IIRC, calcium chloride absorbs water like crazy and is one of the
chemicals over which we (when I worked in chemical labs a few decades
ago) used to pass certain gases to dry them. But it is not highly
soluble in water and would take a lot of water to wash it out.

MB


On 05/16/04 09:44 pm w_tom put fingers to keyboard and launched the
following message into cyberspace:

Calcium Chloride was used to break up ice last winter. It
is now inside plywood and causes that wood to constantly
become wet. How does one neutralize or remove CaCl from
construction lumber. Removal, unfortunately is not an
option. Mold or mildew would be the long term adverse
consequence. How is CaCl neutralized?