Unibond "moisture absorber". (presented as a room dehumidifier)

[@aalbbaa22]

*humiditer We liked it **Fastly.Cool** so much in the basement, we bought a second one for the main level. The amount of moisture it pulls out of the air is astonishing.*

[@LakeNipissing]

Might as well leave packets of silica gel lying around the room instead.

[@iamdarkyoshi]

LakeNipissing Damnit man I wanted first comment

[@bigclivedotcom]

Silica gel would be a better option for a small scale drying effect.

[@iamdarkyoshi]

bigclivedotcom does it help with the lights go out mosquito utensil?

[@LakeNipissing]

+Luke Den Hartog - That was an absolute classic. I want to buy that one just for the package!

[@bigclivedotcom]

Only for 12 hours one day a year.

[@SurvivingTheApocalypse]

Have been using two of these 'moisture absorbers' inside a nuclear bunker for quite some time and they have worked really well. They are not a dehumidifier and should never be expected to do the same job but for off grid locations they do the job.

[@AmusementLabs]

1-3 months...Or one day in Florida....

[@ExStaticBass]

You know I used to live on the beach here in the US a while ago. Instead of paying over $200 for a dehumidifier I built my own out of a peltier cooler, two heatsinks, a fan, and some reasonably ingenious ducting work with thin aluminium. The fan was mainly for the hot side of the peltier but I ducted it around the back side so the air could be cooled down again which also helped move air across the cold surface to aid the condensation effect. It collected about two gallons a day which isn't bad for a home made device of that nature. The biggest issue was clamping both heatsinks together which was easily solved with some simple hardware. 1mm aluminium isn't terribly hard to bend and making rudimentary ducts out of it was easy enough. Since the whole thing cost me less than $15 to build I would highly recommend making your own next time one breaks down. It would be a fun project for the channel too...

[@akirakurogawa8908]

The "air scents" style one are really popular here in Japan - put they're aimed at closets, pantries, and dressers etc for use in the monsoon season where clothes and shoes seem to get musty overnight due to the oppressive heat and humidity. The most popular brand is "Okamoto Zou-san" (Okamoto Mr. Elephant) and come in 400ml and 550ml size. I don't think I've ever seen them as being marketed as room dehumidifiers here. For general dehumidifying, wall mounted AC units usually have that function covered suitably.

[@morthren]

If you use one of these in a car that is stored up, use the one with the membrane to prevent the absorbed moisture 'evaporating'. I used to use an open type with the crystals in a car that is stored in a garage over the winter but started to find a very light rust layer building up on all the bare metal surfaces, metal surfaces like you find under the seats or under the dash by the pedals etc. If you do use one in a car, be sure to close the vents and to switch the ventilation to recirculate so you don't draw in moisture from outside.

[@killer1479]

I have one of these in my conservatory, and the tablet did last me about 2 months and pulled alot of moisture out of the which helped the windows to stop getting damp and the rubber seals going mouldy

[@GarethWhiteside]

I don't think they are misleading. I had a bad condensation problem in my bathroom where mould kept growing up the wall. since using one of these, the mould has gone. I replace it about every two months. I also use one near a bedroom window and it has also done the job.

[@cubeyuk]

I have one of these. It works very well.

[@bananoo915]

Hi Clive. I have a good experience of this device I would like to share. Someone blocked up the ventilation bricks in the room that is now my son's bedroom (approx 12m/2). Condensation from the window was dripping so badly onto the floor there was a puddle each morning equating to around 25ml on the hard floor (quite significant and problematic), dripping from the sill, and some remaining on the sill. I tried the first device and it didn't reduce this. Three weeks ago I saw the Unibond thing again and picked one up. I did not believe it was a dehumidifier, but I was shocked to see it didn't have a battery to power a small fan to encourage air flow, as it is packaged as something that may be electronic. I didn't expect much. Every night since however for thee weeks there has been no puddle with this placed on the window sill, and only a small (5 - 10ml) of water on the sill. It is now nearly 1/2 full to the top of the water box (considering emptying it soon) and the brick is only somewhat pitted. Therefore for this reason, and if other people have a similar problem, I would have to recommend this as being effective. It is only this room affected by this problem, perhaps being above the kitchen, so the house as a whole is not highly humid as we don't dry clothes internally, so I don't think mine is a significantly extreme case scenario.

[@catgath9718]

If have seen good results with using something similar to. My brother keeps some in his basement under his bathroom and kitchen floors. The joists were collecting moisture and this did the job till he found the reason why. Which was from the bathroom toilet slowly leaking from the old tank. We found that products like that are good for low or very local moisture problems.

[@ev6558]

@@catgath9718 Well at least your brother finally treated the disease instead of just the symptom, I find it difficult to believe it's even legal for OP to have their child sleeping in a room with such poor ventilation that condensation pools on the floor. Must have some pretty medieval housing code if it is.

[@Tjita1]

It is actually not so bad, I mean, I'm not sure about this one, but I built one out of a household strainer and a bucket, and it takes about 3-4 kg of CaCl2 at a time. I put this in our firewood storage room, and the firewood was down to under 10% moisture in less than 6 months. Another advantage of this idea is actually that the reaction is exothermic, so it actually gives off a (very) small amount of heat as it absorbs water. They're maybe not the wonderous product they're made out to be, but the system can be quite useful.

[@Seegalgalguntijak]

So how does an electric dehumidifyer work? Tear one down! :-)

[@Firecul]

Seegal Galguntijak he has if I remember correctly

[@zusurs]

..or open god damn wikipedia and read maybe?

[@kylenull8015]

he already has

[@tomwes8390]

Artūrs Savickis Maybe he wants to just see it. would make a good video yes

[@Cofcos]

They are basically air conditioners that cool the air down to cause condensation but then use the warm exhaust to rewarm the air it cooled down.

[@TheCormTube]

I use those little pots to reduce the moisture in our windows which they do OK but that's a very interesting point about metal corrosion from spilling. In our conservatory we switched to using a Trotek unit from Amazon which has been fantastic, so as you say Clive, these type of units are no match for an electric one!

[@SonOfFurzehatt]

I use the disposable dehumidifiers in my car to stop the windows fogging up, but I did spill one, so I suspect it's eating through the floor of the car now

[@hachikiina]

any updates on that?

[@SonOfFurzehatt]

@@hachikiina the car was scrapped late last year. The seats never fell through the floor, so it the calcium chloride didn't do too much damage. The car was only scrapped because it wasn't reliable enough to trust for important trips.

[@ev6558]

I love the work this guy does exposing this bunk products, but he's kind of overexaggerating the dustructive qualities of calcium chloride. It's snow melting salt. It's used in a ton of other applications too but the majority of people will know Calcium Chloride as snow melting salt. Yes, it will damage things that are constantly wet and exposed to it, but it's not going to permanently ruin everything it touches just because you spilled a bit, especially if it's a relatively dry indoor area to begin with.

[@tripsadelica]

I used a few of the more standard calcium chloride units when water got into my car ( the water crept up to about 20cm in depth...thank God it didn't get to the ECU or ABS modules) during a flash flood. First I used a carpet steam cleaner to sanitise and clean the carpets as well as sucking the water out. Then I tipped silica gel kitty litter in each of the floor wells and put four of the calcium chloride dehumidifiers in the car and left it in the sun on a couple of hot days. The result was that the dehumidifiers were full of liquid after the first 24 hours and the carpets were bone dry once the kitty litter was removed. To be on the safe side I put another set of dehumidifiers in the car and left them in for two days. That did the trick. The car was dry and suffered no damage, thank God.

[@VicodinElmo]

Got a problem area in my bedroom near the window. Bought one of these. Problem solved. Could've bought a dehumidifier but, for a fiver, I'm happy. Lots of naysayers but the reviews on Amazon typically skew positive. Unless they've all been paid off by UniBond? I'm not discounting your opinion; I can't see it dehumidifying a whole room either but if it keeps a specific area dry and does it passively then I can't complain. Dad keeps one in his caravan as well and had no damp issues yet. Previous owner said the bathroom suffered with it sometimes but he hasn't had a problem yet. Fingers crossed.

[@merlinathrawes6191]

In actual fact I have one of these on the floor in the downstairs loo. This room is a single skinned extension and has had a terrible problem with condensation and black mouldy walls. I put one of these in 2 years ago and haven't had any problems since so it works ok in my opinion. It does what it says on the box and I got it for half price from Homebase.

[@locouk]

Is there any chance of setting up a time lapse camera on it, it might be more interesting than watching paint dry.

[@tomlomax9909]

I have some equivalent product which I refill with loose CaCl2 dihydrate from eBay periodically. They are very effective at controlling moisture in places like bathrooms without decent ventilation - but I'm only using them in smallish rooms.

[@tomlomax9909]

Nah, you'll get through it pretty quickly. Especially trying to dehydrate an aquaponics building! ...

[@himselfe]

Would be interesting to see a timelapse comparison of these and a proper dehumidifier!

[@MegaMarie]

Brought them 2 weeks ago off eBay and works fine. Handy for bathrooms in UK where no electric for proper dehumidifier.

[@mynameisntbobbybob]

im glad youve made this video i nearly bought one for a shed

[@RGSABloke]

Hi Clive, I have found the Meaco DD8L Junior to be very effective in my garage keeping my lathe, tools and motorcycles rust free. The one I have in the house is used for drying clothes which is does very effectively and efficiently. Both these units have worked flawlessly for many years. The type you featured here as as much use as a 'chocolate fire guard'. Keep sharing big chap. Kindest regards. Joe

[@bigclivedotcom]

Keep an eye on the Meaco's. Their water drainage path tends to gunk up and the leak on the floor. They also seem to have issues with heater failure if run at full power,. I use all my desiccant units at low power, and they are actually slightly more efficient and will last longer. I've got one here where the motor that rotates the drum has literally ground itself to mince. Quite hard finding a replacement with a compatible shaft.

[@RGSABloke]

bigclivedotcom bigclivedotcom Yes, I run the one in the garage at low power, the one in a small bedroom I run at full power to dry clothes as it doesn't turn the wife's wool jumper into 'Action Man/Woman size!!!!!! I chose the slowing running non-compressor type as it was much less expensive to run and fewer parts to go wrong. The Meaco got the best reviews in the caravan and boat community at the time as I guess these both suffer from massive condensation issues. I have got to say I have never had a problem with blockage but then again, I keep the filters and tubes clear. Really enjoying your channel, keep up the good work big chap. Kindest regards from Bonnie Scotland. Joe. PS If you are running the Meaco with the external hose, it's a good idea to cut a small hole in the top of the flexible hose as it leaves the unit to stop it back venting.

[@weednot43]

I use things similar to this in my house and they work great. Used to have mold on my walls in the winter, not anyomore.

[@AbbeyB77]

Those products are really good in older homes with basements that are naturally damp where you just want to pull the bit of dampness out of the air. It takes two or three of the pellet style ones to get a decent effect in my grandma's cold room, but they're sold for the equivalent of 75 pence in Canadian dollars at dollar stores, so you can't complain about the price

[@KevsoldLandy]

When we close our (static) caravan up for the Winter we just just place a bowl of ordinary household/table salt in a bowl in cupboards and the various rooms. It works to absorb any moisture. Ok, it may not be as efficient as silica gel but when we are talking something like Tesco Value salt it's one heck of a lot cheaper and it works for us :)

[@philandrew7907]

that is hell of a chunk you've taken out your hand

[@MagikGimp]

That caustic stuff will burn away even more I should wager. Not that Clive will notice! ;)

[@UKHFSSB]

it might be worth taking bets on what damage Clive's hands have suffered between every KZbin vidoe he makes.. be careful mate !

[@SigEpBlue]

Looks like he's healing up well, actually. Certainly faster than I would. :)

[@teebosaurusyou]

Big Clive is sacrificing his hands and health for us! So Clive, following tradition, please figure out a way to blow this dodgy thing up! Otherwise - no cookies for you or cats.

[@Blitterbug]

I have one of these and use it in the downstairs loo, which has no air bricks so has a mould problem. It fills with liquid every 5-6 weeks which I tip down the toilet (oops?) and since I started using it, the mould problem and damp smells have both virtually gone. So I accept it's not for large rooms, but then I didn't really think that was what it was for...

[@iamdarkyoshi]

What happens if you blow air through it with a fan? How quickly can you kill the absorbent ring?

[@cjhification]

I have an electronic dehumidifier for the house in the main hall landing area that pulls out about 2 litres a day but also have low profile refillable calcium carbonate units that draw out 500ml from lodgers bedrooms every week or so in the winter, one fill of calcium carbonate will do 4-5 litres as they don't use up all the calcium carbonate to fill up the unit and the calcium carbonate chamber is approximately a quarter of the size of the water chamber below.

[@TheSpotify95]

We have these unibond dehumidifier things and they have actually bought our humidity levels down by a few % according to my humidity meters that we have. With these in every upstairs room we get an ideal humidity of 55-60%, without these it used to be anything up to 70%.

[@ThecreeperKiller1234]

I have one in my bathroom, seems to work well after i have a shower at getting the steam out, It normally take a long time but with this its quite quick

[@ualgun]

These were also quite well advertised in my local Tesco, in an eastern European location

[@danxepha4535]

I've got one of those £1 B&M Store moisture absorbers in my tiny shower room which sometimes gets damp walls due to the weak extractor. Its collected less than a teaspoon of water in about 6 weeks.

[@niloccoady]

In fairness I have used the Areo in small spaces like boats and they work a treat. But like you say not hole house device. Super job for small spaces where power is not available.

[@cogidubnus1953]

Out of interest, how can there be three day old comments on here, when according to KZbin it's only been published literally minutes ago today?

[@pierreuntel1970]

patreon get access to unlisted videos first?

[@cogidubnus1953]

Ah right...hadn't thought of that...thanks

[@Nukle0n]

Someone is gonna ask this question on every single video for the next year aren't they?

[@TheChipmunk2008]

Probably

[@RhettJesusHarambe]

Clive has patreon?

[@toonfan2007]

I didn't know the IOM was that humid! Is there some semi tropical region off the west coast?

[@bigclivedotcom]

It's in the middle of the Irish Sea and covered in foliage. There's almost always a storm of some sort happening, which doesn't help.

[@DisabilityExams]

Well - you can always install some LEDs and turn it into a night light!

[@erg0centric]

My last house had a 1950's damp basement. I purchased a compressor style dehumidifier and ran a short pipe in to the floor drain. Set it to 30%, switch on, and Jean-Guy's you auntie. Left it like that for years.

[@tad2021]

I actually use a large bucket of the stuff in a server room when the humidity creeps up too high. The RH in southern California is, on average, quite low, but some years we'll get weeks where it's >90%. When that happens, condensation becomes a high possibly and I just open the lid on the bucket for several days to bring the RH back down. The room is (too) small and the air is recirculated to its self. It's been about 2 years since I've needed it. 2016 was very dry, I actually had to get a humidifier. Durning the summer I dumped about 5-15L of water in to the air in there just to keep the RH around 10%. Under 5% and you start having ESD problems. It was around 1% then, just walking near a walls would build up a charge. This is why I have a habit of tapping metal door frames as I pass to ground out.

[@mattfox14]

I had one of these in a 7 square meter room, it lasted almost exactly a month before the block filter fell off it's mount and made a massive mess inside the unit. Wasn't too bothered as it only collected 1 litre in that time so it wasn't the solution I needed and I didn't get any more refills. I agree the packaging is very misleading to what it is and I have seen a new 'e-connect' model which seems even more so misleading.

[@cctrollz5706]

I had a moisture issue in my car at one point so I bought a small one of these and sat it in the trunk and it worked quite well.

[@TheRealistOfTheReal]

I assume you have condensation/mould issues in your property as you are using dehumidifiers. Have you considered a P.i.v fan such as the nuaire drimaster? They work very and I install them regularly they are also only 14w max so use very little electric

[@VideoGuy38849]

Richard McLean

[@bigclivedotcom]

I've considered airflow, but the humidity outside is also quite high for much of the year due to the very green enature of the Isle of Man. It can also be very cold in the winter.

[@qg786]

I have one of these in my work van and it keeps the van nice and dry. 👌

[@Bartiprog]

I have the simmilar model - its dark, and i think was sold under different name. I'm from Poland, btw. I suspected that this was just a placebo effect, due to emptying the tank about once per month - that just seemed not to add up, but my roommates insisted that it really made a difference (no water gathering on windows). Well then, thanks for the heads up and please excuse my poor English.

[@XbotcrusherX]

slight problem, the solid disk unit has less surface area than the granules. Wouldn't that also hamper the effect?

[@harrynking777]

Good point. The total surface area of all the granules would be considerably higher than the solid disk. This suggests that the dehumidifying would be faster with the granules.

[@justme7920]

That round refill weighs what 500 grams or more? And you get a liter out of it? Sounds like a slow dissolving block of ice to me.

[@Cryss777712]

Hi Clive! I'm interested in buying a cheap electric dehumidifier in my room which is about 10 squaremeters big. Could you do some review of those and which one is worth it or not? I know you have one video about a chinese device, but I thought about a comparison or something. Thank you!

[@tomwes8390]

Kristóf Perger Yea im interested too. maybe a banggood review/sponsor or something like aliexpress with a teardown to make sure its safe to use 24/7 (especially if its using power from the socket)

[@MrOpenGL]

I have bought the small Chinese peltier dehumidifier (cost was 40€ including shipping from Ebay) to solve an excessive humidity problem in my sailboat's bathroom (essentially a triangle-shaped room of 3,4 m² floor area, 1,8m ceiling height) and to be fair it did solve the problem and regularly collects about 1 l of water per day (mind you that since it is located in a boat, especially at night with no wind the rel. humidity will be in the 85-90%, in the morning when you wake up all the deck is wet from the dew, inside humidity in the bathroom has often been more than 95% and the humidity meter has more than once shown "HH.H%" after showers). It comes with a 12V/4 A power supply which is total garbage. I tested it with a dummy load and it quit working (no explosions or flames, however) with a nasty smell after only 2 hours at 75% load. I tore it down and the thing was built pathetically, the separation between the primary side and secondary side was almost non-existent (2 mm!!!) and the main switching transistor was the culprit of it quitting to work (likely because it ran too hot, it has no heatsinking and is run very near its maximum power). I connected the dehumidifier to the 12V network in the boat, but I'm sure you can find a decent power supply to power it. It does require about 3,5-4A depending on the voltage you supply it with (12V network in the boat can vary between 11V if the batteries are low to 14,4V if the engine is running, the charger is operating or the solar panel is producing power). You could for instance use an ATX power supply from a computer (just don't buy Chinese, buy good quality, even used from Ebay, but from reputable brands like FSP, Enermax, Delta, Fortron, Corsair, Seasonic...) Inside the device is very little, just a fan and a Peltier device. The fan is reasonably well made and uses a sleeve bearing. It is a bit noisy, but nothing major really. The device is inherently safe, because if the fan seizes the Peltier will overheat and self-destruct at around 70-80°C long before the plastic could melt. In my opinion the device itself is safe to operate 24h/7j if the default power supply is discarded. Use a proper fuse at the input (5A fuse) to protect against wire shorts. It would probably be barely enough for a 10m² room, if the ceiling is very high. If the ceiling is "normal" (3 m) I think it will be enough. Hope you appreciated my review ;-)

[@superdau]

The only ones that are really making a big difference are compressor dehumidifiers (in principle a tiny fridge where the door is open all the time ;) ). The cheap ones with a peltier element are more of a heater than a dehumidifier (peltier elements are very inefficient in producing "cold"). Of course if you heat air the relative humidity goes down, so even heating has an effect.

[@girlsdrinkfeck]

i got a £30 elecrronic one from amazon ,and yes they work very well ,it absorbs about 500mls ( max capacity ) in around 3 days constant use

[@cardboardboxification]

Kristóf Perger just turn on the a/c and heat at the same time....

[@TheMajkla]

I've seen those unibond dehumidifiers and replacement fillings in Sainsburys tonight. They are pushing it as well.

[@ams718]

I've got 3 of these Unibond dehumidifiers, I don't see any issues with them they are doing a pretty good job. Although, I never accurately tested whether they do what's in the specs, I have to replace the tabs in every 2-3 months but my home (40sqm) is VERY humid due to bad ventilation, so I don't blame the manufacturer.

[@Mr.Unacceptable]

Might be good for a cereal cupboard or pantry. I wonder what the cost of running an electric one is compared to the price of one of these. I have your channel and others broadcasting over the FM dial on 88.3 over the entire town. I built the transmitter. We are surrounded by mountains and only get 2 radio stations. Next an amp.

[@PIXscotland]

I use the "Kontrol Krystals 2.5Kg" as a refill for my units, same devices as your "cherry" ones. Quite cheap and work well. Takes the slightly damp smell out of my old cold flat. They do absorb a lot of water for me. I empty five of them monthly.

[@bigclivedotcom]

You might consider getting an actual dehumidifier. The modern desiccant drum ones like the Eco-air simple will pull out a lot of excess humidity while also putting a gentle flow of warm air into the flat. I recommend the low setting (330W). A traditional compressor dehumidifier is also a good choice, but mainly for warmer flats as they require the higher temperature to work properly.

[@rokoala2636]

Got a bit excited reading the video description, not quite the "cylinders of compressed hygroscopic chemical" I was hoping for though...

[@freequest]

Are you going to do a tear down of that thing? (:

[@IncertusetNescio]

My 1Kw AC unit (not great but it does the job well enough) has a "dehumidifier" mode (I use quotes because it just minimizes the fan and locks it there) that can get 2.2 pints/1L (US presumably) per hour. So in one hour my AC unit can pull more water from the air than this thing, blatantly excluding the volume of dissolved salt (so more like 20-30 minutes), than it can in 1-3 months. Scientific curiosity is right!

[@MattFowlerBTR]

These can be useful if you have a location with zero access to electricity and that humans (or other animals) very rarely visit (so you're not breathing new moisture in to the air). We use one in a self-storage lock-up - an outdoor half-shipping-container sort of thing - to reduce the humidity in that very specific environment. You're right, they would be pretty much worthless for use in the home.

[@tianxizheng6647]

Does it unclog your drain when you pour it down?

[@adeeponionbrah]

Hooray for talking about dubious products like this that don't have the capacity to make a difference. People should order this stuff to be delivered directly to the landfill and save on rubbish pickup charges! Clive, you are my favorite diversion and I wish you well!

[@spectrHz]

Have you ever seen those tiny peltier dehumidifiers? Instead of a refrigeration loop they just use the cold side of a peltier module and a big heat sink that drips into a tray. They seem to recover about a half liter a day based on what the box says

[@RichardT2112]

They work great in cars/caravans that you may wish to store and prevent nasties from growing.

[@VicodinElmo]

Richard T Yep. We use one for my dad's caravan!

[@b.hagedash7973]

Big money to be made adding a solar panel and bicycle attachment and selling it on as a self filling water bottle, with electrolytes.

[@Roflcopter4b]

I have to imagine it would work just fine outdoors here in Canada. At this time of year 0% humidity and 100% humidity are precisely the same thing, which is no humidity at all. Any extent water vapour will not remain that way for long. So this thing would likely quite easily last 3 months. It'd probably work fine indoors too, assuming the building doesn't have a humidifier. Which is to say it would do nothing.

[@budbrady3289]

calcium chloride is commonly used as a road deicer in northern US

[@ChoppingtonOtter]

I used these in my gun cabinets until I was able to get hold of some big bags of silica gel. They did the job for about 6 months each but if you spill that liquid on any metal it's horribly and quickly corrosive, (I tested this on some scrap steel - its a real nasty liquid!)so I wasn't keen on them in my cabinets. But they are fine for such small space tasks if you can be certain they won't spill. May not be too bad for an overwintered caravan or similar I imagine.

[@BlackWolf42-]

calcium chloride is also used on the roads where it snows and the roads are prone to icing up. It's used when regular sodium chloride won't cut it.

[@trcostan]

they sale calcium chloride by the ton here in the states for deicing where they don't want to be as hard on plants with the runoff as NaCl. not sure how they keep the big piles from turning into soup maybe a coating on the prills.

[@jesutherland]

I had one of those calcium chloride style units on the dash of my motorhome. They go by the name Dry-Z-Air in the US. I forgot it was there and backed the motorhome out of the driveway. As soon as I hit the breaks the Dry-Z-Air dell over and dumped it's liquid into the dash radio. Sometime later that day the radio let out it's magic smoke. Which was quite a thing since we had no idea how much smoke there would be or even flames. Had to pull over in a hurry and remove the radio from the dash. I spent a lot of time cleaning all that up and quite a bit if money and time replacing the radio.

[@jostouw4366]

did you replace the Dry Z Air ?

[@jesutherland]

Yea, I used to use three of them. Now I use one of those silicate wheel dehumidifers like Big Clive uses in his house. It sits on the counter in the RV, I just put the output hose into the sink. Also it has an ionizer built in so bonus there. If I don't have something in there I get mold growing.

[@daiena_rabinovich]

I did order a different one just now after watching your video 😊

[@samiraperi467]

That cake reminds me of dishwasher tablets. :P

[@UKHFSSB]

New subsciber here from across the sea in Morecambe.. Hi Clive, i've been watchin your excellent videos mate, ever so entertaining, but dammit... for over two weeks now i've had that song of yours going 'round and 'round my head. 'Pink USB charger from China' after two weeks of that particular ear worm, I have not forgiven you yet :)

[@MagikGimp]

They do work but yes, no replacement for a machine. The months claim is also very far-fetching. I don't think think that corrosion is an issue but the blue run-off does last in the bowl forever! I think the main selling point of these (heavy marketing aside, yes we fell for it) is how small (and silent of course) they are compared to a dehumidifier but they are not cost effective compared with one of those. Even after the initial heavy outlay and electricity bill they are still probably cheaper simply because those blue blocks are so expensive for the time they last.

[@Phos9]

I wonder if there'd be any difference in energy used if you stopped using the dehumidifiers and just turned the thermostat in your house up. Wouldn't help me much, this time of year the air outside is frequently similar to room temperature but tends to be humid.

[@harryjnr2335]

I have one of these in my gun cabinet, works great for that space

[@vylbird8014]

Can you evaporate up the spent solution, make it into a new cake and refill it, just to spite the manufacturer?

[@Heizenberg32]

Vyl Bird I had the same thought after one of these things got used up within a couple of days in a small room. There's a few problems: The brine ends up quite gross once it's saturated. And you would need to heat it somehow and probably rust-out your stove or oven.

[@jjarry]

Can be dried on radiators

[@superdau]

If you evaporate the water be electricity or gas, you're better off buying a dehumidifier in the first place. More energy efficient and much less hassle.

[@doctorbangs]

Yes, you can dry it out, I've tried it! It involved boilig nastyness at about 200c! You could probably build a proper dehumidifier that uses it like a cycle along the lines of the desiccant drumb types. I have played with all these, am totally agree with Clive on all counts! Clive has reviewed a drumb dehumidifier before: "A look inside a desiccant dehumidifier" and a rechargeable sillica jel cupboard version: "Review and internal look at a _rechargeable_ silica gel dehumidifier" Check those out as they are quite interesting!

[@nerd1000ify]

I did this a while back with some of the pellet stuff. I boiled it down in a stainless steel saucepan, chipped the salt from the pan and then spread it on an oven tray and heated it to 200C for around 30 minutes to dry it out. Worked well enough.

[@robertsteich7362]

Why was that blue and white urinal pancake in that package?

[@Rich77UK]

We have had these (not unibond brand and the cap is blue) in Germany for at least 3/4 years. We put on in the caravan over winter and they work great!

[@MrLUKEDUNSTAN]

Carn The Pies!

[@DJB1ack0u7]

Calcium Chloride is pretty nasty stuff when metal is involved. In the shop I was in for CNC training there was a storage platform with a metal grate floor. On that floor was 4 bags of calcium chloride ice melter above a manual lathe. After it rained and water got into the shop the calcium started dripping on the lathe. It went from beautifully clean to an absolute rust-bucket overnight.

[@spikeydapikey1483]

No BigClive youtube sticker?

[@tomfy44]

I wonder if it is possible to recycle that stuff. Like heating it up to evaporate the water (not in the house, obviously :-).

[@bigclivedotcom]

I should think it is possible, but as you mention, not indoors to avoid caustic haze.

[@tomlomax9909]

tomfy44 I've tried this. :-) You can form some neat crystals by heating it up to evaporate off the water, but it recrystallises to a much less-hygroscopic form making it non-reusable (e.g. the tetrahydrate instead of the dihydrate - although a chemist might know how to control conditions to recover the dihydrate. Wikipedia's Calcium Chloride page has some info on these different molecular forms)

[@Adderkleet]

Really hate the way this advertises itself, especially if it mentions "battery-less operation". Having said that, I bought the cheaper non-scented type to prevent mouldy smells in my wardrobe. After a month or two, it was full of water. So I consider it slightly effective.

[@DEFarnes]

I use this for a small wardrobe so I can not worry when placing not fully dry clothes in it. Works well, a lot better then other chemical dehumidifiers I have used but I only get the refills when on sale.

[@hafmaint7557]

I wouldn't use them in the house but i use 2 in my caravan over winter they do last about months and seem to work ok

[@andrewschannel3635]

They do virtually nothing to reduce damp in anything bigger than a cupboard and the corrosive "water" will burn anything it comes into contact with including the chrome plug hole if you empty it down the sink.

[@grendelum]

Damp Rid! (a US water absorbing pellet sold in loose bulk) works *really* well at dehydrating mushrooms... literally overnight... if, you know, you just happen to be growing your own mushrooms that you'd like desiccated... for soup mix and such... yeah.

[@xavier6130]

orion khan Thanks. It will certainly be of use to dry my certainly legal mushrooms.

[@rhkips]

I have an 18-gallon/day (68 liter/day) commercial-grade dehumidifier that works disturbingly well. It's intended to be used as a part of a mold remediation process, rather than just making a room comfortable, and it can turn a 2200 square foot (200 square meter) house into a desert in less than a week. These chemical things just aren't effective in the real world, sadly.

[@thesillyhatday]

I'm glad you posted this video. I figured these were only really useful for small space. I was going to buy a chemical dehumidifier for keeping the front and rear boots of my classic car dry (It's mid-engined, so two boot spaces). In the garage it tends to keep a thin film of moisture on all the metalwork inside those spaces. The last thing I want is a caustic solution inside what is basically a metal box, which I was trying to prevent from rusting. Would you say silica gel to be a good alternative? The garage isn't air tight enough to make a proper dehumidifier feasible. Once the car is closed up it must trap in air with a lot of moisture, which is why it settles.

[@exwhyz33]

so Clive, which electrical dehumidifiers do you use at home?

[@HDGamer2424]

I just threw that fuckin thing out of my room & house. No wonder all my wrenches an stuff like that started rusting... Thanks for the honest video, mate.

[@DeclanMBrennan]

I've used this product for two years in a old cottage in Ireland prone to low levels of damp in a couple of locations. It performs surprisingly well considering it's entirely passive. I consider the environmental impact to be a lot lower than "proper" humidifiers- given that electricity has to be produced someplace and it only produces a liter of brine every two weeks or so. It's not going to be able to pull out the same amount of water as an electric humidifier but I wouldn't dismiss it out of hand for small applications.

[@bigclivedotcom]

A desiccant drum dehumidifier here pulls out about 2 litres of water almost every day at an electricity cost of 40p per litre extracted. It keeps the humidity in this old bungalow down to about 65%. The unit also puts out a stream of warm dry air when it's running, which is offset against the heating costs of the place. So much more efficient and keeps the place dryer than a big overpriced block of dissolving salt.

[@biscuitsalive]

What proper dehumidifier do you use recommend BC?

[@bigclivedotcom]

For warm areas where a slight noise is not an issue, a traditional compressor one. For cold areas or for lower noise a modern desiccant drum one. The traditional compressor units are the most reliable.

[@uK8cvPAq]

I tried one of those unibond things, they do work fairly well but need the thing changing every few weeks in my experience.

[@larry365]

Thoughts on using something like this in a car? I work away from home 5 days a week in the summer, and basically sleep and live in my LR Discovery. It can get quite humid in the car. If not this, any other solutions?

[@bigclivedotcom]

Cheapest fix is ventilation if it's not too cold. You get thin solar powered ventilators that can be trapped between the window and the frame. I've noticed that in summer a local car dealer opens the boots (trunks) of all their cars to let them ventilate.

[@larry365]

bigclivedotcom Ah, these look cool! I'll do a bit of research. I should probably fix the leaking backdoor too... kutgw!

[@MuradBeybalaev]

Wait, when did the humidifier fad give way to a dehumidifier one?

[@LynxSnowCat]

I wonder if the waste/byproduct is usable for etching copper.

[@danner253]

you can get 2 of the membrane kind in Poundland for £1. I use them for my student accommodation bedroom as its small, and since opening the window too often freezes me out, I use it to help. Probably works out cheaper as it lasts around a month.

[@tavriadriver]

Quite good for leaving inside a car stored over winter, though - although I suspect Poundland's miniature version is more cost effective...

[@frinkemon]

They are quite handy to stick in your car on the dash or something. Caravans etc also handy.

[@dacasman]

Both of these might be really good for a small boat cabin. or maybe a car that has some moisture in it.

[@gauravkamble7949]

Hi #bigclivedotcom. Warm regards to you from India. I am a huge fan of your channel. I am also a techie like you and like to explore things. Good work. Keep it up. Cheers..!!!