Kitty Litter ... how to use ???

[N8DCJ]

Ok , I bought ExquisiCat Fragrance Free Crystals ...

I will use some old pantyhose (my girlfriends , I know how you guys are ) to put them in , any guidelines for quantity (X/cubic inch) ??

and how do I go about exposing them to moisture etc...

Thanks

Dan

[bigipps]

Dan, I'm sure others with first hand experience will chime in, but it looks like you can spritz it with a little water or put them in a high humidity environment.

Also, seems like this would be a good thread to look through if you have a few hours to kill. http://forums.cigarweekly.com/showthread.php?t=111508

[jgbutler]

What will you be using for storage Dan and what are you currently doing for storage and humidification? Kitty litter is really pretty simple to use and maintain once things are setup. Up until getting my Aristocrat a couple of years ago I had used kitty litter for my humidification medium for probably 10 years.

Here is my history with it. As I filled my first 48qt cooler I was using floral foam wet with PG/distilled water solution. After having 3 of those coolers I decided to switch over to kitty litter and never looked back. In the 48qt coolers I used 1/2 lb in each. I finally wound up with four 120qt coolers completely full of cigars and some Spanish cedar planks to help with humidity stabilization. I had 1 lb of beads in each cooler and wouldn't have to add any water to the beads but every four months or so. The fuller the cooler is with cigars at the right humidity it is easy to keep stable. If there aren't many cigars then the RH can swing pretty good if you open it quite a bit.

What I did was went and bought a box of knee high panty hose to use. I put 1/2 lb to start with and the eventually 1 lb in the stocking. I've got a small plastic bottle approx 2-3 ounces that has a pointed tip on it. I would hold the hose open and slowly put about 2 ounces of water into the beads. Slowly so that the beads could absorb the water before it got to the bottom and just ran out of the stocking. I would tie of the stocking so that the length holding the beads was 8-10" long just to maximize the exposed bead surface. Then just put it in the cooler and monitor the RH. If it didn't come up to where I wanted it after a week or so I would add just a little bit more water to the beads and see where the RH went to. Don't get in a rush though about letting things stabilize. If you overshoot it and it gets to high, just take the beads out and let them sit out for a few hours to dry out some.

It's all about adding the distilled water to the beads in baby steps once you've loaded them with water initially. It's much easier to slowly bring the RH up then it is to try and get it down if you get the beads to saturated. Once you get it where you want and if your storage is pretty full, then it doesn't need a lot of attention after that. I used to keep my coolers at about 67% RH and when it would drop to about 64% I would add an ounce or so of water to the beads and it would come back up to 67%. Which like I said was only about every 4 months or so.

I will say definitely don't stress about the setup or keeping them maintained. It really is a pretty simple process.

[BigJohn]

Personally I put the kl in a cup, and soak it. Works for me to keep the humidity close to 70

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[hermit]

Me, I fill the cat boxes and scoop daily.
I use Heartfelt beads in my coolers and humidors.
I trust the beads; I don't even have a functioning hygrometer.

[stogie5150]

Originally Posted by hermit

Me, I fill the cat boxes and scoop daily.
I use Heartfelt beads in my coolers and humidors.
I trust the beads; I don't even have a functioning hygrometer.

What my Western Louisiana Brother said.

I let the cigars tell me if they are okay. I don't even remember the last time I added water to mine, maybe once every 6-8 months. It really is maintenance free. I have my beads in a little plastic container maybe 6X8 inches.
I also don't pack my my cigars in my coolers, I have shelves that I put cigars on, lotsa room for circulation, I SMOKE cigars, I don't collect them, so I have never had a full cooler.

[Smokestack Jack]

Since I like to make a project out of most everything I do, I use plastic travel soap dishes. I drill holes in the top part, fill with Kitty litter (silica beads), wet with distilled water, put the top on, put in the cooler and I'm done.

[BigO]

It's made a believer out of me. I tied up 8 oz of the crystals in the foot of a pair of hose, soaked them in distilled water, drained off the excess and put it in a styrofoam bowl in my 30 qt coolers. RH went up to 75% overnight and is holding steady. Should have switched to this years ago.