# Canning Non-Food Items?



## driscolldb (Jun 12, 2011)

Hello all,

Does anyone know of, or have experience with canning non-food items for preparation?

Are there any standard supplies that would see a significant storage-life increase by pressure canning them? Slowing down aging, bugs, mold, and mildew is my line of thinking. I don't think most critters will try to eat through a glass jar. This of course is relying on the procedure not destroying the items.

Is there a benefit to this over vacuum sealing them? 

Items that come to mind:

A large roll of medical gauze that you only used a portion of.
I've opened some older bandages and found them brittle and hope that canning would fix this.

Powdered Detergent/Soap

Various ingredients for making candles, etc.

Powdered charcoal for gunpowder, or poison.

Things along those lines.

Thank you,

David


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## Herbalpagan (Dec 8, 2008)

I vacuum pack a lot of items like that. Canning on a stove is mostly to get any pathogens out of the food...so vacuum packing either in a jar with o2 or machine pulled (jar attachment on food saver) would be good. I have epsom salts and stuff like that in jars. batteries vacuumed, bulk supplies like banages vacuumed.


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## The_Blob (Dec 24, 2008)

Vacuum packing batteries will not enhance their shelf life. The chemical reaction in a battery still takes place in a vacuum. Batteries are a sealed electrochemical reaction and the degradation process will still take place. High temperature is the greatest enemy of a battery, for every 16F degree rise in temperature above 70, you lose 50% of the batteries' charge. Store them in a cool dry place if possible and that should maintain their shelf live. All batteries use chemical processes that vent minute amounts of gas when charging and discharging as far as I know. NiCD, NiMH and Lion batteries all have vents in them to relieve pressure when they are charging. I also believe that they vent when discharging. Many of these cycles also generate quite a bit of heat. Vacuum sealing could damage some of the _*cheaper*_ batteries by causing the casing to expand to the point of failure, but I assume you wouldn't waste time preserving the cheap ones... Maybe buy some Energizer Lithiums off ebay in bulk. They last longer (10-15 years), are lighter, and have more 'juice' in them.

good luck to you


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## Centraltn (Feb 21, 2011)

I vacuum packed alot- ALOT of medical equipment and supplies (hubby is a dr) inside vacuum bags with my seal a meal, then put those item inside a mylar bag, with O2 absorber and sealed it up in 2 or 3 buckets. They are stored in a annually cool dark place, where the temp never goes higher than 69 and never lower that 50. I think a jar would be a great idea for presterilized surgical instruments but for kerlix or kling, there is a chance while the jars cool that they might collect a little condensation on the inside. I've only seen this happen when dry canning.. but it CAN happen.


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## Davo45 (Apr 29, 2011)

As others have said, I'd vacuum seal non-food items. I've got to get another vacuum sealer, hopefully a better one than my first. It would seal things seemingly great, but the seal would only hold for about a month on some items, on others the seal is still good.


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## Centraltn (Feb 21, 2011)

I did store some surgical instruments in jars and dry pressure canned them. You can do that too


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## driscolldb (Jun 12, 2011)

*Thanks*

Thanks for the info, everyone. I'm new the forum, but not new to prepping  I look forward to asking a lot of questions.


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## OldCootHillbilly (Jul 9, 2010)

Vacuum seal the jars if ya wanna use em, all that would happen if ya heated em up any who.

I'd store stuffs like that in mylar bags what been run through the vac sealer machine. Be what we do with that type a stuff.

Batteries only last so long cause like blob says, it be a chemical reaction, when there first made they don't work, then as the chems start ta react, they produce voltage. That be as long as there be chemicals ta react. Used ta be able ta buy battery kits, was everthin ya needed ta build the battery, but don't know ifin ya can get em anymore er not.


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