Hi guys.

I picked up some heartfelt beads because id heard alot of good things about them. They came dusty in the packet and yellow (which ive read is normal, correct me if im wrong). I spitzed them with distilled water and have noticed that at the bottom of the stocking there is quite alot of salt.

I made sure to coat them lightly as per the directions, i got a 1lb bag and got about 50% clear and 50% white. Have i ruined the beads somehow, seeing as there is some salt at the bottom of the bag?
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Are they keeping RH? I'm no expert but I would say as long as they are keeping RH I wouldn't worry :-)
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Thanks for the reply WhiteMamba. I tried testing them with a ziploc with a hygrometer in it, they seem to be at the rigt humidity so far, its early stages though. I just wonder about the salt though because the site said careful not to wash away the salts. I did alot of reading before getting them ready, so to my surprise when salts ran after being so careful, quite saddened really.
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If by salt you mean a powdery residue, that is normal. Just don't pour water on the beads. Spritzing with a spray bottle is fine(the method I use). You can also put them in a Tupperware with a damp sponge for a few days.:-)
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The powdery residue was in the bag when i got them, that looks different to the salt that came from them after I lightly sprayed them. It looked like salt like 2 pinches of salt when you season a meal.
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Have you tried emailing/calling Heartfelt?
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Not yet. I dont want to bother him with this at the moment as on the site they are closed with a family emergency and the last thing you wanna think about is work when you have one of those.
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Understandable
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Toshiba you can probably answer this for me. I am looking to pick up 1lb of beads when they reopen and have back in stock (should have bought other day). Did they come in a bag already?? Curious if I need to buy a bag as well for the beads or if they come in one.
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Hi Steve. You can buy a large mesh bag from them or a small mesh bag which splits the 1lb into 2 little bags. The choice is upto you and the size you need. They come in a bag but hats only for shipping just plastic, the other mesh bags allow them to breath and expel humidity. Personally i got the 1lb large bag, i kinda wish i got the 2 smaller bags and split up the 1lb as you can have it on different shelves.
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You can look at petco and get "fish tank media bags" and they work just fine for beads :-)
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I've got the 1lbs mesh bag as well and it works perfectly for my set up. It sits in the middle of the cooler with boxes stacked on either side. Holds Rock solid 65%. It's all gonna depends on how your set up is going to be.
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Or just put them in a bowl or a coffin or empty cigar box :-)
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My humi is 5 cubic feet so the calculator came to 0.8lb so a couple ounces over the reconmended minimum. Gonna see how this pans out, i've got my stogies in tupperware with boveda packs while the heartfelt beads are seasoning my humi. Will be interested to see if they hold the proper Rh.

Didnt have any cracking, popping or spliting like i've read can happen, used the sprayer on fine mist and end up with salt run off lol. Gonna go cry in the corner until I find out if they still work lol :-)
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Rather than using the beads to season your humidor you would be better off using a damp (with distilled water) sponge. The beads do not supply enough moisture to properly season a humidor in a reasonable amount of time. Just my :-).
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Thanks for your reply. Im allowing 3-4 weeks for seasoning, im in no hurry (as all cigars are in tupperware with bovedas), just hope the beads hold the correct RH. I have a glass of distilled water in there also.

Yesterday was 47%
Today 51% RH.


When i checked the beads in a ziploc bag the gauge read from 47%RH straight to 63%RH in 1 hour. The reason I put it in the ziploc only an hour was to have a rough idea on how they beads are funcitoning and then put them back in the humi. Also being such a large bag of beads the small ziploc has very little space other than the bag and the hygrometer, so it was a quick test, one would hope if leaving for 24 hours the humidity would of continued to climb in the ziploc.
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I think I have to agree with Cigar Nut. Beads are meant to keep a 65% rh. When seasoning the rh in the humidor should get into the 80s which the beads would fight to keep it down. That being said beads aren't really meant to be used for seasoning. A damp sponge in a bowl is more effective. :-)
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Really going to have to go with Michael on this one, I don't think it matters how long you leave beads in a humidor they aren't going to season it, if anything wouldn't the humidor lower the RH set point of the beads, the fact the wood is absorbing the moisture and not releasing it ... ?

Also, beads are only effective to a certain point, I believe it's something like the top 2" of beads are about the active depth, most likely anything under that isn't really having too much effect on the RH, this is why people tend to put them in bags or in the tubes, so you get more active area out of your beads and not just the top couple of inches of them in a bowl. Before I had the bags I would actually cut the lid off a cigar box and fill that with beads and pop it in, that way the depth was only two inches and it was a wide surface area.

I am by no means an expert and again just my :-)
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For the recyclers in the crowd, your ladyfriend's old hose can be adapted into something that works fine.
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I am offended at you calling me "my ladyfriend's old hose", and thus I refuse to be adapted into anything.


:-)
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