inside one packet; total desiccant weight is sachet size multiplied by the number of packets. Buyers often quote one when they mean the other, which is the most common cause of a mis-priced quotation. Send both.
Is this calculator accurate enough to specify a shipment?
It is a planning tool, not a laboratory calculation. It sizes quantity, weight, and indicative cost accurately, and it is a sound basis for a purchase order. Where the moisture load is critical - regulated pharmaceutical packing, high-value electronics, unusually long voyages - ask us for an application-specific recommendation before you commit.
How much desiccant does a shipping container need?
A container is a different calculation: it depends on container size, cargo moisture content, packaging type, route climate, and voyage length rather than on a per-cubic-foot rule. Use the container desiccant calculator for that, which models air exchange and adsorption capacity properly.
Can I order custom sachet sizes or printed sachets?
Yes. Beyond the standard formats listed here we produce custom fills and buyer-branded printing under private label, with the artwork and packet specification approved before production.
Can DryGelWorld provide COA and SDS documents?
Yes. A certificate of analysis and a safety data sheet are issued with orders, and the current documents can be downloaded from the documentation page before you order.
Do the prices shown include shipping and duties?
No. Figures here are indicative ex-works values for comparison and budgeting. Final pricing depends on quantity, packing, artwork, destination, and Incoterm, and is confirmed on the quotation.
Can you supply silica gel for export shipments?
Yes. DryGelWorld manufactures in Karachi and has been supplying export programs since 1983, with ISO 9001:2015 certification and export documentation handled as part of the order.
Who built this, and what it does not do
DryGelWorld (Kamran Enterprises) has manufactured silica gel in Karachi since 1983 and is certified to ISO 9001:2015. The formats, fill weights, and reference rates in this calculator are the ones we quote from - it is not a generic tool built on borrowed numbers, which is why the arithmetic is shown rather than hidden.
What it does: converts between piece counts, carton volumes, total weights, and indicative order values, using published formats and rates. What it does not do: it does not perform a moisture-load calculation on a sealed barrier pack, it does not model container atmospheres (the container calculator does that), and it is not a substitute for stability data where a regulator requires it. Prices are indicative ex-works and are confirmed on the quotation. When your application sits outside those limits, ask - a manufacturer would rather size it properly than replace a damaged shipment.