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diy desiccant

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Happy Labor Day!!!  Hopefully you’re doing exactly what you want to be doing today. 🙂

It’s the first Monday of the month (Can you seriously believe it is September already?!?! Crazyness.), usually the day we share those super simple projects and tips. But we’ve postponed the It’s a Cinch series until next Monday in honor of this holiday.

But that isn’t stopping me from sharing a super simple little tip I just learned.

A DIY desiccant.
desiccant What’s a desiccant, you ask?

Well, just to back up a bit, if you were one of the 3 people reading the blog last December, you may remember the humidity issue I had with my salt dough starfish Christmas tree ornament.

So, when I was researching my options for my homemade laundry detergent … you know, when I was having trouble find Borax on the island. I came across this helpful article.

Basically, to prevent clumping and other effects of humidity, add something that is drier than what you need to dry out. Make sense? Think rice in a salt shaker.

So, I put a 1/2 cup of unsanded grout mix in a clean, old sock. Tied up the sock and I put it in my homemade laundry detergent. (I had the unsanded grout on hand from when I made my own homemade chalkboard paint here.)

Easy peasy desiccant.
desiccant

It has been 2 weeks and I’m happy to report my homemade laundry detergent is still clump free.

Now, I hope you enjoy your holiday today!! Don’t worry about making a desiccant until tomorrow. 🙂

And don’t forget about our week of Organizing 101 next week!! Few things make me smile more than organization. 🙂
desiccant

Comments

  1. Exactly why I have a little terra cotta bear that I put in my brown sugar – keeps it from clumping (because you know I’m not exactly whipping up batches of homemade cookies on a daily basis)!
    Kelly

  3. Wow, I’ve never heard this word before, and I always wondered how the rice worked in the salt shaker! Thanks for the insight, and have wonderful day today!

  4. Awesome little tip- thanks so much for sharing!! I will soon be trying some of the DIY chalk paint. I bought the Annie Sloan and it’s nice- but if I can DIM (myself!), all the better. A few more dollarinis in the ole wallet!

  5. I missed (or just as likely forgot) that one, lol. You may have seen my recent post about clumpy Borax in CT. I put it in a freezer Ziploc bag and will take a rolling pin to it. Roll it or beat it into submission was the plan. Yours is a much more quiet solution :-).

  12. Brilliant! I’m impressed! I had no idea what a desiccant was. i feel smarter.

  14. What about putting dry rice in the sock and place that in the jar of detergent. Do you think that would work?

    • Hmmm, I have no idea about that one. I don’t know what the properties of dry ice are. Sorry! Thanks for checking out the post.

        • Hahahaha, I totally read that wrong, obviously. 🙂 Yeah, that might work, I’ve heard it works to dry out cell phones that have been dropped in water.

    • Dry rice works, that’s what we use here for everything including in the salt shakers, family thought they were maggots when they came to visit LOL- kitty litter in a sock works also if you happen to have cats (also works to dry out shoes) – lots of rain here 🙁

      • hahaha, the idea of thinking it was maggots is hilarious and gross at the same time! 🙂

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