Would you like to know how often you should season your humidor? Well, we have researched this topic and have answers for you. Knowing how often to season your humidor is vital to ensure the correct humidity for your cigars.
You only need to season your humidor once when you set it up. If you leave your humidor open for an extended period, you must season it again.
This article will teach us how often you should season your humidor. We will also learn the answers to other interesting related questions, such as how do you season a humidor, and how often should I recharge my humidor? Keep reading to learn more.
How Often Should I Season My Humidor?
It would be best to season a humidor only once when you first get it. This process can take several days and will help keep your humidor at the correct humidity.
Over time your humidor may start to drop in humidity. If this happens, you don't need to season it again. To keep your humidor at the correct moisture, you can recharge it.
One situation where you may need to reseason your humidor is if it's left open. When your humidor is left open, it can dry out the moisture in the wood. Season your humidor again instead of recharging it to get it functioning again.
You may also need to season your humidor again if you fail to recharge it for a long time. If the humidity drops below fifty percent, reseasoning your humidor will be more effective than recharging it.
How Do You Season A Humidor?
There are a couple of ways to season a humidor. Let's learn how to season a humidor using each method.
Manual Seasoning
To season a humidor manually, you will need a bottle cap, distilled water, fifty-fifty propylene glycol solution, a humidification unit, a hygrometer, salt, a sponge, and a zip-lock bag.
The first step is to calibrate your hygrometer. Take your bottle cap and fill it with one teaspoon of salt. Next, add a few drops of water to the salt until it forms a thick paste.
Take your salt-filled bottle cap and place it right side up in the zip lock bag. Next, add your hygrometer to the zip-lock bag and seal it for six to eight hours or until the humidity reaches seventy-five percent.
Calibrating your hygrometer is essential for ensuring it gives accurate readings.
Now that the hygrometer is calibrated, you can add humidity to your humidor. Take your fifty-fifty propylene glycol solution and squirt it into the vents of your humidification unit. Next, flip the unit upside down and shake out any extra solution.
Secure the humidification unit to the inside of your humidor. Now, take the sponge and saturate it with distilled water. Squeeze out some of the excess water so that it's wet but not dripping.
Next, take the wet sponge and set it in your humidor on top of the ziplock bag from earlier. The sponge mustn't sit directly on the humidor to avoid over-saturating it with water.
Now, close your humidor for three to five days to complete the seasoning process.
Once you open your humidor and remove the sponge, it will be ready to store cigars.
Humidity Packets
To season your humidor with humidity packets, you will need an eighty-four percent packet for seasoning and between sixty-nine and seventy-two percent packet for maintaining humidity.
Each humidity packet is designed to treat a humidor that holds up to twenty-five cigars. If your humidor holds fifty cigars, then you will need two packs.
As with manual seasoning, you will still need to calibrate your hygrometer. Once your hygrometer is calibrated and installed, you can add your seasoning packets.
Add an eighty-four percent humidity packet to your humidor and close it for two weeks. After two weeks, you can remove the humidity packet and add a lower humidity packet between sixty-nine and seventy-two percent.
The exact humidity you choose for the second packet is purely a preference since any humidity between sixty-nine and seventy-two percent will keep your cigars the perfect texture.
Once your hygrometer measures a humidity that matches the inserted packet, you can add cigars. There is no need to remove the second humidity packet since it replaces the job of a humidification unit.
If you would like to try humidity packets to maintain your humidor's humidity, here are two of the best products available on Amazon.
Boveda Humidity Packets
We may include affiliate links and curated AI content to highlight top design styles.
You can find this product here on Amazon.
Humidi-Cure Humidity Packet
You can find this product here on Amazon.
How Often Should I Recharge My Humidor?
How often you need to recharge your humidor depends on the environment it's in. If you live in a desert, you must recharge your humidor often. In wetter climates, you may not need to recharge your humidor often.
One thing that can dry out your humidor is a heater. During the winter, when the heater is on in your house, the humidity can drop very low.
When running the heater in the winter, check on your humidor multiple times a week to ensure the moisture isn't dropping too low.
The best way to tell if you need to recharge your humidor is to keep a close eye on your hygrometer. If you see the humidity in your humidor dropping into the low sixties, it is time to recharge it.
How Do You Recharge A Humidor?
How to recharge your humidor will depend on whether you are using a humidification unit or humidity packets. Let's learn how to recharge a humidor with a humidification unit or humidity packets.
Humidification Unit
To recharge a humidor with a humidification unit, remove the unit and pour either distilled water or a fifty-fifty propylene glycol solution into the vents. Next, turn over the unit and shake the excess liquid out.
If you don't shake out the excess liquid, you risk raising the humidity too high, which can cause mold to grow on your cigars.
Next, reattach the humidification unit to the inside of your humidor, and you're finished. Pay close attention to your hygrometer over the next few days to ensure humidity levels don't spike.
If humidity levels spike, remove your cigars and put them in a zip-lock bag until they stabilize.
Humidity Packets
Remove the old humidity packet and insert a new one to recharge your humidor with humidity packets. It is still essential when using humidity packets to watch your hygrometer for humidity spikes shortly after recharging.
How Do I Lower The Humidity In My Humidor?
If your humidor is constantly above seventy-two percent humidity, you need to lower it. One mistake many make is leaving the lid open to vent humidity.
If you leave the top open, it can shock your humidor and cause it to need to be reseasoned.
Remove the humidification unit or humidity packet to lower the humidity in your humidor correctly. Next, prop open the lid slightly, no more than a half inch. Next, keep a close eye on your hygrometer until the humidity reaches an acceptable level.
Once the humidity is correct, you can reinsert your humidification unit or humidity packet and close the lid. It usually takes four to twenty-four hours for your humidor to return to proper humidity levels.
What Is The Best Temperature For My Humidor
The best temperature to keep your humidor is seventy degrees Fahrenheit. The air can hold the correct moisture for your humidification unit and humidity packets to deliver adequate moisture at this temperature.
At lower temperatures, your humidification unit and humidity packets will not work as well, which can lead to humidity levels that are too low.
While seventy degrees is the perfect temperature for your humidor, it mustn't get any hotter. If your humidor reaches a temperature of at least seventy-two degrees Fahrenheit paired with a humidity of seventy-two or more, your cigars can hatch tobacco beetles.
Remember, keeping your humidor a few degrees below seventy degrees Fahrenheit would be best to ensure no tobacco beetles hatch.
Final Thoughts
This article taught us that you only need to season your humidor once when you first set it up unless the lid is left open. We also learned how to season your humidor manually and with humidity packets.
Remember, while it's best to keep your humidor at seventy degrees Fahrenheit if it reaches seventy-two degrees Fahrenheit, tobacco beetles may hatch in your cigars.
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