Time to humidity?

[Joey Anchors]

With the cold weather finally arriving here in Austin Tx.. I just noticed the top on the Waterloo WL-M develop these lines near the edges.

Is this a sign that I need to start humidifying my place?

[yankees1]

Here in central Illinois my humidifier has been running for several weeks !

[BrianWilliam]

Are those lines from low humidity or merely the finish settling and exposing texture from the wood grain?

[Joey Anchors]

Are those lines from low humidity or merely the finish settling and exposing texture from the wood grain?

It looks to be low humidity as there’s very little finish on these Waterloo mandos.

[BrianWilliam]

So a thin finish won’t settle if kept at “perfect” humidity?

[Joey Anchors]

So a thin finish won’t settle if kept at “perfect” humidity?

That’s a good question..

[lenf12]

While it's a good idea to humidify (instrument in the case or the whole house) during the winter, I agree with BrianWilliam that your finish is "settling" or offgassing and sinking into the grain of the spruce top. It happens with all newer instruments as the finish ages and hardens. I would not worry about it since all of my acoustic instruments have this effect and I live in west central Florida where humidification is not an issue.

Len B.
Clearwater, FL

[Caleb]

I'm just up the road from you in DFW and have never humidified any of my instruments, and I've never had any issues due to humidity.

[bigskygirl]

The only way for you to know this is to get a hygrometer and keep it in the room you use, I have one and keep my humidity between 40-50% all year.

[poul hansen]

Use a hygrometer. Don't wait for the wood to split!!

[ivancook]

You really need a hygrometer to know what's going on. I find that something like an Oasis Caliber IV intended for humidors works great. When I lived in Austin, I was always fighting to lower the humidity and now that I live in Colorado at almost 9000', I constantly have 2 or 3 humidifiers running just to hit 45%.

[Steve Mead]

I think it depends on location, temperature and age of house or construction method. A few years ago I was running small humidifiers and at that time I was working on a project with mechanical engineers. I asked them if I should install a whole house humidifier and they asked "what is the current humidity level?". Hmmm, good question which I did not know the answer to. They loaned me a sling psychrometer, a few hygrometers and I had a few. I covered all the rooms and even with 2 woodstoves running and no humidifiers running the humidity stayed between 40 - 45%. I guess a 100 year old house breathes better than the hermatically sealed new ones.
So, answer is check the level with several different devices over a period of time. I have not run a humidifier since then as too much humidity comes with it's own set of problems.

[poul hansen]

I use cheap Chinese electronic hygrometers, on which I have checked calibration using a salt bath.

Most winters I don't need my humidifier, I just fill water in the two balcony flower boxes I have on my radiators.

[Bernie Daniel]

If you live in the north country fair, where "snowflakes storm, when the rivers freeze and summer ends" then yes buy a good hygrometer and read it every morning and evening. The best solution is to buy an old house with steam heat radiators -- not only will your instruments thank you your throat and sinuses will as well. Failing that choose a room you can close off from the rest of the house and buy a room humidifier (5 - 10 gallon reservoir) should cost circa $125 - 200. Remember to fill it every night and its a good idea to add a tablespoon of white vinegar to every tank of water to prevent mold and help with mineral build up. Works for me anyway.

[poul hansen]

......... Remember to fill it every night and its a good idea to add a tablespoon of white vinegar to every tank of water to prevent mold and help with mineral build up. Works for me anyway.

I collect rainwater, filter it through a coffeefilter and leave the translucent container in the sun for a day, to sterilize the water.

[Bernie Daniel]

I collect rainwater, filter it through a coffeefilter and leave the translucent container in the sun for a day, to sterilize the water.

But how well does that approach work in the winter with no rain and cold cloudy days? That is the only time of the year I run the room humidifier.

[poul hansen]

But how well does that approach work in the winter with no rain and cold cloudy days? That is the only time of the year I run the room humidifier.

Dear Bernie, my grandmother always told us children that sometimes in life, you have to look forward more than just one day at a time. Even in the stoneages they would collect food and firewood for times to come.

[Victor Daniel]

Up in here in Montana it is winter about 18 months of the year. I use in-case humidifiers as I prefer to keep all my instruments in cases for protection from my children. Also I’ve tried using a smaller room humidifier in the past for nasal/dryness issues in a bedroom at night and ended up with problems with a fine white powder that gets left behind on all the surfaces. We have a water softener in our house, so maybe it was some salt deposits or calcium. Perhaps that was just a problem with a cheaper humidifier. I recall it asked for distilled water but there was no way I was going to buy and haul that much water as I was using close to a gallon a night. Anyway the in-case humidifiers work fine for me but can be difficult to stay on top of if you have a lot of string instruments like I do.

[MikeEdgerton]

I'm sure someone will pipe in about the accuracy of these but I've been using this same gauge for a few years. You can leave one in a case if you're concerned about the atmosphere inside the case, you can leave one on your desk. There really is no reason to guess. You can spend a whole lot more money if you want to.

https://www.amazon.com/Veanic-Electr...7268637&sr=8-6

I choose to case my instruments because I can better maintain what's happening inside the case than I can my house (unfortunately). YMMV. Obviously NFI.

[poul hansen]

Just buy a bunch of 2$ hygrometers on aliexpress and mount the display outside your case.

Out of 10, I had one that was inaccurate, all the others shows within +-2 % which is good enough. You don't need accurate(expensive) meters.

Just compare them to each other or calibrate them using a salt bath.

I have one inside a solid wood guitar on my wall, and it shows me that a 1o% change in humidity is fully transferred to the body within 1½ to 2 days. So you have a day or 2 when humidity goes below 40%

[Joey Anchors]

Thanks everyone for the input. I bought a couple hygrometers and will go from there.

[Ranald]

I’ve tried using a smaller room humidifier in the past for nasal/dryness issues in a bedroom at night and ended up with problems with a fine white powder that gets left behind on all the surfaces. We have a water softener in our house, so maybe it was some salt deposits or calcium. Perhaps that was just a problem with a cheaper humidifier. I recall it asked for distilled water but there was no way I was going to buy and haul that much water as I was using close to a gallon a night. Anyway the in-case humidifiers work fine for me but can be difficult to stay on top of if you have a lot of string instruments like I do.

My humidifier's instructions say to boil water for three minutes, then let it cool to room temperature before putting it in the humidifier. That process had reduced but not eliminated the film. However, it's a job keeping enough water boiled and cooled. Still, that process does add to the humidity!

[Bernie Daniel]

Up in here in Montana it is winter about 18 months of the year. I use in-case humidifiers as I prefer to keep all my instruments in cases for protection from my children. Also I’ve tried using a smaller room humidifier in the past for nasal/dryness issues in a bedroom at night and ended up with problems with a fine white powder that gets left behind on all the surfaces. We have a water softener in our house, so maybe it was some salt deposits or calcium. Perhaps that was just a problem with a cheaper humidifier. I recall it asked for distilled water but there was no way I was going to buy and haul that much water as I was using close to a gallon a night. Anyway the in-case humidifiers work fine for me but can be difficult to stay on top of if you have a lot of string instruments like I do.

Victor -- that is due to the minerals in your water supply -- mostly carbonates? Get an evaporative humidifier not one that creates a mist of small liquid water particles -- problem solved. But then you have to deal with mineral clogged evaporators! No free lunch!

[Bernie Daniel]

I'm sure someone will pipe in about the accuracy of these but I've been using this same gauge for a few years. You can leave one in a case if you're concerned about the atmosphere inside the case, you can leave one on your desk. There really is no reason to guess. You can spend a whole lot more money if you want to.

https://www.amazon.com/Veanic-Electr...7268637&sr=8-6

I choose to case my instruments because I can better maintain what's happening inside the case than I can my house (unfortunately). YMMV. Obviously NFI.

A lot of those inexpensive hygrometers are not too accurate -- but I think they are reasonably precise? Years ago I got crazy about humidity and had about 10 - 12 of them around the house. Temperature on them was pretty consistent +/- 2 degrees F but the relative humidity varied by +/-5% or more on most of them. I put them all in the same room as the unit on our geothermal furnace (I assumed to be the standard) and marked each on for its "error" of a piece of tape. Then re-distributed the throughout the house with their correction factors indicated. Worked for me.