Kitty Litter Experience

[ArtemusGordon]

Guys!

Not trying to start a war or anything over humi practices

But I was having problems with my heartfelt beads absorbing ammonia and other smells that were not good in one of my coolers. Even after letting the beads dry out they still held the smell.

At that point i bought a 14lb bag of Exquisicat Crystals the FRAGRANCE FREE kind and filled 3 mesh bags that came with my other beads.

Working perfectly at 65% now!

Who else is on the dark side using KL?

[joeypots]

I use it. Its great for getting excess moisture out of my humidor.

[Professor Twain]

I had a container of these that I used for years, they worked great. But I want to be careful in buying new ones. The only ones I've seen in that brand is blue. Makes me a bit nervous

[fookite]

I use the same stuff, works great. Compared to beads, you need more volume to get the same effect.

I use containers like this (the 41.2 qt ones, in particular) which have a built in seal:

http://www.container...ReallyFar=false

On the bottom of the container goes one of these with enough litter to fill the bag about 3/8" when spread down:

http://www.tide.com/...y/wash-bag.jspx

I'm trying to figure out a way to mount a bag to the top of the container. There is a grid on the lid of the container about 3/8" deep, if I could fill that grid with litter it wouldn't take up any of the useable space in the container.

[hounser]

Use KL in my coolidor and it works great! Have the HF beads in my Wineador and they work good too. Can't really complain about either.

Though I do find when the winter hits I do need to add a little extra KL to keep the rh at the 65% mark and I do nothing with the HF beads and they hold. I have no idea why. Might have more to do with the seal of the cooler vs. that of the wine cooler then anything to do with KL vs. beads.

[Profmd]

I have a large cabinet humidor and have been using KL and a cigar oasis for about a year now.

Find work alot better than beads, and a hell of alot cheaper too!!

Have some in long rectangular containers on every other shelf and it's working well.

[Sergione]

I found the KL to give me high RH so I switched to beads which maintained more of a constant RH.

But that was my experience. I have a whole container left that I won't use for fear of inconsistent RH.

If you can make them work they are super cheap and it's a good alternative if you need some kind of humidification and your beads, polymers, foam, wet napkin, sweaty sock or damp underwear are all missing lol

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[TheDistrictJP]

KL in all of my humidors for years now, consistently at 63%, trying to bring that up a few %. I don't see that more KL makes the RH go up at all.

[ArtemusGordon]

Yea after a while now I realized I probably need more KL that I have in my coolidor but it has been rock solid from 64-65. Only had to spritz a little DW on the bags once now. Winedor just showed up so its time for a conversion. If the wineador has enough space that is

[jeremyk]

Love kitty little been using it for 1 1/2 yrs now

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[DWilliams]

I have a couple of lbs of 65% Heartfelt beads in my wineador with no issues.

Ran out of space and now in the process of setting up another one. I'm considering splitting 50% HF beads and 50% KL... thinking the HF beads will help "train" the KL- any thoughts? As I have read the KL takes a bit of coaching to get to equilibrium (65% in my case).

[Troels]

Use two big boxes from cigarmony 65 rh and lots of kl - its been stable for more than six month without a refill, but at 68% rh tho

[TypicalSituation]

I'm a KL user. Been using it for a year and holds a solid 63 rh

[PigFish]

There are substantial technical differences in desiccants. I am a purveyor of desiccants for cigar use so I am biased certainly.

I think if I had to boil it down to the basics, I would have to say that it comes down to efficiency; efficiency both in performance and economics. Some people have more room than money and opt for more of a cheaper desiccant over less of an engineered desiccant. I can see the logic in that.

Having experimented with desiccants for years I consider myself an expert on the topic of desiccants for cigars use. Frankly, about 98 percent of people don't use them efficiently (a personal observation) so it matters very little in most cases what most use.

I only use desiccants as a buffer. I use them in a self-conditioning system that maintains their equilibrium. I have emulated the way industrial desiccants are used in the refining industry and concluded that there is a 'correct and efficient' method to their use and therefore there are lesser efficient ways to use them as well! I am just one man with an opinion!

As always I say use what works for you.

As a persons storage system becomes more expensive, the real estate in it becomes more valuable. It pays then to use the most efficient systems that take the least amount of space. As coolers (ice chests) are inexpensive and so is cat litter, they play an important role together as a means to store cigars as inexpensively as possible. I say if what you have works for you, then there is no argument about what is better or worse, right or wrong, efficient or inefficient… The subject becomes one of academia.

Cheers -Piggy

[Laxman]

When using the KL for cooladors or I guess any system, do you have to bake it first? or is it usable right out of the bag? I thought I was reading somewhere that you had to bake it to get it down to 65% Rh.

[Knilas]

Use it..love it!

[Knilas]

When using the KL for cooladors or I guess any system, do you have to bake it first? or is it usable right out of the bag? I thought I was reading somewhere that you had to bake it to get it down to 65% Rh.

Geoff,

Check the RH of the kl in the bag it came in.... w/ your hygrometer. If its too high..bake it. If not, leave it be and spritz to desired RH.

[soutso]

Geoff,

Check the RH of the kl in the bag it came in.... w/ your hygrometer. If its too high..bake it. If not, leave it be and spritz to desired RH.

I fear that I will look a fool here for saying this but here goes.....When you say, 'bake it' do you actually mean to heat it for eg with a hair dryer? Or do you actually bake it in an oven?

[Knilas]

I fear that I will look a fool here for saying this but here goes.....When you say, 'bake it' do you actually mean to heat it for eg with a hair dryer? Or do you actually bake it in an oven?

Bake it in the oven, yes. 150° or so for about an hour to help dry it out a lil. Then let it cool, put in plastic baggie and re-check RH.

[PigFish]

Baking a desiccant is not really easy to generalize. High heat can damage certain desiccants and that you want to avoid.

I think that 150dF is not a bad place to start. You might want to consider parchment paper, a metal funnel and a mason jar to start. You can bake on a cookie sheet with the desiccant spread out. You should regularly open a sealed (electric oven) to let out the steam. Gas ovens must be vented in order to operate and may not need to be vented.

Don't let the desiccant cool… Why? Because you will simply let the water that you just released from it back into it! Pick it up with the parchment paper while hot and gently pour it into a mason jar and place the lid loosely on it. If the mason jar pressurizes, meaning it is still gassing off, then the water will escape as the jar lid will work like a flapper valve. You should find that as the jar cools, the lid will appear to get sucked down as a vacuum may appear in the jar. This is because as the water vapor cools, it will once again vacate the space in favor of finding home in the desiccant.

I hope this helps you out in your process. -the Pig

[CUBANO]

As always, thanks for the info, Ray.

[EuroTrash]

I just started using KL in my new wineador. No issue thus far. I've got it holding a steady 62%-64% without issue. Not sure how much I've used...got two stockings with a decent pile in each. I'd guess 3lbs maybe? This is in a NewAir 280E.

[airtrade]

If it works for you it works.

I have better luck with the beads. The best luck with the HCM beads.