34 Reviews of Homemade Gel Pack

From: luvmybge

On May 28, 2004

Just had to try this when I saw the recipe. I've been having knee trouble and this worked great! I came here to leave the tip to freeze and then put in the vacuum sealer and you had all beat me to it!! lol.. But I also did something a little different. I folded a cotton dish towel and inserted it into the bag along with the water and alcohol. I froze it flat on the shelf in the freezer and it works great. It's very flexible, too.

From: Mom2 T, K, K & G

On Sep 28, 2006

This is awesome...DH had a toothache, and we didn't have an ice pack. He was a bit whiney saying that ice wouldn't help it, but...who would've thought that I was right! =) Was soft enough to gently mold to his face...toothache was gone in no time! I added blue food coloring to make it easier to find in the fridge. Thanks for posting this!

From: Rebecca Bowman

On Dec 30, 2005

Wanted to share that I got a nice thank you note from my nephews football team! The high school coaches said it was the best ice packs they have ever used. Very mushy, SOOOO easy to wrap around knees and ankles! Thanks for posting a recipe I have passed on to MANY people!

From: Queen of Everything

On May 27, 2004

Cool. Use one of those vacuum food sealers for a very reusable product.

From: CountryLady

On Jun 7, 2004

I made this in a zip lock bag, wrapped it in a couple of paper towels & place in the bottom of my husband's lunch box. Since it kept his salad plate cold, it will be used often in the summer months. Thanx JustaQT!

From: Boxerwing

On Jun 11, 2004

I used a 2:1 ratio (instead of 3:1) and had a very smooshy gel pack. Worked really well to get rid of a headache!

From: PM lopez

On Feb 6, 2005

This is a great Idea!!! I used this recipe and then made a sleave to go over it. (kinda like a pillow case, but i added velcro to the ends so the Ice pack won't fall out.) I injured my back 2 years ago and I go thru them so quickly, that this is deffinatly the best solution yet. Thank you for this recipe!!!!

From: HokiesLady

On Mar 13, 2009

Perfect idea to help save some $$ instead of buying ones at the pharmacy. They freeze in about 4-6 hours. I found that this recipe makes a huge gel pack (gallon size bag) & it took 6 hours to freeze — so I made some again using two quart size bags and splitting the recipe between the two bags. This is a much more manageable size in my opinion and takes just 4 hours to freeze into a gel. The only downside I see is that they do not refreeze - they just turn into one big block of ice. I'm wondering if I added more alcohol to the melted pack if it would work. That is my next trial. I'm going to make up a bunch to keep in a cooler for both soccer teams to have for those injuries that occur during the games. Thanks for posting and sharing. Found this recipe while searching for items to post in Topic of the Month March 2009 Going Green forum (Thread Going Green without Spending a lot of Green). Thanks!

From: WI Cheesehead

On Oct 20, 2006

I made two bags. One bag had a little less water in it bcz the bottle wasn't exactly 16 oz! Anyways, I think I will use a little more water next time (that's supposed to make it a little less soft?). It didn't gel up as much as a like, but my DH said it stayed cold a long time. He even got frost! It was a nice larger size too. Thanks. UPDATE: After being in the freezer longer, it has geled up much more.

From: Panakanic

On May 28, 2004

This is an excellent ice pack! This formula was recommended to me by a physical therapist at Ft. Hood, TX four years ago for my daughter's knee problems. I, too, put it into a vacuum-seal microwave/freezer weight food storage bag. I'm glad you thought to post it, QT!