Heartfelt beads or cat litter beads?

[Hermit]

Originally Posted by madurolover

Yeah and we all know that companies that make cat litter make it for humidifying cigars
while the beads Heartfelt sells are used in such places as the Smithsonian and other museums and institutes to preserve such things as the original Constitution. Wonder why all those curators don't save the taxpayer a couple of dollars and use kitty litter instead

Just another example of government waste.

[chippewastud79]

Originally Posted by buttah

Yep because Heartfelt manufacturers their own beads. Keep buying that lol

Are you implying that Hearfelt sells kitty litter in different packaging? or that they don't make the beads in-house?

I'll stick with the products designed for regulating humidity, not for soaking up cat pee. You invest a couple hundred to a couple thousand dollars in this hobby, so why not use a product designed for its intended use. But then again we could all light our cigars with gas station lighters or the cigarette lighter in our vehicles, hell just try a camp fire or rubbing two sticks together, but most tend to buy specialized cigar lighters.

[Wylie]

After reading numerous posts on this topic - I decided to give the litter a go (blue & white crystals). Popped open the humidifier and took out the oasis, ran some litter through a strainer to get all the dust and small particles out, filled the humidifier and left the little screen in, sprayed about 75 % with distilled H2O and put it in the humidor - took 1 day to stabilize at 66% RH at 71.5 F and has not moved for 3 weeks. Also, just to clarify a point - the litter does release moisture - it's the mechanism that 'traps odour' buy absorbing cat pee and then slowly releasing the water content in the air leaving ammonia etc... in the crystals. I was skeptical at first but seems that this stuff is gold!

[dubels]

Yeah I first tried the cat litter in a tupperware box for about two weeks and it stayed around 68-70 for the whole two weeks. I use it in most of my humidors now.

[Stinkdyr]

Half cello/half naked.......and kitty litter everywhere!!

[Sigarz]

Interesting topic but as was said before, for the tens of hundreds of dollars spent on my cigars I would leave kitty poopoo catching material alone. the half pound bag of heartfelt beads I bought a few years ago have been going strong and are unimaginably reliable, and worth every penny.

[zipa]

Oh boy... Silica gel is silica gel, no matter what the packaging it comes in.

Silica gel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Cat litter

Silica gel is also used as cat litter[4], by itself or in combination with more traditional materials, such as clays including bentonite. It is trackless and virtually odorless, albeit expensive. Silica in this form can be a cost effective way for private people to easily purchase silica gel for application in such things as keeping tools rust free in damp environments, long term storage, and preservation of dried food for long term storage."

EDIT:

Found some interesting snippets in Shilala's post as well:

"I've heard a lot of argument about the "quality" of kitty litter beads possibly being lower than that of the other RH beads. I spoke to the manufacturer (who coincidentally makes all the grades I used) and they are manufactured to identical specifications."

"I found exactly ONE manufacturer of silica based beads in the world."

Potato - po-tah-toe

[bilingue23]

Heartfelt beads are made for maintaining the proper RH for cigar storage. Kitty Litter is made for soaking up cat pee and poo. This is the one and only reason people steer clear of buying heartfelt beads instead of kitty litter. If i marketed Kitty litter (not in its original packaging) as some sort of humidity bead for cigar humidors, everyone would buy it. They might even be willing to pay 5 times as much as what i actually paid for it (see where i'm going with this?). It's all about marketing. People feel better about puchasing the more expensive option, since they are specifically marketed for that purpose. And we obviously know what kitty litter is marketed for. Anyway, the point is that the kitty litter silica beads work just as well for maintaining RH. I have been using them in my coolidor for awhile now, with no issues at all. They maintain constant 70RH and they are foolproof (just as their more expensive counterpart). I am in no way saying that Heartfelt beads dont work, or dont work as good as kitty litter silica. Just saying that the kl silica works just as well, and is much much cheaper. Everyone saying that they dont trust their "thousands of dollars of sticks with kitty litter beads" is just trying to make themselves feel better about purchasing something that could be had for much cheaper. Just my two cents.

[Sigarz]

ok ok sheesh...ill give them a try.

good point about the marketing!

[bilingue23]

Also, saying that kl beads shouldnt or cant be used for controlling humidity in a humidor is like saying you cant use a cooler to store your cigars, since storing cigars it's not what it is manufactured for....

[madurolover]

This post says all I need to know.

Are Kitty Litter crystals as effective as Heartfelt beads?

If you use the Kitty Litter and are happy with it then all I say is more power to you. I, however will continue to use a product that is trusted in art galleries and museums around the world and also happens to be sold by a great BOTL.

[bilingue23]

I'm not trying to convince anyone to switch from HF to KL beads. Just trying to shed some light on the subject, since i'm getting tired of hearing the "im not trusting my thousand dollar collection with something that cats pee and shit on" excuse. It's all about marketing, that's my point. Coolers work well for storing cigars right? And what are coolers made for? Keeping cold food and drinks, cold. BUt guess what else it does well as? A cheap solution for storing cigars. Is a humidor "better" for storing cigars because they cost more than coolers? And because they are marketed specifically for storing cigars? I'm sure that point could be argued. But people have been using coolers for cigar storage for years, and their sticks hold up just fine, and smoke just fine.

[Trex]

Sorry for asking but Is this special kitty litter or your just your regular ones. Any specific name brands?

trying to figure out since i need to bring my humidity down asap until i can buy/afford the beads.


thanks
mike