No stores with Exquisicat crystals locally here. What other brands are comparable?
Thx - RR
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I think you just want to ensure its silica KL and scent free. No local petsmart?


http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...AvailInUS%2FNo
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How about ordering it online and having it shipped?
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I'm sure your cat really doesn't care about the brand you're using when it goes to piss and **** in it.
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How did I know someone would offer this sage advice??? :-)
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Best deal I found was this Mimi stuff at Walmart. A 4lb bag for less than $5.

I've been running it in a humidor and a coolidor for going on 3 months and I have not had to touch anything after getting the humidity where I want it (65-67). Maintenance free so now I only open the humi's to take out or put in cigars.
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Sorry bro, but you coukd put rocks in a hunidor and it would be fine for 3 months. Kitty litter only absorbs moisture it dies not release anything and will not regulate Rh to any setpoint. Also, you will need twice as much KL as beads(review Shilala's post for study)
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Kitty litter? I've heard of dog rockets, but not cat turds. :-)
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Time will tell (one way or the other) but this is a big improvement over the credo/distilled water setup I had to baby for many years.

Regarding amount of litter to use, I've used maybe 1 of the 4 pounds in a coolidor and a 50 ct humidor, so with 3 pounds unsued (and with a bag costing only $4), quantity is not a concern for my application.
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I wonder if is working simply because is absorbing some of the extra moisture, meaning it wont work once you needed due to it not been able to release it back.
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I didn't weigh the amount I used in my wineador, but four 12" x 4" baggies full are in the bottom. It's holding steady at 65F/66RH.

Not dismissing the Shilala Beads. I've got those in both of my igloos and both desktops and can't speak highly enough about their stability.
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I've never understood the kitty litter phenomena -- how do you add moisture to the environment when needed?
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I use Heartfelt but would really like to hear from someone that used the "proper" silica KL and it flat didn't work for them.
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The KL crystals look almost exactly like some cigar humidity beads on the market. You give them a spritz or splash just like you do the cigar silica beads and they supposedly hold RH in the same ranges. They don't turn to gel.

I still think some folks get confused with the grey kitty litter that looks like clay or others similar.

Again, I am a fan of Heartfelt which keeps my humi's in great condition, I just wanna know the exact differences.
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Scott has covered this a few times in the past, here's his short version of it:
http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/showpo...2&postcount=40
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I don't know. It's all magic to me. I can just report on what I see and taste. Cigars are smoking fine, and the RH stays within 62-67RH...with two calibrated hygrometers in there. I haven't tried it with the wine cooler unplugged. Actually...here's what I CAN do. I'll do the salt test, but sub the salt with KL and use a hygro that's already set up and see what the readings are over the next few weeks. Be an interesting experiment at the least.

My Shilalas came in yesterday for the wineador (KL was a bandaid to get me going).
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Yes read that post from 2008 many times and he sells the the HCM (also fantastic) beads doesn't he?

The Pro KL camp say they use the exact same amount of KL silica crystals as others do cigar beads. I just don't know and since I see people in this forum are actually using them I would like to see how they work for them over time, which I think is the key part here.
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Here's my issue with KL. It's not designed for cigars. It's designed for absorbing cat urine and feces, and their associated odors.

Cigar humidification beads are designed for cigars, and engineered to keep cigars in an ideal range. They remove excess humidity from the airspace, and release humidity when it drops too low.

I have a lot of money (to me) invested into cigars. Why skimp when it comes to protecting that investment? HCM or Heartfelt gets my money, and (to me) is cheap insurance.

I'd never be able to trust KL.
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You are spot on when you mention KL is designed to absorb. However, they are not designed to release humidity.

I believe you are incorrect when you state humidifcation beads were designed for cigars. To the best of my knowledge, they were originally designed for and are still in use to maintain humidity in enclosures for rare museum artifacts. If KL were an equivalent product, I would tend to believe museums would save money and use KL. Guess what, they aren't.

Those that use KL and swear by the results are fortunate and I'm happy for them and happy that they are satisfied. But to claim that KL does the same thing as humidification beads is just plain horse hockey.

:-)
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You're most likely correct, Peter. I'll amend my statement to say that they (what we refer to as cigar beads) were designed specifically to regulate humidity. I've always seen hcm beads reference cigars, not museum artifacts, so I assumed.

I'll stand by the rest of it though. :-)
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