Let’s start off with the basic definition of what a humidor is. A humidor is anything that is designed to store and age cigars. Quality humidors are lined with Spanish cedar inside them and when kept up properly should maintain an optimal humidity in the range of 68% to 72%. Most people in the cigar industry see a humidor as a small investment that will protect a much larger investment of cigars for many years.

To restate again a humidor should be made of Spanish cedar on the inside but, the outside can be made of almost anything. Spanish cedar used in humidors is in fact not cedar at all. It is actually a form of mahogany that gives off a very pleasant cedar-like aroma and responds well to changes in humidity which makes it an optimum choice for storing and aging cigars.

Two other main components a humidor that must be placed within the humidor to work properly are a hygrometer, digital or analog, and a humidification device which can range from gel products to bead tubes to just your standard round absorbing pads. The humidification device either adds or removes moisture from the air inside it to maintain the desired humidity. The hygrometer purpose is to give an accurate reading of the humidity and some models also measure the temperature within the humidor.

Humidors don’t usually come ready to use right away though. First you will have to season it. Seasoning is a process that creates an optimal climate within you’re humidor of 68% to 72%. Here is how to season a humidor the right way:

You may have heard that wiping down a humidor with distilled water is quick and easy way to season a humidor but, sadly this is a sure fire way to ruin any humidor by warping the wood and destroying seal of the edges, defeating functionality of a humidor. So you must ask yourself; do you want a humidor that will be ready fast or you want one that is going to last? Here we will show you how avoid this unfortunate ending.

You will need:

1. Four Medium Heartfelt Beads Humidity Tube ( 65% Rh is recommended) more if the humidor is larger than a 100 count and less if less than 100 count. You are going to need to find out the cubic inches of your humidor to really determine this. 1 medium tube = 540 cubic inches.
2. A calibrated hygrometer
3. Distilled water
4. Humidor
5. Saucer
6. Unscented sponge/s
7. Have cigars ready toward the end of this process ( at least 25% of the capacity of what the count of humidor is)

A: Some ways you can bring down your humidity are:

1. If you have any cedar sticks from boxes or anything place one of those inside because the dry cedar stick should absorb some of the excess humidity within the air.

2. Grab an unused sponge and take a chunk off and place it inside. After a decent amount of time take it out let it dry again then put it back inside and repeat if necessary.

3. Crack open the lid just slightly. I suggest using a small match box wedged between the lid. Do this for about an hour or two and it will drop the humidor’s RH.

4. Put more cigars inside. Fill it almost to capacity.

These are a few methods that should help you drop the overall RH of your small humidor. Some reason your humidor could be high are:

1. You might have needed more time in the seasoning process such that there wasn’t enough time for the humidor to settle down.

2. You might have over soaked the wood with distilled water so there might be liquid still resting in the inner layers.

3. Climate you live in. Example: Northern states have dry winters so we have to constantly maintain our humidors because the outside climate if taking so much. Southern states have a lot of humidity and warmth year round so their humidors need less attention and stored in cooler areas because the outside climate can give too much in their case which brings up another reason.

4. Where do you keep your humidor (also pertains to climate) upstairs (higher level) or downstairs?

Upstairs especially in a higher humidity climate can cause the humidor to really go up and down with its RH value. The key thing to do is store a humidor in a lower level of a building which is ideal because most homes or building basements are roughly all the same temperature due to them being inside the earth and don’t change too much varying on the season. Example: In the winter your basement is warm and in the summer it usually is the coolest place in your house. This makes sense because depending on the time of year is dependent on what your body is used to. But, if one does not have a basement or a lower level placing within a closet works best and lastly don’t place in the sun because it’ll heat up the humidor.

As for would a PG solution do a better job than simply distilled water…The answer to that is no because those jars of beads are Silica based. They are specially designed to only take distilled water and can be ruined by propylene glycol. The only things that really take PG solution these days are the round or rectangular pads that come with the humidor which are basically useless and cost you more in the long run because the PG solution is a lot more expensive than distilled water.

A: That sounds like a pretty solid game plan, I like it. As for your question about might that be overkill? The answer to that is no for a few reasons:

1. Yes the beads do say how much area they will cover but, they don’t say how much area they will cover when cigars have been introduced into the equation. So having it cover more area than what your humidor says is fine. In this case more is better!

2. The one thing about the Hearfelt Beads is they maintain the RH level in your humidor. Example they carry bead tubes that say 60%, 65%, and 70% RH. The reason for these percents and having a certain percent within your humidor means the tubes are going to try their best to keep it near whatever percent is on the tube you bought. Theses bead tubes just don’t kick moister out they regulate that’s why I love them. I suggest the 65% tube for the simple fact if your humidor is being fussy in summer months and likes to spike really high the 65% will help keep it from rising to unwanted RH levels. If you had the 70% in a summer month you could get a rise of 80% RH which is extremely unwanted. So be safe and stay 65% my friend.

Overall it’s safe to use more Hearfelt Beads than the minimum amount recommended in your humidor. The over compensating will help with humidor recovering from things like opening your humidor to compensating for the ever changing seasons to lastly a possibly bad seal a humidor may or may not have.

Q: I just bought a new one that is tall (24″) and has several drawers to store cigars in an organized way. How would I season this humidor? Would I add additional sponges at the third and fifth drawer level? How many hygrometers should I install and how many Heartfelt tubes should I use to maintain long-term humidity control? Thanks.