Dealing with condensation

[Steve Q]

As you will all know my A6 has now been stood sometime and has started to get condensation inside the cabin. I fear this is going to start doing damage as I noticed one of my interior window stickers has started to go mouldy.

I must add, I do have the car covered with a tarpaulin (not a car cover as I still wanted the car to breath so the tarp covers the roof and tops of the doors to where the glass meets the door skin. 

I've have experimented with salt and one of the moisture bags which did clear some of it. 

Since then I have placed coarse salt inside tupperware containers and placed them on the dash and I have invested in a Silent night 2L dehumidifier. 

I'll keep you posted on how I get on. 

Pic 1 the condensation. 

Pic 2 the moisture bag. 

Pic 3 the coarse salt. 

Pic 4 coarse salt in the tupperware. 

Pic 5 the table salt I had used originally which had got stuck together after absorbing moisture. 

I got the idea of using coarse salt from here: 

https://www.thescottishfarmer.co.uk/machinery/motoring/23147145.stop-condensation-cars-tips-uk-drivers-winter/#:~:text=Expert life hack to get rid of condensation from car windows&text=The main life hack involves,spilling all over the car.

Here's the link to the dehumidifier: 

https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/silentnight-dehumidifier-4439990

I'll keep you posted on how I get on and if anyone has any further suggestions then please let me know 🙂

[coupe4]

Hi steve.the salt is a great trick,we use bowls of it everywhere in our mobile home every winter when its not in use and its amazing the amount of moisture it collects,

theres also small dehumidifiers in dealz [poundland] for about 1.50 euro each and theyre brilliant for the car.

[Steve Q]

29 minutes ago, coupe4 said:

Hi steve.the salt is a great trick,we use bowls of it everywhere in our mobile home every winter when its not in use and its amazing the amount of moisture it collects,

theres also small dehumidifiers in dealz [poundland] for about 1.50 euro each and theyre brilliant for the car.

Thanks for that. Without sounding thick, can the salt by dried out and reused? 

Never seen dehumidifiers in our Poundlands! 

[coupe4]

i think youd be better off using standard table salt,i dont think it can be dried out and reused,maybe the store is called B and M?,its called dealz here in ireland but they are an english outlet.

[cliffcoggin]

Steve.

I use an electric dehumidifier in my workshop as a cheaper alternative to heating, and it is very successful in preventing naked steel tools rusting by extracting a litre or more per day of water from the atmosphere. As far as I recall it uses 600 watts for six hours per day. (I have it on a timer so that it runs mainly on cheap overnight electricity. I also set it to stop at a somewhat higher humidity setting than the "normal" setting.

If you don't fancy running an electric device in the car you will find that containers of calcium chloride are more effective than sodium chloride (salt) at extracting moisture because it has a greater affinity for water. This is the sort of thing I mean:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ANSIO-Dehumidifier-Condensation-Moisture-Dehumidifiers/dp/B015AOGP1S?crid=B996OUG3WFWH&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.FVZ5pjN9QD7zShhv5-NWBs2nzt4E7i2tuiOc7Dpz6hCeIN_0kNcO_2rec-koKry4Eoe-Ojktf4BS4WovCQQqEDBuqr-fY9iao7KhkDFrbI_q-_hA-bcv4YR9glvBnC4cay4uHToaSJIyxNJKMJwNe24Au4k1JMAhajccK41MQdM950D5LVwBq1eX9MqevnFZUYpXS5ujTORp6o9Nzogf8w0eG0wc9FJptR-T1FoppSo.tdOXAsBl3go4PMVFOtm-m10UMp-8w02i3apCNfGY704&dib_tag=se&keywords=dehumidifier%2Bcrystals&nsdOptOutParam=true&qid=1732828908&sprefix=dehimidifier%2Bcrystals%2Caps%2C111&sr=8-4&th=1

Both sodium and calcium chlorides can be regenerated by heating in a very hot oven.

Cliff.

[coupe4]

the ones Cliff has posted are the same ones i was on about ,they are very good to extract moisture in a car,definitely worth putting one or two into the boot and some in the front

[Steve Q]

58 minutes ago, coupe4 said:

i think youd be better off using standard table salt,i dont think it can be dried out and reused,maybe the store is called B and M?,its called dealz here in ireland but they are an english outlet.

Thank you. I did use normal tablets salt which did absorb quite a bit of moisture but was recommended the coarse salt so will see if that's better 🙂 

43 minutes ago, cliffcoggin said:

Steve.

I use an electric dehumidifier in my workshop as a cheaper alternative to heating, and it is very successful in preventing naked steel tools rusting by extracting a litre or more per day of water from the atmosphere. As far as I recall it uses 600 watts for six hours per day. (I have it on a timer so that it runs mainly on cheap overnight electricity. I also set it to stop at a somewhat higher humidity setting than the "normal" setting.

If you don't fancy running an electric device in the car you will find that containers of calcium chloride are more effective than sodium chloride (salt) at extracting moisture because it has a greater affinity for water. This is the sort of thing I mean:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ANSIO-Dehumidifier-Condensation-Moisture-Dehumidifiers/dp/B015AOGP1S?crid=B996OUG3WFWH&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.FVZ5pjN9QD7zShhv5-NWBs2nzt4E7i2tuiOc7Dpz6hCeIN_0kNcO_2rec-koKry4Eoe-Ojktf4BS4WovCQQqEDBuqr-fY9iao7KhkDFrbI_q-_hA-bcv4YR9glvBnC4cay4uHToaSJIyxNJKMJwNe24Au4k1JMAhajccK41MQdM950D5LVwBq1eX9MqevnFZUYpXS5ujTORp6o9Nzogf8w0eG0wc9FJptR-T1FoppSo.tdOXAsBl3go4PMVFOtm-m10UMp-8w02i3apCNfGY704&dib_tag=se&keywords=dehumidifier%2Bcrystals&nsdOptOutParam=true&qid=1732828908&sprefix=dehimidifier%2Bcrystals%2Caps%2C111&sr=8-4&th=1

Both sodium and calcium chlorides can be regenerated by heating in a very hot oven.

Cliff.

Thanks Cliff 🙂 when I was looking at dehumidifiers I was shocked at the difference in running costs. For example the one I've chosen will cost around £175 per year if run all year round. Whereas the 4l one I was originally going to get was going to cost £525 a year to run! 

Thank you for the suggestion of the calcium chloride, I'll definitely give that a go. 

Not going to lie, I'm slightly worried about running a dehumidifier in the car to be honest, but need must to preserve the car.