Project: UV Sterilization Box

My college friends and I were talking the other day and one shared her HomeSoap UV sanitizer - it's basically a box that uses UVC light to sanitize any object that you can fit inside.

I was intrigued but it was out of stock.

... and truth be told, $199.95 + tax + shipping was a bit too steep for me.

So I decided to look into other options. I had the UVCare Portable UVC wand that my brother sent me from the Philippines, but it took effort to slowly wave over our groceries. I wanted something quick and easy. Okay, .. and cheap too.

There were many UV sterilizers available in the market. Most are for smaller objects like baby bottles, small stuffed toys, cellphones,.. I wanted something bigger. I wanted to sterilize bigger objects - something along the lines of groceries and other dry goods.

And then I saw this. It was bigger, compared to the others, and is about 1 cu ft, give or take, I didn't bother looking up the dimensions anymore.

But, I wasn't happy with the price-point (~ $110 + tax + shipping). It was basically just a collapsible fabric box with a reflective layer inside and 2 UVC lamps and I thought to myself, "I can make this."

As it turns out, many people have had the same idea. Googling "DIY UV light box", "DIY nuke box", "DIY mask sterilization box" or any other variations gave lots of ideas.

Here's my UV Light box.

For the light box itself, I used an insulated bag. It turned out to be too soft so I built a cardbox box around it and clipped the sides to the box to lend it more support.

I got a 13w UVC sterilization light and taped it to the lid using vent tape which is both reflective and also heat-resistant.

I got a dollar store cooling rack for the bottom of the box. it was a bit too long but I folded the sides with pliers to make it fit, it also had the added benefit of lifting up the rack so that there'd be space at the bottom for the light to reflect.

I may or may not get a 2nd UV light to put below the rack so there's light coming in from top and the bottom.