This is a little trick suggested to me by my grandmother (they are full of such wisdom, right!?). Living on an island poses a threat to all my clothes and precious items subjected to high humidity all year round. When I first moved here and didn’t know a thing about protecting my items from this weather, I would constantly discover pieces of clothing in my closet with mold (yuck!). This is certainly not healthy.I was talking to my grandmother one day and describing this problem, telling her I’m going through numerous Damp Rid packets every week trying to control the dampness in my closets (= lots of money). She knew a solution: a cup of Arm & Hammer kitty litter. The litter provides a nice smell, and the “pellets” do not turn into water when grabbing the excess moisture from the air, so it’s essentially a product that never gets old, or used up. Perfect! A solution for my wallet and my closet.
So I’ve placed little cups and jars in my closets and have noticed a huge difference. One closet in particular holds all our scuba gear – this one seems to always be damp even if we dry everything in sun before returning it to store here. So I placed one of these economical dehumidifiers in there, and the dampness is gone.
I’m not sure why it has to be this particular brand, but I know it works and I don’t dare try anything else. The only improvement I made to the suggestion was adding a mesh screen on top, because it’s happened twice already that Evan has accidentally knocked the cup over in the closet, leaving a huge mess to vacuum up afterwards.
So I’m passing on my grandmother’s wisdom to you – in case you have similar problems year round, or just in the summer. Perhaps “pin” this for the future? And let me know what you think!
i need this too!!! this heat is driving me nuts
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Does the litter have a smell? It's cool enough in FL to have the a/c off, but still pretty humid. Might have to try this out. Eric will probably think I'm nuts!
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the litter has a “fresh” scent, its not offensive
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very clever!! Lovely little DIY tip – thanks Chelsea and your Gran!
x
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I think it has to be that brand because of the Arm and Hammer Baking Soda. I do this smae thing only with pure baking soda and it works very effectively. i imagine that cat littler would be better at keeping in the moisture due to it's purpose and all.
I had never heard of using cat liter, but it's genius!
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