Reusable instant cold pack not cold
March 18, 2024 8:28 PM Subscribe
I just purchased and opened a Walgreens instant + reusable cold pack. I have tried to activate it, but it is not even a little cold. Help!
I followed the instructions, which say to twist the center until it feels cold to the touch, in order to activate the first time. Then you are supposed to shake until the entire pack feels cold.
The pack is supposed to feel grainy before th first use, but then filled with gel after (which you can refreeze to use again).
But instead after twisting for a while (challenging— the injury is on my dominant elbow!), the pack is not cold. I shook, that didn’t help. The pack has gone from grainy to grainy with a couple lumps that feel like sad solid gel.
Any ideas? I won’t have access to a freezer until tomorrow (at a hotel without one) and I can’t walk back to the Walgreens (it will close before I could get there anyhow). Bonus points that don’t involve using my dominant arm.
I followed the instructions, which say to twist the center until it feels cold to the touch, in order to activate the first time. Then you are supposed to shake until the entire pack feels cold.
The pack is supposed to feel grainy before th first use, but then filled with gel after (which you can refreeze to use again).
But instead after twisting for a while (challenging— the injury is on my dominant elbow!), the pack is not cold. I shook, that didn’t help. The pack has gone from grainy to grainy with a couple lumps that feel like sad solid gel.
Any ideas? I won’t have access to a freezer until tomorrow (at a hotel without one) and I can’t walk back to the Walgreens (it will close before I could get there anyhow). Bonus points that don’t involve using my dominant arm.
Response by poster: Aaah thanks. Knees did not work but standing on it (with no shoes but most of my body weight) did.
How the hell someone with an injury is supposed to twist something that took close to 170lbs of force to pop is beyond me.
posted by nat at 8:41 PM on March 18 [5 favorites]
How the hell someone with an injury is supposed to twist something that took close to 170lbs of force to pop is beyond me.
posted by nat at 8:41 PM on March 18 [5 favorites]
Just to add that that vast majority of hotels/motels have ice makers and ice baggies so you should be able to make an ice pack when this thing stops being cold. Hope you heal well.
posted by chasles at 1:38 AM on March 19 [1 favorite]
posted by chasles at 1:38 AM on March 19 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: “Vast majority” is only accurate if you apply it to large chain hotels in the US.
I am staying in the US but at a small one-off hotel that has no such machine.
posted by nat at 10:39 AM on March 19
I am staying in the US but at a small one-off hotel that has no such machine.
posted by nat at 10:39 AM on March 19
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"Hard to activate and doesn’t even get that cold. Spent 10 minutes trying to activate until I found reviews to throw it on the ground. Did that and it immediately activated. Still not great."
"Throw on floor moderate strength. It will get cold."
"The instructions need to be changed. Twisted it for about 10 minutes with painful arthritic hands. Checked on line to see what I was doing wrong. Saw a clip of someone simply pressing it between their palms until an internal pouch popped. Did that and it instantly started getting cold. CHANGE THE INSTRUCTIONS!!"
Try using your knees for the "palm press" first?
If you try the throw-on-floor option, use the bathtub as the "floor".
posted by Iris Gambol at 8:37 PM on March 18 [3 favorites]