Actually this was me as well throughout quarantine here let me share a book I’ve been doing labs out of here most of it is labs you would do in a general chem course and it explains all of the safety tips required to complete all of the labs, I’m not sure I can recommend the last 5 labs as they use more dangerous chemicals (formaldehyde 30-40%, methanol, chloroform, barium hydroxide, etc.) let me know if that helps.
Don't know if you have interest in biochemistry, but if so, Voet & Voet's Biochemistry is a great textbook. Finding a used copy shouldn't be too difficult. It definitely doesn't have to be the most current addition. They're all good.
I found this "high temp vinyl" for brake calipers.. You would likely be able to just cut pieces to the size you need.
If you go this route, let me know how it comes out, because I just replace mine with silicone tubing pieces every few months lol.
The easiest method is probably those aquarium test kits, liquid or papers. For general ionic value, you could use a pocket conductivity meter or TDS meter; they're fairly inexpensive on amazon I've been looking at this one too Test Kit