On Sat, 09 Sep 2006 11:56:02 GMT, (Doug Miller)
wrote:

:In article , Dan_Musicant wrote:
:
::
::rice is pretty hygroscopic.
:
:Yes, I always have some in my salt shakers. Would it make a decent
:dessicant?
:
:While you're farting around looking for a dessicant which you don't even need,
:your plaster is sitting in its bag in your garage absorbing moisture from the
:air and getting ruined. I told you a week ago what you needed to preserve it.
:Buy the damn bucket and lid, and be done with it.

Actually, I already had the dessicant as of about 4 days ago. However, I
hadn't seen the sun for several days and didn't want to repackage the
plaster in cool, moist conditions and decided to wait for the sun to
return, which it did yesterday afternoon. I started this thread with no
idea of using a dessicant, only solid plastic containers. However, I
thought it best to ask about the whys and wherefores on the subject
stated in the subject of this thread.

I only got the idea to include dessicant on recommendation from
obviously knowledgable posters in this thread. I already had the plastic
containers I intended to use. They may or may not be as air tight as the
$8 plastic 5 gallon containers I could buy at Home Depot or similar, but
they will undoubtedly be more convenient to use. They are approximately
1 gallon containers.

I'm glad I included dessicant (CaCl2), and have an idea that I did the
right thing.

Not that I haven't been guilty of "farting around" on some jobs.

I also decided not to keep the plaster in my garage after all. I have
the 1 gallon plastic containers (12 of them for the 100 lb. of plaster)
stored in the house, under a stairwell. There will be MUCH less moisture
to deal with there, at least until the garage is renovated.

Dan