Homemade dessicant???

[Jeffery8mm]

Is there a product that can be used as a dessicant that is readily available?? I have heard of using kitty litter. What about oil dry/floor dry??

Thanks for all input!!
Jeff

[Scrounger]

Is there a product that can be used as a dessicant that is readily available?? I have heard of using kitty litter. What about oil dry/floor dry??

Thanks for all input!!
Jeff

Rice.

[garandsrus]

I found some 100% silica gel in the cat litter section of a store. I plan to make some small fabric "bags" that hold it. The price for a gallon or so of the silica was less than $10 if I remember correctly.

John

[Goatlips]

+ 1 to Garandsrus. Meijer's here in Michigan had a bunch of silica gel kitty litter at blowout prices so I got enough to dry out the fort knox safe. I guess it will have to be dried out in a warm oven for a long time like one does with the flower drying crystals I found at garage sales; at least those have moisture indicators added but one can estimate. [smilie=1:

Like everything else, I have way more than I can ever use, 'cept money. :drinks:

Goatlips

[Bad Water Bill]

I have been using the same silica gel for close to 40 years. Spread it on a cookie sheet at about 350 for a couple hours or till you see all those pretty blue ones. Yes you can mix batches so that all have indicators in them,.Even if you over bake it till it takes on a brownish tinge it still seems to work quite well.

[ChuckS1]

Go to Michael's or some other hobby store and go the to flower drying section. There's silica gel there in bulk. I cut out the top of a prescription bottle lid, put a coffee filter over it, fill the bottle wiht the silica gel and there you have a homemade desiccant pack.

[Jim]

Rice.

[Shiloh]

How does one know when this needs to be recharged or re-juvenated. Does it turn color when saturated and no longer effective?? Does one just bake at low temperature several times a year?? What about Chalk??

Shiloh

[10-x]

+1 for rice, check the salt shakers at your local eatery as most add rice to keep the salt from clumping. Rice also works fantastic in a vibratory case cleaner with walnut media. :drinks:

[imashooter2]

"Flower drying crystals" from the craft store. Instant coffee.

Rice doesn't absorb water from the air. If it did, you could cook it by leaving it sit on the counter.

[MT Gianni]

Rice doesn't absorb water from the air. If it did, you could cook it by leaving it sit on the counter.

I have found rice in many salt shakers in humid enviroments. It prevents clumping the salt and doed absorb moisture. It may be better if it's cracked.

[alamogunr]

Before I retired, I bought several 1 lb. cans of dessicant at work. I just spread a can in a small aluminum tray and place it in the safe. When it all turns brown, I place the tray in a toaster oven for about 12-15 hours to return it to blue condition. The instruction on the cans say to heat it at 250º. I leave the supply I am not using in the original cans, similar to 1 qt paint cans, so that it will be isolated from the atmosphere. I hope that the pet stores or hobby shops still have silica gel when my supply is exhausted,in about 20 years.

As a matter of interest, I called the manufacturer of the silica gel that I have to ask how many times it can be reconstituted. They said they didn't know. They had never tested it for that characteristic. I have noticed that the blue color is not as bright the last few times I have heated it as the original unheated supply. The company was located in some town near Mobile, AL and must have been affected by Katrina. That would have been more than their product could dry out.

John

[montana_charlie]

I was in the grocery store (Albertson's), yesterday. That's unusual for me because the wife prefers to do that kind of shopping.
Anyway, going down one of the aisles, I saw a small container of dessicant. I paused for a closer look because of discussions on this forum. The more I looked, the more I found.
There was one package that was one of those 1-quart 'boxes' like milk is often packaged in.

I didn't check the price, but it's clear that the stuff is readily available.
CM

[anachronism]

Don't laugh... You can strip off the paper backing and use drywall as a dissicant. Dry it in a low oven before use.

[Jim]

Rice also works fantastic in a vibratory case cleaner with walnut media. :drinks:
Don't make the mistake of trying that with small caliber bottleneck cases.

[Jeffery8mm]

Good ideas and suggestions fellows. I am going to the local Petco and read the labels on the Kitty Litter bags. That should get some stares!!!!
Jeff