subject: Humidifying Your Humidor Before Initial Use [print this page] Proper care for your cigars is vital if you are planning on storing them for longer than about one to two weeks. Without the correct environment, your cigars will become dried out and stale and all that tobacco will go to waste. In order to really become a cigar expert, you need to master the skill of humidifying your humidor. A mistake that many beginners make is not humidifying their units properly before the first use, or not checking the humidity levels often enough at the beginning.
Preparing your cigar humidor for use is a multi-step process, and could take up to several weeks to be done properly. You must be patient. Without patience and time, you cannot be a good cigar collector. Get together everything you will need to accomplish this task. Besides your humidor, you need a couple of humidifiers, a hygrometer, and a temperature gauge. You will also need distilled water, a sponge, a plastic bag, and propylene glycol.
First things first, though. The first time you put your box in use, you should wipe down the entire unit to make sure it is clean and free of lint and dust. Use a clean, damp, lint free cloth. Prepare your humidifiers by saturating your black plastic humidifiers with the propylene glycol solution or distilled water. Never use tap water, as it contains harmful bacteria, chemicals and minerals. Dry the surface and place on a towel for about an hour.
Next, soak your humidifiers. You can use a propylene glycol activation solution or distilled water. Never use tap water in your unit. Tap water contains harmful minerals and bacteria. Set the humidifiers on a towel for an hour, then dry the surfaces. Stick the humidifiers securely to the lid inside your unit, pressing down firmly on the metal plate for at least two minutes. Then attach your temperature and humidity gauges.
Remove the sponge and plastic from your humidor and reseal it. You should not begin using your cigar humidor for storage until the reading on your hygrometer is higher than 65 percent. This could take days or weeks. In the beginning, you should check your humidifiers every two weeks or so to make sure they do not need to be recharged. It will take a few months to settle into a routine, and to get your humidor properly set up so that it runs on a routine. Once this happens, you will know exactly how long it takes for your humidifier to run out, and that means you will be able to rely on the consistency of your humidor's settings.
