Truck Camping Tip: Dry & Dry

Waste not… Those of us who love the outdoors have a vested interest in Reduce and Recycle. No one wants to camp in a landfill. Anything we can do to reduce the amount of trash serves us well.

I live in a very damp environment, literally a rainforest. I have had to throw away many items due to mold damage and that just ticks me off.  After spending a small fortune on DampRid for car and home only to have to then throw the used bags into a landfill or pour the weird liquid down the toilet, I knew there had to be a better solution.

Enter Dry & Dry.

This reusable desiccant is appropriately named. It absorbs moisture in its tiny silica beads, then you can dry out the beads in a slow oven or, as I did, on top of a wood stove. And they are non-toxic.

I put up a photo of my truck camper build and received many inquiries about this amazing product. So many, in fact, that I decided to put up this little blog post to share with everyone how Dry & Dry works for me. Condensation in a camper is a big challenge and is a highly discussed topic on the camper forum. My solution has worked well to manage excess moisture and here is how I did it.( I have included links to the items you will need at the bottom of this post.)

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I made small mesh pouches to hang around my camper, especially near my face while sleeping since that seems to be when most of the moisture inside the camper occurs. I used non-cotton mesh fabric to avoid mold and doubled the fabric, then sewed little pouches and covered the edges with double-fold bias tape. I extended this tape to make a handle. I used sticky-back Velcro for the closure because sewing through Velcro on such a narrow area is not fun. (this Here is how simple drying the beads actually is. The directions say to put them in a slow oven (about 225F) for a half hour or so. Where I am, we use propane which produces a lot of moisture as it combusts; a “wet” heat, they call it. The wood stove was already burning and wood makes a “dry” heat so I decided to try that first. I spread the beads on a tray and set it on my wood stove. I stirred them around to encourage even drying. Once the green beads turned orange, I took them off the stove and set them aside to cool.

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To make refilling the pouches easier, I emptied the tray into a bag, then poured the bag of beads into each pouch. I have recharged these beads several times and am very happy with the job they do. If I do spill them, I just sweep them up. Unlike when I spilled the DampRid tub which got liquid everywhere.

You don’t have to make pouches. You can place the beads in pretty jars and put them wherever you need a bit of moisture control.

Have you tried any of the moisture-control products on the market? What room do you find needs the most help? Post your tips and questions in the comments. I look forward to hearing from you!

These are affiliate links. If you follow a link and make a purchase, it costs you nothing and yet pays me a few cents referral. Thank you!

The hook and loop tape I used on my entire truck camper project, including these little desiccant pouches

The amazing Dry & Dry!

A fine mesh fabric, there are lots of colors besides this pale shade.

Double-fold bias tape makes it super easy to edge the pouches