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Hi

When I was in Taiwan, I often complained about how the humidity never drops below 80% and it was almost impossible to bring that down without buying a dehumidifier which is kinda bulky and uses a lot of electricity (based on the fact that they have to be run continuously to keep the humidity down).

Now I just arrived to Germany yesterday, and I have the opposite problem. The humidity is never more than 20% and because of that, I am having skin problems. I suppose for instruments that's worse than too much humidity too.

Is there any way to keep the humidity UP and keep it there? I tried leaving wet laundry in the room and that helps until the laundry dries, and while I can put a wet towel on the radiator, I think I might have put so many towels there that the radiator couldn't work.

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

Some people are just never happy!
Seriously, I know here in UK you can buy a ceramic porous pot/container with a wick type material which can be hooked onto a radiator and filled with water to help humidify a room like you will see here http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=sr_err_sr_1?ie=UTF8&search-alias=aps&field-keywords=B000WZAKGM%20
Not very big, but may help, and I'm sure you could make up something similar yourself, for next to nothing, even a wire frame, reservoir and a piece of wet towelling material as a "wick", you get the idea.
Sorry, maybe this should have been "off topic".

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

In the wonderful land of Northern New England we use AC or/and dehumidifier in the summer, and humidifiers in the winter.

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Laurent Brondel
West Paris, Maine - USA
http://www.laurentbrondel.com/

If you are there on a visit and will be leaving soon, try getting some lotion to apply to your skin. If you moved there permanently, you should get a humidifier.

Indeed this year in upstate NY it has been particularly bad. In addition to having a built-in system, I bought a stand alone unit to keep the basement shop area above 35% and am pretty much having to fill it every day to keep it there.
The stand alond unit was around $100.

During winter, my house has a humidifier in the HVAC system that keeps it pretty close to 45% all of the time when the heat is running. In the shop, I have a mini split system, and I have to fill my humidifier twice a day with 1.5 gallons of filtered water to keep the shop in the 40 - 45% range. So, I'm pumping 3 gallons of water a day into the air in the shop. It works fine, but it's a pain. In Spring, Summer and Fall, the dehumidifier works 24/7, but, fortunately, has a hose that dumps the water out in the plant bed. The Hydrangeas love it!

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Heat less helps also a bit to stay rather with something around 30% RH than 20%.
In wintertime I take care that the room temperature never will exceed 20° Celcius, 18° C and wear a pullover is even better.
This, in combination with a humidifier will help. But a too small humidifier in a big room will not do much.
Good luck!

So I guess it's time to change your signature.

Colorado is similarly dry. If it is just your skin that you're concerned about, I find a couple of things make a big difference here.

First is drinking enough water. It is easy to get dehydrated in the dry air, especially with our altitude too. I notice it in my skin when I haven't had enough to drink. It really makes a difference when I'm drinking 3-4 liters a day instead of 1-2. I imagine if I were in Germany, the beer would make it hard to make sure I got enough water.

The other is showers. Long hot showers dry you out. Short cooler ones don't as much. The type of soap and stuff you use can help too.

Mike

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Mike Lindstrom

Hi Tai Fu, here in Southeast Alaska where I have been living for 6 months, I have to switch between using a humidifier or dehumidifier quite often in the winter. It is because of the heating. When the temperature gets above freezing (it also gets rainy) there is also an increase in relative humidity and I use my 30 pint Kenmore dehumidifier in my 150 square-foot shop. When the temperature gets above freezing (it gets very clear or it snows) I use a 3 gallon warm mist humidifier, and sometimes if it is very cold this will not get the relative humidity to 40-45% so I just boil some water on a pot. Of course I do not do this if I'm not there, I just have to let it be and let it drop to 35% or whatever for the night. Southeast Alaska is one of the rainiest places in the planet, so most of the year I think I will have to use only my dehumidifier.

best regards,

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Luis Fernandez de Cordoba
www.guitarrasfdc.com