Ok guys, I found some polmer crystals at a crafts store and am going to try these out in place of the regular wet foam. To get the right humidity, should I use plain distilled water or 50/50 glycol solution on them??

hey, out of curiosity, where did you find 'em, and how much were they? i've got 2 chain craft stores near me and am considering checking them out and going totally with that (foam's getting to be a PIA, and the crystals smelly sent me are perfect -- thanks again, smelly!)

They are designed for H2O. Distilled H2O will produce larger crystals. Works well - my humi has been 65-67% over the past couple of months with distilled water.

John

Hey Cavallo. John gave me the info on these - thanks John - they're called Crystal Essence. Comes in a 1 ounce pack for $3 at Michael's craft store. Apparently, one ounce can absorb a gallon of water (should be plenty for me!). Hey John, how much did you use and what size container did you put it in?? I bought some little plastic travel jars (for "cold creme", it says). Figured I'd drill 20-30 little holes in each lid ( I bought 3 jars).

Am very curious about this. Any URL on the label?

dadx4 --- I'm curious ...

... how can distilled (minus minerals) water make for a bigger crystal than regular(plus minerals) tap water? It just doesn't make sense ...

The crystals will only absorb as much water as they are capable, and no more, no mater what type of water you use.

Regular tap water can be used on ANY of the polymer crystals. Distilled water is supposed to be used in the foam, because the minerals and impurities in the water builds up and causes the pores in the foam to become clogged and moldy ...

... that's all.

Slim,

Not sure how distilled vs tap water produces larger crystals, i just pushed the "I Believe" button when I read the package. I do know it works like a champ. I'm using a mini tupperware-like container (about 4in x 2in) with holes in the cover.

John

www.soilmoist.com

A suggestion on jars for this media would be the glass air freshener jars that you can buy just about anywhere. They come with a screw on lid, with holes, & are filled with a gel air freshener. My wife has bought a few & I just wait til the gel dries up & remove the glob out of the jar & wash it thouroughly. The smell is gone & they work great as a medium sized humidification device.

BTW, Grinches.

TY for the URL. 🙂

Your welcome, hat. I appreciate the idea on the glass jars. I'm gonna have to go check them out.

Tap water, depending on where you live, can have in excess of 1000mgs (1gram) of solids per liter. The salts may prevent complete hydration because, as some water is absorbed into the gel, the salt content of the remaining water increases. This may prevent complete hydration by competing for the water (i.e., same reason drinking salt sea water isn't good for hydrating your body).

This must be a god send, my RH was a little above normal this morning about 74%, it's been running at 72%. I known most of you are gasping, 74% was much too high for me so I pulled the credo out and it was beginning to mold, aaaaarrrrrgggggghhhhhhh!!! I must find something better, these beads might work.