# moisture in personal safe



## agross (Jan 18, 2009)

don't know if this is where to post this, but my wife and i have a small safe , about two foot by two foot, in our closet that we keep important documents in, passports, birth certificates and such things, i happened to look in there today and every thing fealt damp, our passports were all curled up and had some kind of mold type stuff on them, what can i do , we had a couple of the dry packs (or whatever they are called) in there already but that didn't seem to work


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## Scott K (Aug 26, 2008)

I think you have to make sure you open it up a couple times per week. Keeping it closed for 6 months at a time is trouble.


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## jpollman (Jan 14, 2001)

Try som DampRid. Get a container and keep it in there. That should do the trick.

http://www.damprid.com/playvideointro.html

John


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## Flyhack (Jul 12, 2009)

agross said:


> don't know if this is where to post this, but my wife and i have a small safe , about two foot by two foot, in our closet that we keep important documents in, passports, birth certificates and such things, i happened to look in there today and every thing fealt damp, our passports were all curled up and had some kind of mold type stuff on them, what can i do , we had a couple of the dry packs (or whatever they are called) in there already but that didn't seem to work


I would work on where the moisture is coming from and how its getting into the safe. That is not normal. The safe should be rather stable and most are air tight. It should not be allowing your documents to gather moisture unless you are subjecting it to wide temp and humidity swings or only opening it when it's 100% RH outside allowing the papers to soak up humidity and then sealing it up.


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## agross (Jan 18, 2009)

Flyhack said:


> I would work on where the moisture is coming from and how its getting into the safe. That is not normal. The safe should be rather stable and most are air tight. It should not be allowing your documents to gather moisture unless you are subjecting it to wide temp and humidity swings or only opening it when it's 100% RH outside allowing the papers to soak up humidity and then sealing it up.


there are no temperature swings, it sits on the carpeted floor in the closet, it's not covered up or tucked away, i keep the house at 68 degrees, it is rarely opened


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## Flyhack (Jul 12, 2009)

OK so is there excessive moisture in the closet? Is the safe sealed?

Paper itself can be a moisture magnet so if you have a lot of moisture in the air it will soak it up if the safe is not sealed.

I have the same sized safe in the closet hardly opened, but am not having mold issues. Mine is a fire safe and I know my safe is sealed and I keep my house relatively dry (less than 35%RH)
.


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## agross (Jan 18, 2009)

Flyhack said:


> OK so is there excessive moisture in the closet? Is the safe sealed?
> 
> Paper itself can be a moisture magnet so if you have a lot of moisture in the air it will soak it up if the safe is not sealed.
> 
> ...


 no i wouldn't say there is moisture in the closet, and yes the safe is sealed, and it is a fireproof safe, and i as well keep the house relatively dry, also a friend stopped over today and he has a similar safe and he had the exact same thing happen, paper damp, passport curled up and a gold colored mold on it


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## Flyhack (Jul 12, 2009)

Well at least its not black mold. The bottom line is that you have moisture accumulating in the safe from another source. I would borrow one of those moisture meters (the one with two prongs to measure moisture in porous materials) and check the content of the papers ect... and the walls, floor and ceiling of that closet. If you test enough areas you shoulod be able to find the high concentration area.


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## Downstate Doug (May 8, 2001)

I keep a large desiccant pack in mine. I store part of my stamp collection there.

DD


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## Wendy (Oct 6, 2008)

Is the closet against an exterior wall? could it be conducting cold? random thoughts..


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## billwright (Jan 7, 2010)

agross said:


> , we had a couple of the dry packs (or whatever they are called) in there already but that didn't seem to work


Those Dry-Packs don't last forever, you probably just need to replace them.

They are actually called Silica Gel Packets, just google Silica Gel Packets and you will find plenty of suppliers.


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## Greenbush future (Sep 8, 2005)

I would look for a new location for the safe, where the water is coming from is the question that needs top be answered. 
By adding all these water removal things, really isnt the fix, because it will keep coming back, and eventually it will ruin your stuff. I would move it to a different floor or room.


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## PikeLaker (Sep 22, 2008)

Put everything in ziploc baggies for added protection.


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## agross (Jan 18, 2009)

thanks guys, i am gonna try all of your ideas, i'm gonna move the safe to a different spot, put the passports in a ziploc bag, and i am gonna buy some of those gel packs, they have some that change colors when they are getting saturated with moisture, again thanks to everybody for the ideas andy


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