What's the best way to passively dehumidify cabin air when parked for awhile?

Winter here has temperatures drop below -10C. Usually not a problem since I have heated underground parking, but this creates a problem when I drive it anywhere and park outside for an evening out. Moisture in the cabin air condenses onto the windows and frosts over, so I have to spend 5 minutes in the parking lot waiting for the engine to heat the vent air enough to start melting the frost. Window scrapers are useless because they're designed for the curve of the window's exterior.

The moisture comes mainly from melted snow and ice on the boot trays. I've tried lining the trays with newspaper to soak this up and disposing of it after; blasting the defogger to dehumidify the cabin air; even driving with the windows down on my way to the event (can't do this if I have passengers!). Leaving windows open while parked outside isn't an option, of course.

Are there any suggestions for automotive-grade desiccants to try?

 

I"ve been told that A/C helps in these cases, but i must admit i've never tried it myself

 

Keep it in Fresh mode and not Recirculate. And using the A/C in conjunction with your defroster works well too.

 

It's already in fresh rather than recirculate... And I thought the A/C kicked in automatically when set to windshield defogging, does manually clicking the A/C switch crank it higher?

Maybe I just need to bring a hair dryer and DC converter along to speed things up... Certainly wouldn't spend as much time or gas to power it!

 

Try this... this guy is a member of this forum (a Fit owner, obviously) and a pretty crafty guy!

Fit Mods: Dedicated to modifying your Honda Fit

Look at the top menu on that page and select the "MOISTURE REDUCTION" link.

It seems to work rather well as far as this type of solution is concerned.

Good luck!

 

^yes. damp rid works VERY well. I keep a bucket in my outside tool shed. it's unbelievable how much moisture it pulls out of the air.

 

I have seen that stuff at Wal-Mart many years and never given it much thought.... I have my dash taken apart right now and have noticed some surface rust on the metal that supports the plastic crap pieces and can see where that stuff would be a good thing... I wonder if an in cabin filter replacement using two pieces of filter foam with some of the desiccant sandwiched between them might work to prevent moisture created mold from forming in the air ducting and prevent the dreaded sweaty balls odor problem from occurring.... Hell, I might even sprinkle some of that stuff in my under drawers if it does.

 

Thanks annunC8! I'll pick up some of that next time I'm out.

 

OP- if you're planning to winterize your car to hibernate through the winter, Griot'sGarage does sell large dessicants for cars.

for my area air is SUPER DRY in the winter so i dont use it to hibernate my 2 hobby cars. im actually giving the leather more treatment so it doesn't crack.

www.griotsgarage.com