Prevent moisture/condensation in a sealed bucket?

[Gore]

Long story short...I store my auto detailing supplies in 5 gallon jobber buckets and I use the lids so that I can stack them...I have a lot of detailing ****.

Of course the residual moisture in the hoses, and mitts, and whatnot causes a ton of condensation/moisture to build up in the buckets when they sit for an extended amount of time with the lids on...and mold starts to grow in the sponges.

Is this something that is as simple as drilling a few holes in the lids to vent air...put something in the bucket to absorb moisture?

Any advice?

 

[Radix2]

Long story short...I store my auto detailing supplies in 5 gallon jobber buckets and I use the lids so that I can stack them...I have a lot of detailing ****.

Of course the residual moisture in the hoses, and mitts, and whatnot causes a ton of condensation/moisture to build up in the buckets when they sit for an extended amount of time with the lids on...and mold starts to grow in the sponges.

Is this something that is as simple as drilling a few holes in the lids to vent air...put something in the bucket to absorb moisture?

Any advice?

Let everythingdry before you close it up. Don't really see any other way.

 

[mike93lx]

You could use dessicants, but with that much moisture, you'll spend a lot of time and effort drying them out.

Instead of buckets, how about milk crates?

Also, check out the Ridgid Pro Box. They can lock together, which might make storage and transportation easier.

 

[Showkey]

Let everythingdry before you close it up. Don't really see any other way.

X 100...........store all things dry............ever loan a tent out and found it was put away wet.

 

[kbs2244]

Vent them
A small computer style fan blowing across the holes may help pull the damp air out.

 

[fowldarr]

I assume that you are drying items, but it's that little bit of residual moisture that you can't quite get out that is giving you fits. Here are my suggestions

1) use those little packets that come in stuff to keep the moisture out, you know what I'm talking about.

2) I'm not sure how well this would work, but a good tip anyway, when storing grain for the inevitable apocalypse you can put a roll of toilet paper in the middle of the 5 gallon bucket, it keeps the grain from rotting and ensures an extra role of toilet paper when shtf. (pun intended). In your case, maybe a couple of fresh dry rags, or absorbent paper product (paper towels?)

 

[rburke65]

Do you just use the lids so you can stack the buckets? Then as said, just drill some holes in the lids and/or the sides of the buckets to vent the moister.

 

[Gore]

I'll try to catch up with all the suggestions in one shot...

I do try to dry everything, I even blow out the hoses with compressed air, but leaving it out to dry 100% would just create a huge mess

I was thinking of a dessicant, but on a larger scale. I made some for my boxing gear by filling socks with cedar chips...helped with smell too. The toilet paper thing may work...or even a sack of rice...

I only use the lids so that the buckets can be stacked. I would prefer to put holes in the lid vs the bucket, as I use the buckets for washing the cars. Would holes provide enough airflow to allow the condensation to escape, or avoid building up?

 

[Mike70]

It may help some, but not if another bucket on top is covering the holes.

 

[rayra]

Put the 'wet' stuff in their own ziploc bags, if you must store those elements in certain buckets. Otherwise just put all the wet stuff in the same bucket with vented lid, or an open bucket that gets stacked on top of the lidded buckets.

If you want to get more complicated, fill some socks with instant rice, put one in each bucket. OR go to a craft store and get 'flower drying crystals' - silica gel - same stuff as dessicant packets sold to use in gunsafes, just a lot cheaper.

 

[Radix2]

The thing with any of these desiccant/absorbent ideas, is that you have to dry that additional item regularly (Like in an oven ) or it will go from helping to hurting...if you are going to do that, might as well really really dry your wash stuff?

Bite the bullet and ventilate some "storage buckets" and stack the wash buckets nearby.

What about drilling a bunch of 1/2 in holes around the top of the bucket ? You could still use it for washing below that level, but it will still breath even with a top on?

 

[Gore]

Radix2...we might have a winner with that suggestion of drilling the holes at the top of the bucket...shouldn't affect anything doing that.

I think this might be one of those hard to picture things...but getting the stuff completely dry is probably impossible...considering I have multiple 50' flex hoses, and odd shaped brushes and whatnot...stuff that wouldn't fit in a 1 gal bag. I agree though that creating a soggy "dessicant" could spell trouble.

I could see putting a dessicant of some kind in there for a week and then pulling it out when it sucked all of the moisture out...of course I'll probably forget to and leave it for a month lol.