locating dessicants locally

Check with a safe company.

I took them out of my roommate's new living room set. That couch and 2 chairs had about 20 packets in them.

Go to a Journeys or any kind of shoe store....

I work at one up here... every box of shoes we have has 2 packs in them.... We have about 7000 pairs of shoes.

So if you really want some... pm me and let me know... and I'll ship you a little box of them.

Go to any craft store and ask for silica gel. It's a powder used for drying flowers and it's dirt cheap. Put some in an old sock and there you go.

I've seen desiccant sold in gander mountain, as well as home improvement stores like lowes or home depot in the paint isle. I'm not sure what it is used for with paint, but you will find it in that area.

If you are really hard up, you could take desiccant packs from all of the shoe boxes at wal-mart

go buy a couple bags of beef jerkey

Shoe store.

scrat said:

go buy a couple bags of beef jerkey

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umm, im pretty sure that's oxygen absorber, but i think i would go for the silica cat litter, and some paint tins

The cheapest I have found is a brand of cat litter that comes in a big plastic jug. You can see through the jug & tell it is clear looking beads. It will say Silica gel litter on the container.

I fill a sock with it for each of the large safes and smaller cloth bags for individual gun and ammo cases. Run them through the oven at 400 deg for a couple of hours every other month.

FYI: Stick with 100% cotton athletic socks :banghead:

Was that a DAMHIk moment?? ;^P

How many do you want?
http://www.uline.com/Browse_Listing_1004.asp?desc=Silica+Gel+Desiccants

Mattress stores, furniture stores. They throw them away.

Most gun stores sell cans of it. I used to get mine out of weld-wire barrels at work. Good size bags, maybe 10oz. Still have a few of those in my cans.

I use these in my safe:
http://www.nrastore.com/nra/Products.aspx?cat=search&SearchText=Eva-Dry

Pretty nice, just plug em in to recharge. Now I find that my local gun store sells those too. And about the same price.

You can try the camper section of Wally World or an RV dealer. They have some stuff that is supposed to keep the moisture out of RV's in storage.

Of course anything labeled RV or marine is usually 5 times more expensive than the same product without a picture of a boat or camper on it.

3rd the shoe store.. Just offer someone 5 bucks for a bagfull...

I'm not sure what it is used for with paint, but you will find it in that area.

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Paint will dry faster if you keep the humidity of the room down. That's why it's there.

Camera stores, electronic stores.

Run them through the oven at 400 deg for a couple of hours every other month

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The cat litter is a good idea, but I think 400 degrees is too hot. Anything over 300 degrees F can damage the beads, according to my info.

I ended up with a bunch of it, sold some here, then did very well selling it on ebay, in 30 gram packets and one-pound bags. If you can't find what you're looking for locally, let me know. I've been getting $9/lb on ebay, but to be honest if you're willing to look you can find it cheaper or free locally (but not as good as mine, of course).

boating supply stores will also have them,

Coin dealers often have that. Call around.

Try your local Harley (or maybe any other motorcycle) dealer.

When I need some to store a car for a few months, they had plenty they were willing to part with. They come packed in the crate with the motorcycle and they just throw them away.

These were ~ 1lb bags ... foot long, maybe 3 inches across. Just heat them in an oven/microwave to drive out any moisture they have already absorbed and they are good to go.

And the best part ... they were FREE.

At Wal-Mart next to the moth balls - they have these plastic "cans" that have a moisture absorber in it. I put one under my kitchen sink and one in my gun cabnet. Works great! And they are $3 each.

I would second the Kitty litter.

I bought a bottle of Tidy cat and it seems to work great

go buy a couple bags of beef jerkey

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Yeah! stick all that salt in there and watch how fast the rusting starts.