Rehydrating Bovedas

[danthebugman]

It's come up in several threads whether or not Bovedas can be brought back to life once they dry out. I'm not sure if you're "supposed" to or not and the Boveda website mentions nothing about it (that I can find). However, I've been doing it for about a year and a half now and I know others have been doing it longer with no ill effects to the humidity regulating properties of the Boveda pack. So here's how I do it...

What you'll need:

You'll need something airtight to revive the Bovedas in. I use a plastic canister. You may also use a Tupperware or similar container. The biggest concern is that it is airtight. One or more shot glasses or similar container. A couple paper towels. Distilled water. Desiccated Bovedas.

Step one:

Fold up the paper towels and stuff them in the shot glasses. I fold mine so that they fan out a little. This increases the surface area for the water to evaporate from and I've found it speeds up the process versus just filling a shot glass with water.

Step two:

Fill shot glasses with water and allow paper towels to soak it up. Then top it off (careful not to get too close to the top though or it'll spill easily).

Step three:

Place shot glasses in airtight container with Bovedas. Let it sit until they're squishy again. Different RH will require a shorter or longer time to rehydrate. I toss different RH in together, the lower RH will be done first (i.e. 65% before 70%).

Once they're completely squishy, use 'em or put 'em in a plastic bag (I prefer freezer bags with the double seal and double bag, but maybe I'm paranoid) until you need them. Works best if you have a cycle where some are hydrating while you're using the others.

Hope that helps everyone with questions about this. If anyone does it different or has some other tips they'd like to share, fire away!

Edit 11/27/2013: After a few incidents of our cats getting into the spare room and knocking the rehydration chamber off the bookshelf I decided to try something new. I put some kitty litter (the same kind used to regulate humidity in humidors) in a panty hoe and drenched the kitty litter with distilled water. Put that in the chamber with the Bovedas and it works great...plus no mess. Now I'm considering working in some kind of false bottom to fill with kitty litter, but this may be overkill...still mulling it over.

Dan

 

[zirotti]

Nice write-up Dan! I love Bovedas and use them in all my desktop and portable humis. Constantly tossing them can get cost prohibitive so thanks for this.

 

[gentimmy]

nice shot glasses, and nice write-up:grin:

gonna give this a shot

 

[apaniagua]

Thanks for this Dan! I got one 65% kinda dry, but it is easy yo rehydrate them in a country where the RH is constantly 80% haha.

 

[thejavaman]

I was just thinking about doing this today. Thanks for the write-up & tips, Dan.

 

[Jfire]

http://www.botl.org/community/forums/showthread.php/29538-Humipack-Recharge-Kit?highlight=humipack
Been a while but great minds think alike Dan!

 

[danthebugman]

nice shot glasses

Yeah, I got about two dozen left overs from our wedding three years ago. For future reference, get less than you think you'll need :laugh:.

Thanks for this Dan! I got one 65% kinda dry, but it is easy yo rehydrate them in a country where the RH is constantly 80% haha.

True that. Probably a little cost prohibitive for me to fly down to the DR and rehydrate them...though the trip would be fun :grin:.

Been a while but great minds think alike Dan!

Ah ha! See I thought there had to be something like this already, guess my search skills aren't up to snuff.

Dan

 

[jpmccutc]

Great idea. I'm tired of throwing them out!

 

[aherzing]

How long does it usually take, Dan?

 

[danthebugman]

How long does it usually take, Dan?

With the set up above, 65% Bovedas usually are back to full hydration in about 7 days. 72% take about 10. The big honkin' one takes about two weeks if completely dry. I usually don't let it get to that point though and so it usually takes about a week to fill back up.

Dan

 

[CigarGavin]

Awesome idea, be looking into doing this ever since I moved away from boveda's, can't wait to try it out myself thanks!

 

[Rupe]

Thanks a Million Dan! I requested instructions earlier on another thread and GoingPostal PMed me this afternoon with basically the same procedure. Big props to both of you!! :thumbsup:

I like the bovedas for my desktops because they are low profile and do a great job regulating things but I stopped buying them because it was just too expensive to throw them away. Now that I know how to resurrect them I am going to start using them again.

I have only been on this forum for 2 months now but I have learned SO much in just that short period of time. Thanks again to all of the brothers here who have helped me out with their advice (and bombs). :tiphat: I am a much better man and a much better smoker because of it!

Rupe

 

[thedismaltrade]

Many thanks for this tip!

 

[daniyal]

While this works perfectly well it is a little time consuming. If you have some form of active humidification tossing the boveda packs in a tupperdore or coolidor with the active humidification restores them in around 24 hours. Thanks for the write up Dan!

 

[slevy007]

ya know, I have been on Cigarpass for years... and I had never heard of this trick. But this is awesome... I just hope I can get it to work reliably.. no doubt I will though! I just setup up a bunch in a big tupperware container, and put it up in the attic.. Now its time to wait...........

 

[Treinenwj]

You need to change the thread title now, to "JFire's Rehydrating Bovedas".

 

[Nemo]

You need to change the thread title now, to "JFire's Rehydrating Bovedas".

+1! That was great tip! I had heard about when i first started on another forum and had forgotten all about it, until he posted it. I now have three almost rehydrated boveda's! Shouldn't be but a couple more days.

 

[slevy007]

So my first try at rehydrating bovedas seemed to have worked.. some were totally dessicated, some just a little moist... Only one problem the paper towel appears to have a little black mold on it, and their still is distilled water in the glass (cut down plastic cup)... is that normal? Is that going to be a problem for the bovedas that were exposed to it?
Just wondering...

 

[SDShark]

Awesome thread! Never thought I could bring these back to life, I just toss them. I will give this a shot! Thanks, Dan.

 

[GoingPostal]

So my first try at rehydrating bovedas seemed to have worked.. some were totally dessicated, some just a little moist... Only one problem the paper towel appears to have a little black mold on it, and their still is distilled water in the glass (cut down plastic cup)... is that normal? Is that going to be a problem for the bovedas that were exposed to it?
Just wondering...

I'm no expert but mold is never a good thing. First question is did you use distilled water? If you did you may want to not use paper towels and just use the water. I use florist foam to rehydrate bovedas cause they are less prone to growing mold.