Razz's Humidity Beads Project

Those that know me know that I'm somewhat of a geek. Anything technological or scientific instantly grabs my attention. I'm a freak for Mythbusters and shows like it. For that reason, humidity beads fascinated me from the first time I heard about them.

I decided to make my own humidity beads. The concept is simple...most salts have a "saturation point". That's why a salt test for our hygrometers works. Sodium Chloride (common table salt) has a saturation point equal to 75% Relative Humidity. If 75% rH were the ideal storage humidity for our cigars, we wouldn't have any problem at all. We would just keep a salt tray in our humidors and maintain the perfect humidity. (salty cigars being a completely seperate issue)

Like I said, the concept is simple. The execution is not simple. I've spent weeks researching and experimenting with different formulas and application methods. (The Merck Index has been light reading for me lately)

I've finally come up with a combination that appears to work how I want it to.



It's only been 24 hours, but so far they are maintaining rH perfectly. I put 8 oz in a sealed container along with a salt-tested hygrometer to monitor the results.



I will continue to post the results as I monitor them. I am excited at this new project. Before anyone asks....Yes, I will be offering them for sale once I know they work the way I want them to. (I'm a perfectionist) But I don't want to put that info in this thread out of respect for the board members and administrators. When the time comes, I'll start a sale thread for them.