"D.M. Procida" wrote in
message
...
I have a little plastic thing from Woolworths into which I pour calcium
chloride crystals, to act as a moisture absorber in an under-stairs
cupboard which is damper than it ought to be.

What I'm left with after some time is a liquid and a solid mass.

If I pour off the liquid, and leave the solid mass in a warm dry place,
say on top of a radiator, will it be any good at absorbing moisture from
the air once again?

Are there like to be any nasty substances released into the air as it
dries?

Why am I left with a solid and a liquid, not just some dissolved calcium
chloride?

If you leave it long enough you will get just liquid, the situation that you
describe is because the liquid is saturated.

I wouldn't bother trying to dry the stuff, you'll have an awful job
hammering the resultant solid block of the stuff back up, and it's pretty
cheap!

Julian.