A primer on humidification and seasoning

[dogracer]

I currently have 2 (1-25, 1-100) humidors, I have tried to get the humidity below 70 with adding more solution, using only 50/50, mixing, adding more humidifers, etc. I believe I have a good seal on the lids.

My question is: My wife likes the house around 80 when I am away.
Is the heat in the house the problem? Our normal temp in June, July, Aug. Sept. is always about 90-100 degrees and the humidity is around 75-90.
If the house is 80 during the day and down to 74 in the evening and night,
will this effect the humidors. Currently keeping them in a dark book cabinet.

My neighbor & I are building 2-200 humidors and would like to be in control from the get-go, instead of constantly monitoring the hygrometer.
ANY ADVISE IS APPRECIATED.
New to botl, but have cruised the forum and believe I am in good hands.
Thanks, Gary

 

[jopo112]

thank you for the useful information....my humi comes in in a few days. Will be patient and use this method. Thanks again

 

[seanb]

I currently have 2 (1-25, 1-100) humidors, I have tried to get the humidity below 70 with adding more solution, using only 50/50, mixing, adding more humidifers, etc. I believe I have a good seal on the lids.

My question is: My wife likes the house around 80 when I am away.
Is the heat in the house the problem? Our normal temp in June, July, Aug. Sept. is always about 90-100 degrees and the humidity is around 75-90.
If the house is 80 during the day and down to 74 in the evening and night,
will this effect the humidors. Currently keeping them in a dark book cabinet.

My neighbor & I are building 2-200 humidors and would like to be in control from the get-go, instead of constantly monitoring the hygrometer.
ANY ADVISE IS APPRECIATED.
New to botl, but have cruised the forum and believe I am in good hands.
Thanks, Gary

Anyone have an answer for this one? :frownno:

I have the same issue. How important is temperature control? I know that worms are an issue at higher heats, but are there other concerns?

Sean

 

[Jwrussell]

Thanks Jason

You are welcome, if that was meant for me. :thumbsup:

 

[Jwrussell]

I currently have 2 (1-25, 1-100) humidors, I have tried to get the humidity below 70 with adding more solution, using only 50/50, mixing, adding more humidifers, etc. I believe I have a good seal on the lids.

My question is: My wife likes the house around 80 when I am away.
Is the heat in the house the problem? Our normal temp in June, July, Aug. Sept. is always about 90-100 degrees and the humidity is around 75-90.
If the house is 80 during the day and down to 74 in the evening and night,
will this effect the humidors. Currently keeping them in a dark book cabinet.

My neighbor & I are building 2-200 humidors and would like to be in control from the get-go, instead of constantly monitoring the hygrometer.
ANY ADVISE IS APPRECIATED.
New to botl, but have cruised the forum and believe I am in good hands.
Thanks, Gary

Gary,

It can be hard to answer these types of questions as there is almost always some details that are important that are missing. If I'm reading this correctly, you are using the foam style humidifiers with 50/50 solution? If so, my best advice to you is to chuck both the humidifiers and solution for beads. You can get them from a number of site-sponsors and contributors like RonC's Cigar Solutions, Mark @ cigarmony.com and of course David @ Heartfelt beads from www.heartfeltindustries.com. All of these people are great to deal with and wonderful BOTLs. Beads are a simple solution to the humidity problem that use distilled water and nothing else. No fiddling with solutions of 50/50 mixture.

Back to your specific case:

I currently have 2 (1-25, 1-100) humidors, I have tried to get the humidity below 70 with adding more solution, using only 50/50, mixing, adding more humidifers, etc. I believe I have a good seal on the lids.

It sounds to me like your problem is HIGH humidity, right? If that is the case, adding more solution or more humidifiers is likely to exacerbate the situation. Further, and I haven't used those types of humidifiers in ages, so take this with a grain of salt, but foam and 50/50 solution humidifiers were typically used to keep humidity around 70%. Also, they work better at ADDING humdity than they do at REMOVING it. The Beads are much better at that. If you are using a pre-mixed 50/50 solution, adding more or adding more humdiifiers will not help you. All you are doing is adding more moisture to the mix with a solution that is already PRE-SET to try to keep you at 70%. Considering that it sounds like you already have some high-ish humidity you are fighting a losing battle. You could try picking up some of the Propylene-Glycol (you can sometimes find this at pharmacies that still mix prescriptions) and mixing your own solution with a higher rate of the PG than 50%, but again, this is a PITA if you ask me.

The changes in temp you mention aren't ideal, but they should be manageable with beads and a well seasoned, good sealing humidor. I live in Florida and the house stays around 77 degrees and goes up to 80, so I understand the high heat, high humidity issue. As a side note, dealing with temps like that you are risking beatle issues (see other threads).

Hope some of that helps.

 

[megladon8]

A couple of quick questions here...

1.) Jwrussell, I loved your initial post here. I learned a lot. Is that really all you need to do to season a humidor? The shotglasses of water, I mean. I've always read/heard that you have to do the wiping of the inside of the humidor with a clean sponge and distilled water.

Can it be over seasoned?


2.) I bought a digital hygrometer for $10 at Canadian Tire, and it required no calibration of any kind. I just stuck it in the humidor, and it, and the built-in analog both read that my humidor is hovering around 67%. Occasionally it goes up to 70%, or down to 66%.

Would you say these readings are reliable? Or should I really invest in a hygrometer I calibrate and the like?

 

[twenty5]

A couple of quick questions here...

1.) Jwrussell, I loved your initial post here. I learned a lot. Is that really all you need to do to season a humidor? The shotglasses of water, I mean. I've always read/heard that you have to do the wiping of the inside of the humidor with a clean sponge and distilled water.

Can it be over seasoned?


2.) I bought a digital hygrometer for $10 at Canadian Tire, and it required no calibration of any kind. I just stuck it in the humidor, and it, and the built-in analog both read that my humidor is hovering around 67%. Occasionally it goes up to 70%, or down to 66%.

Would you say these readings are reliable? Or should I really invest in a hygrometer I calibrate and the like?

The shot glasses of water are the best way to hydrate a humidor IMO. It takes a lot longer ( I tend to cheat with hot water to make it a bit quicker ) but it allows the wood to soak up the right amount of water w/o over doing it.
Yes, too much water could be added but it is pretty easy to tell when this happens. The wood should be dry to the touch when properly done, not moist at all. If it is damp you are asking for mold at some point, plus the obvious high humidity levels.

Every hygro that you buy should be checked for accuracy. Buy a Boveda calibration kit and put yours to the test, I highly doubt it is dead on but who knows.

btw You are awesome.

 

[megladon8]

The shot glasses of water are the best way to hydrate a humidor IMO. It takes a lot longer ( I tend to cheat with hot water to make it a bit quicker ) but it allows the wood to soak up the right amount of water w/o over doing it.
Yes, too much water could be added but it is pretty easy to tell when this happens. The wood should be dry to the touch when properly done, not moist at all. If it is damp you are asking for mold at some point, plus the obvious high humidity levels.

OK wonderful!

Is there some sort of magical sign that tells you the wood has been seasoned properly and doesn't require any more?

I'm just asking because on my budget, I can't really afford to ruin a nice humidor and have to buy another.

Every hygro that you buy should be checked for accuracy. Buy a Boveda calibration kit and put yours to the test, I highly doubt it is dead on but who knows.

Sounds great. I shall do this.

btw You are awesome.

Where'd that come from?? Thanks though!! The feeling is mutual!

 

[twenty5]

OK wonderful!

Is there some sort of magical sign that tells you the wood has been seasoned properly and doesn't require any more?

I'm just asking because on my budget, I can't really afford to ruin a nice humidor and have to buy another.
Sounds great. I shall do this.

When the humidity starts reading what you want, take the shot glasses or whatever out and take a reading after 24hrs with just beads in there. If it is 65% you are good, if it is low you may need to add a shot glass for a while longer, if it is high your beads should be able to take care of the excess as long as they are able to soak up more moisture (white).

Where'd that come from?? Thanks though!! The feeling is mutual!

http://www.botl.org/community/forums/showpost.php?p=803744&postcount=7

 

[SkinsFanLarry]

"The shot glasses of water are the best way to hydrate a humidor IMO. It takes a lot longer ( I tend to cheat with hot water to make it a bit quicker ) but it allows the wood to soak up the right amount of water w/o over doing it."

Justin, thanks for sharing that little tidbit, I had never heard of using hot water before! :thumbsup:

 

[twenty5]

"The shot glasses of water are the best way to hydrate a humidor IMO. It takes a lot longer ( I tend to cheat with hot water to make it a bit quicker ) but it allows the wood to soak up the right amount of water w/o over doing it."

Justin, thanks for sharing that little tidbit, I had never heard of using hot water before! :thumbsup:

Actually Larry, I dont think hot was the correct term, I use borderline boiling water so it is steamy when I throw it in there..

 

[EricF]

Another way to speed things up, is to put a CLEAN (New and rinsed out) sponge saturated with DW in a small dish in the humi. This will help speed up the process as the sponge has much more surface area than the shot glasses for the water to evaporate in to the box.

Just my $.02

 

[Clint]

Tip # 232....

When you are adding a new box to a humi that is still leveling out (or if you humi is running a bit on the dry side and you're about to add a new box) rub the outside of the new box with a little DS. (Assuming it's not a fully paper-wrapped dress box!)

This will help keep the box from sucking moisture out of the humi :thumbsup:

 

[Jwrussell]

Thanks for the kind comments, and I'm sorry for the delay in response. You have gotten good answers, so I'm really only adding some side comments. That's the wonderful thing about this place, always so many folks around ready to help.

A couple of quick questions here...

1.) Jwrussell, I loved your initial post here. I learned a lot. Is that really all you need to do to season a humidor? The shotglasses of water, I mean. I've always read/heard that you have to do the wiping of the inside of the humidor with a clean sponge and distilled water.

I don't recommend the wiping the inside of the humidor because you can raise tiny splinters of wood by doing so which could possibly snag wrappers. This is a minor issue and it may be overprotective, but I'd rather err on the side of caution.

Can it be over seasoned?

Yes, you can get too much humidity into the humidor. This is why you keep a calibrated hygro in with the shot glass (or the sponge, that's a good idea as well). Over humidifying is not the worst thing that could happen, but it will make it that much more difficult to get the humidor where you want it to be.

2.) I bought a digital hygrometer for $10 at Canadian Tire, and it required no calibration of any kind. I just stuck it in the humidor, and it, and the built-in analog both read that my humidor is hovering around 67%. Occasionally it goes up to 70%, or down to 66%.

Would you say these readings are reliable? Or should I really invest in a hygrometer I calibrate and the like?

Every hygrometer you use should be calibrated. When we say calibrated, we mean test it against a known value so you know how far it is off. There are some hygrometers available that you can adjust once you test them so that they are truly calibrated, but it's not really necessary. Just use a Boveda pack to test the hygro to see how far it is off and note the difference. I use a small piece of masking tape for this with a note that says, "+3%" or something along those lines. Just make sure you know what you mean! I've gone back to those notes and had to ask myself, "does that mean I need to add 3% to the reading or that the reading is 3% high?" :rolling:

Hope all of that helps.

 

[tex]

thanks for the tips

 

[GoingPostal]

like everyones said thanks this is a great resource. when i season or reseason a humidor to speed up the process i put a tupperware container fill it half way with DW and leave it there 3-4 days, then take it out and replace it with a small dish for another 2-3 days. usually spot on, to test i take the water out put my beads in there for 24 hrs then check the hygro. i like my smoke around 68 and this method has worked out good for me.

Actually Larry, I dont think hot was the correct term, I use borderline boiling water so it is steamy when I throw it in there..

i thought about doing this once but was afraid that the heat could warp the wood. also worried higher chance of developing mold.

Another option if you are afraid of develping mold by overseasoning is using the crystal gel jars. I reseasoned my 50 ct humi using this method and it worked but took about 2 weeks, but note that the gels are not an exact science and the RH can range from 65% to 70%

 

[Wolf_Mustang]

I should have checked this post out awhile ago. Lots of good information and great questions to consider.

 

[CigarRod]

Excellent Info here, damn I needed to read ALL THIS.

 

[dpricenator]

BUmp for the noobs

 

[criollo]

Thanks for all the information here. Can someone post a link to a site that explains the salt test? thanks