Absorbents for spill kits and refills

What goes into a spill kit

Most spill kits are built around the same few formats. Each one does a different job in the first minutes of a spill, so a good kit carries a balance of them rather than a pile of one.

• Socks: laid around the spill first, to stop it spreading and to protect drains. They are flexible and mould around corners, drums and machine bases.
• Pads: dropped onto the spill to soak it up, and used to wipe down afterwards. The everyday item in every kit.
• Pillows: for larger pools and persistent drips, where a pad is too thin.
• Rolls: in larger kits and at fixed spill stations, to cover longer runs or to tear off as needed.
• Booms and sweeps: in marine and waterside kits, to ring a spill on water and lift the sheen afterwards.

Oil, chemical, universal or water kit?

Kits are usually sold by the type of liquid they are meant for, and the absorbent inside has to match it. The colours below are the industry standards, which lets users recognise the right kit at a glance.

• Oil kits (white or blue): oil-only absorbent that takes up oils, fuels and hydrocarbons and repels water, so it works outdoors, in the rain and on water. It keeps floating when saturated.
• Chemical kits (hi-viz yellow): inert polypropylene that absorbs acids up to 98% sulphuric, bases, solvents and unknown spills without degrading or reacting. Not for hydrofluoric acid or strong oxidisers such as fuming nitric acid or oleum.
• Universal or maintenance kits (grey): for oils, coolants, solvents and water-based fluids alike, where users do not want to stop and decide which absorbent to use.
• Water kits: superabsorbent polymer (SAP) flat socks and leak pads that turn water into a gel that does not drain back. For fresh, rain and ground water only; not for oil, solvents or salt water.

Sizing the contents

Kit sizes are normally described by the volume of liquid the contents can take up. Our pads, rolls, socks and pillows take up to 15 times their own weight in liquid, and socks and pillows are filled to the weight you specify, so the fill, size and number of pieces in each kit can be set to the capacity you want to state on your label.

Because absorbency depends on the liquid, construction and weight, test our samples with the liquids your kit is sold for, and base your kit capacity on your own results.

Refills and replacement packs

Once a kit has been used, the user needs the same contents again. Refill packs keep your customers buying from you, and they only work if the pieces match the original kit. Because we make the pads, socks and pillows to your specification, the same sizes, weights and colours can be repeated order after order, and packed as you need them, whether as single items or as sets.

One container for your whole kit range

Oil, chemical and universal absorbents and SAP water products can travel together: 5–6 different products can be combined in one 40'HQ container. Colours, constructions, sizes, weights, fill, perforation and print are set to your specification. Plain polybags are standard; printed polybags, cartons and labels are available at extra cost.

Always state on your packaging what each kit is for. Used absorbents take on the properties of the liquid they have absorbed, and compatibility with a particular chemical should be tested before use.