Moisture Control In Sewing Room
 

My husband is giving up one of his storage buildings to give me my own sewing cave. It’s separate from our house with a concrete floor and few windows. We are trying to figure out how to handle moisture control since it won’t have central heat & air. My fear is rust setting in on my machines. We live in the south with lots of rain which leaves us with high humidity.

Suggestions please.

I have used a dehumidifier in homes that had moisture problems. Maybe something like this would do the job.

I was also going to suggest a dehumidifier.

Remember to empty it often - or have it connected to a drain.

Does not do much good when not running.

Also - leave breathing room between and behind your stacks of fabric.

I also suggest a dehumidifier, I run one on every floor during the summer it helps my central air run more efficiently & keeps my home much cooler and makes me far more comfortable. In the winters it’s the opposite, I run small table side humidifiers to keep from drying out, my skin and my sinuses appreciate it!

I live in the Deep South too. I use a dehumidifier that has a pump so that it empties itself. It's wonderful! You do have to have an exit for the water. I have a sink in the room, so mine goes down the drain. Before I got the humidifier, I got a humidity gauge at WM and was astonished at the humidity in the room. I, also, have an air conditioner/heater unit in there that I use when I am sewing or quilting. When I am using those, I turn off the humidifier.

As my sewing room is in the basement of a 1900 house its not insulated as the newer home are. I keep one of those gadgets that gives you the temp and humidity near my machines so I know. It gets pretty dry in the winter time so I fill a washtub with super hot water to put moisture into the air so I don't get zapped plus I have rubber mats along my quilt machine. For summer time I keep a floor fan running most the time and have my dehumidifier running at 50% humidity. So far so good and I've been down here for the past 10 yrs now.

Walmart sells a moisture absorbing item that you hang and it collects moisture in an attached bag-dispose when full. I placed one in the a/c return area because of condensation accumulation.

If you're in the South won't you need some AC in that room? I'm in Ohio and I would die w/o it.
Also the dehumidifier sounds good.

You may need to get a dehumidifier. My SIL lives in NY and she has one running in her basement all the time and it is unbelievable how much water she gets out. I think she has to empty the tray almost daily.

Mine runs in the basement year round. I leave the door to the kitchen open so that I get some circulation. It drains into a small pump that pumps it up into one of the drain lines. I can hear it kick on and if I don't hear it then I need to go down and see what it the problem.

I also have a humidity gauge, about 3" square, in my bedroom to monitor the humidity level and find it very helpful.

I got some Damp Rid containers on Amazon. They’re easy to use, just remove the lids and set them out. You throw them away when they’re used up. My sewing room is in the basement along with my husband’s enormous collection of old stinky books. It’s made a difference down there as it doesn’t stink as much as it did before. It sounds, though, like you may need something stronger.

Having lived in south Louisiana for over 40 years I would worry that unless you kept something running most of the year you will have problems. Are you going to sew out there? A friend recently got a minisplit system for her sewing room and loves it. It provides heat and air and hangs on the wall. So far she has kept it on but don’t know how her electricity bill is.