Disposable Dehumidifiers: Cheap, Effective Mold Fighters

Spring cleaning time as come again, and with it a number of little purchases I never would have thought to make before living in Japan. As anyone who has been in the country for more and a few minutes can likely attest, this place is humid, and dry air is so rare that it is considered a weather condition worth warning people about. The humidity is such that clean clothes, even folded and stored in a dresser drawer, can rot and grow mold due in part to the dresser's proximity to a sea-facing window or door, as I have personally witnessed. In my homeland, a washed and dry pair of jeans can stay on top of a dresser-- not even in a dresser-- for weeks, undisturbed, and grow nothing. Not so in Japan. 

So how do you stave off this attack of the less than comfortable grossness that threatens to invade your wardrobe and possessions? One of the cheaper options is this, the disposable dehumidifier. They come in packs of varying sizes but I got three for less than 200 yen at Homac, so they aren't too expensive regardless. This generic option is one of the more basic models.

Ready for action.

To get the thing working, take it out of the cardboard and remove the foil lid. In some models, this may include removing the a plastic over-grating cap, which should be replaced afterward. Then, stick it in your closet and forget about it. Do make sure it is in a location where it is unlikely to be knocked over, as the plastic container will fill with water as time goes by and no one wants that soaking into the closet floor or, worse yet, your
 belongings. 

Last year's model, filled with dusty water that I will pour down the drain before tossing the container in the garbage for plastics/nonburnables.

    So if you are wandering the stores this season and wonder what these little oddly shaped containers are for, this is it. Sucking water our of the air and keeping your closet mold-free.