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Greetings once again folks



Just got my first real humidor (my other was a travel humi), and am a little unsure about a couple of things. Figured who better to ask than die hards.



First, breaking the humi in...I haven't seen much on this, but what I've done is whip the interior down with a lint free cloth and some distilled water. I then placed a small plate inside the humi, and placed the damp cloth on the plate and closed it up. I assume that I'll just keep checking on it until it dries out? Any suggestions on breaking in would be greatly appreciated. I'm paranoid that I'm going to put my smokes in there and pull 'em out as match sticks. A little damp I think I can deal with, but my CAO's turning into fire wood my scare me.



second...is it necessary to use humidifying solution, the propylene dooda ma-hicky stuff? (check my spelling on that ;-) ) or can I just go with plain ol' distilled water?



thanks in advance

You should be able to find a lot of info on this by typing the words CIGAR CARE or HUMIDOR SEASONING into a search engine.



Basically what I do is the following:



Many humidor makers strongly advise against wetting the unfinished cedar with distilled water on a damp sponge. I have not found a problem doing it if you are careful not to SOAK the wood. Just a single wipe of all surfaces with a damp (not a soaking wet) sponge to get the process going. I then put the 50/50 charged humidifier that came with the box and a damp sponge soaked in distilled water sitting on plastic inside the humidor for 24-48 hours. Test the humidity with a calibrated hygrometer at 24 hours and either determine the box is ready or needs more seasoning time.

The reason to use the PG 50/50 to charge your humidifier is that PG has properties that allow it to regulate RH to some degree that helps keep your humidity at around the preferred 70% (Although I prefer smokes kept at about 67-68%). Once you have charged the new humidifier with the 50/50, you can use distilled water from that point on to rehumidify when needed. In about six month to a year, you may need to resoak the humidifier in 50/50 to recharge the PG

Hope that helps.

"When a humi comes along, you must whip it."

"Before a gar sits out too long, you must whip it!"

Thanks for the input everyone. delarob, is that the national

humidor anthem? :-P kinda catchy


Rick, the e-mail is on the way.

On the subject of wetting the cedar lining, I've done it that way on two of mine, but on another I used a method suggested to me by someone I've come to regard as a bit of a humidor wizard ... he said wetting the interior was a mistake and that the best way to season thw wood was to place a good sized open container of distilled water inside the 'dor, close the lid and leave it for several days ... test it after that with a hygrometer to learn when it had reached 70% ... and voila!, ready to go.

It does take a couple of days longer to do it that way, but the unit I seasoned that way is my best 'dor ... coincidence? maybe, but maybe not, I dunno ... all I can say is that based on that experience, I'd not wipe the wood with water again.

...fill the humi with about a dozen 'gars, put it in a ziploc freezer bag and send it to me...i'll get it seasoned for ya...
all seriousness aside; i've also heard horror stories about inferior humis splitting or the lids won't open after putting in a container of water for too long...i'd say follow the great links you've been given and you and humi can whip it together!

D-E-V-O

On my newest humidor I decided not to wipe, just to do the recommended bowl of water with the humidifier filled. Took almost a week to stabilize. If I get another I'll to the wipe down again.