Ever wondered how sodium acetate heating pads and hand warmers work? Despite being an effective way to warm your hands or soothe your body aches, they are a live action science experiment and fun to use! Once activated they heat up in seconds and can last up to 2.5 hours depending upon the size and amount of liquid inside.
The fun part of the sodium acetate heat packs lies in how quickly the transformation of the liquid takes place once the disc is flexed; in a matter of a few seconds you watch the clouding like crystallization take place and instantly feel the heat. At this stage it is recommended to gently knead the heat pad to evenly disperse the liquid and prepare for use.
To understand the process let us consider how water reaches its freezing point. If one were to immerse a thermometer in a container with water and place the container in a freezer, eventually the temperature of the water drops down to the freezing point of 0 degrees and then it stays stable till the point that the water is completely frozen. After a little while, the solid water's temperature becomes equal to that of the freezer's. What if there was a way to speed up the process and have the water reach a temperature of 10 degrees lower than the freezing point while keeping it in a liquid state?
This is exactly the phenomenon which is applied in the working of sodium acetate heat packs to produce heat. The special ingredient within these heating pads is sodium acetate. When it is mixed with water and a stainless steel disc you have the perfect solution for instant, safe and a reusable form of heat. When the disc of the heat pad is clicked, it pushes the liquid through the disc which immediately begins the process of changing the temperature of the liquid while keeping it in a liquid state. The temperature, as a result, rises up to 130 degrees Fahrenheit. The amount of liquid inside the heat pad determines the amount of time the heat pad remains hot until it eventually cools into a hardened state.
Is this safe? Yes, sodium acetate is the sodium salt of acetic acid. It's also the primary flavoring in many edible items such as potato chips and considered a food grade product and can be a common additive. It has a distinct vinegar like smell and completely safe when used in our heating pads.
Our sodium acetate heat packs are non-toxic and can stay warm for up to 2.5 hours and when they cool you can simply boil again. So, if have spent time inside a hockey arena, skiing, at a football game or waiting for public transit and felt your hands freeze, our hand warmers would have come in quite handy. For body aches, our heating pads provide the perfect temperature to soothe and provide relief.
The outer shell of the heat pad is BPA Free PVC. All of our products are durable, safe, nontoxic and provide an economical solution.
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