With the arrival of British summertime and all this rain it's becoming unbearably warm sometimes during the night. It would be uneconomical to install a dehumidifer for the short few weeks of each year i'd expect this to last so I was thinking of other options to do away with the unpleasently sticky nights.

 

Would a large bowl of regular table salt sort this problem out for me? would it lower the humidity within a small room and how does it work?

I found this diy project:

 

http://www.ehow.com/how_5024385_make-dehumidifier.html

Rock salt is needed to maintain porosity so the air can flow around the salt. You could use a lift and drop system to increase exposure to the air or a fan blowing over the salt on a tarp or very large shallow pan.

With ordinary salt you will only reduce the humidity if it starts above (about) 75% which would be rather odd for indoor humidity in the UK.

 

You would do much better with CaCl2 which is why they sell it as a dehumidifier.

 

The points about making sure lots of air comes into contact with the solid are also still valid.