Need help from practiced people!

Sazhman

Hello friends! I've smoked many cigars, straight from cigar store "big room" humidors , but I never had a cigar humidor myself, and this is the first time. I bought 20 cigars from cigar.com and humidor, but the thing is they were lying 3 months in my friends house, though he seasoned the humidor, it became 74% and put the cigars in it. After a 20 days, humidity droped to 60%, hi did it again, it came back to 70%. In short, I received the cigars, and humidity inside was 56% and it was like that 30 days. Fortunately nothing bad happened, the cold weather saved the cigars, they just got hard, like a rubber, but wrappers look beautiful, smells perfect and nothing is crucked. In one old local thread, people said, you should not put cigars immediately into seasoned 70-65% humidor, but rise 5% every week up to 70%, or cigars will burst because filler absorb humidity faster then wrapper. So whats your choice, rise slowly or go straight, since I dont have Chrystal humidifer, I have Green Foam humidifier, so I cant imagine how to rise humidity 5% with it.????? Inventory is Desktop Humidor Analog and Digital Hygrometers Green Foam Humidifier Thanky you Artur

Lee.mcglynn

What kind of hugrometer are you using and what kind of humidifier are. You using?

Sazhman

It was written, Analog and Digital Hygrometers
Green Foam Humidifier

Lee.mcglynn

Get a new humidifier! Get the xikar gel for now and calibrate your hygrometers

Lee.mcglynn

If you have a 50ct humidor buy a humidifier for 100ct and don't go cheap! The winter months are killer for new guys with humidors since rh is hard to keep! Also it really helps the have your humidor at leat 75% full of cigars

Sazhman

Ok, but what it has to do with it?.. Problems is my friend did seasoning incorrect and thats why it is 56% now, I did a test and it works fine.

Lee.mcglynn

Winter the air rh is low and wood humidors are made to breathe...the air is much drier these monthes and will suck the moister right out of the wood. If it keeps up like this I recommend reseason ing the humidor. It also depends how he seasoned it....how long did it take him?

Sazhman

I agree with you. He wiped inside with new sponge 3 times every 30min using distilled water, then he put plastic bag inside of humidor, the sponge on it, and let it for 24 hours. Then he prepared humidifier, 2min. in distilled water, then cleaned outside water from it and let the humidifier for 20min to soak in the water. It was done 2 months ago. 6 hours ago, I wiped inside 1 time, and now its 63% inside without Humidifier.

Lee.mcglynn

I hate to say this but you are going to have to reseason the humidor! It should take atleast a few days to season unless you have a active humidifier. Use the search tool on this forum and you should find a lot of threads on seasoning your humidor

Sazhman

Friend, it does not bother me to reseason it, but I saw in forums of cigar.com, that if cigars were lying in 56% for a month, you dont want to put them immediately into seasoned 70% humidor but rise 5% every week, or cigar will burst because filler absorb humidity faster then wrapper, and as I know, right seasoned humidors should be around 70%. What you think about that, which way I should choose?

Lee.mcglynn

Personally I'd reseason the humidor...once you get it stable put your cigars in a normal ziplock sandwich bag seal it will as little air in it and put it in your humidor for a few weeks. Normal ziplock bags are not air tight so the humidity will slowly bring them up. Also I would buy a xikar hygrometer! Much more accurate and dependable. While you reseason the humi store cigars in a airtight container and put a boveda 65 in with them and leave the cello on...you should be good

Sazhman

Thank you. So you're saying, cigars with celophane + inside ziplock bag will not be problem for humidity to penetrate into cigars?? Ans what humidity level would you suggest to keep after seasoning, 70% , 75%??

danielzreyes

Sazhman:

Thank you. So you're saying, cigars with celophane + inside ziplock bag will not be problem for humidity to penetrate into cigars?? Ans what humidity level would you suggest, 70% , 75%??

No, and most would recommend rh at 65-70. I personally keep mine 60-65. I hope everything works out for you.

Sazhman

Ok thanks. Now inside is 62% and my all cigars are wrapped in celophane, would you recommend to keep it that way without ziplock and after a week raise humidity to 65% ??

phishstyx

I would put them in a tupperdor with Boveda for a few weeks while you get the Humidor corrected.

Lee.mcglynn

Sazhman:

Ok thanks. Now inside is 62% and my all cigars are wrapped in celophane, would you recommend to keep it that way without ziplock and after a week raise humidity to 65% ??

IMO 62 isn't bad! I actually have bought the same hygrometer you are using and it's pretty far off! I calibrated it but it is not a good one. Once again I suggest spending the money on a xikar! There are too many variables that can mess with a reading. My one opus humi is at 65-63 and the hygro it came with reads 50 and lower. Temps really play a big part on your readings!

avengethis

I would get a 65% Boveda or two and toss them in a tupperware container with the smokes and get the humidor right first. Once you get the humi stabalized at 65% then you can add the cigars and it wont have to try and humidify cigars that are lower than 65% and maintain the rh of the humi.

I agree that a good digital hygro is worth the investment. I'm not preaching any name brand in particular but I have had really good luck with the hygro-set ones. Xikar are also solid. Either way spending $20-$40 to make sure you are protecting your investment of cigars is worth it.

Sazhman

Lee.mcglynn:

IMO 62 isn't bad! I actually have bought the same hygrometer you are using and it's pretty far off! I calibrated it but it is not a good one. Once again I suggest spending the money on a xikar! There are too many variables that can mess with a reading. My one opus humi is at 65-63 and the hygro it came with reads 50 and lower. Temps really play a big part on your readings!

Unfortunately, Im not in states and will take 20+ days for XIKAr to arrive, but I will order one, thank you. I never thought that digital ones may show wrong numbers and should be calibrated to.

Lee.mcglynn

Yeah man not all products are the same. It sucks but it's something we all learn down the road

Hays

Sazhman:

Lee.mcglynn:

IMO 62 isn't bad! I actually have bought the same hygrometer you are using and it's pretty far off! I calibrated it but it is not a good one. Once again I suggest spending the money on a xikar! There are too many variables that can mess with a reading. My one opus humi is at 65-63 and the hygro it came with reads 50 and lower. Temps really play a big part on your readings!

Unfortunately, Im not in states and will take 20+ days for XIKAr to arrive, but I will order one, thank you. I never thought that digital ones may show wrong numbers and should be calibrated to.

Welcome to the forum man, you´ll get all the information you need here! My first post here was almost exactly the same as yours, at least in terms of the Cigar.com humidor and how to season it! You mentioned not being in the States...where are you located? Anyhow, there's been a lot of quickfire answers here that might be throwing out some brand-names you're unfamiliar with (Boveda, Xikar, etc), but maybe you already know them. If not, Boveda is a company that produces supplies for proper humidification, primarily their proprietary packets that maintain a specific humidity (they're available at different RH - relative humidity - levels). They also offer kits that are specifically meant for seasoning a humidor, so maybe that's an option for you in this case. Xikar is primarily an accessories brand, offering lighters, cutters, cases, and hygrometers. They're popular because they have an excellent warranty, and a wide range of products.

Anyway, your cigars might be in questionable shape in spite of appearances, after being kept in such inconsistent conditions for several months. Your best best of recovering them (and the humidor at this point) would be to separate the two. Get a humidity pillow (typically at any tobacconist or via Cigar.com), or short of that I've used a small bunch of tissue moist with distilled water. Toss this in with the cigars into a Ziploc bag or tupperware container in a dark, temperate place (unused drawers or cabinets are good for this). Then proceed to season the humidor properly; at this point I'd probably allow for 10-14 days to reach stabilization. A few guys here have thrown out all kinds of numbers, but if this is your first humidor then it's also probably the first time you're experiencing real control over the humidity of your cigars - I'd encourage you to stick with the golden standard (70·/70% RH) for now, not least of which is because the Spanish cedar in your humidor will most easily maintain 70% RH.

After you've reached stabilization (equal RH over several days, but it's ok if this is a few points above 70% as the RH will drop when you add cigars), put your cigars in the humidor - as long as your humidification source (humidification pillow, or towel + distilled water) hasn't completely dried out, they should be fine to put in the humidor. With that said, don't expect to smoke them and enjoy them properly for perhaps a month or so - it takes time, and more importantly stable conditions, to recover from being improperly stored. Buy some more sticks and keep the humidor full, giving you stuff to smoke while they're recovering and also making it easier to maintain proper humidity (an empty humidor struggles keeping stable humidity).

Ken_Light

Sazhman:

Ok thanks. Now inside is 62% and my all cigars are wrapped in celophane, would you recommend to keep it that way without ziplock and after a week raise humidity to 65% ??

62's not bad for the winter. Give it a day to make sure it's stable, but then just put the sticks in the box. It'll fluctuate when you do, probably even drop since the cigars need humidity, but it should stabilize in a day or so. BTW cellophane makes little to no difference in terms of humidifying the cigars, the cello breathes.

Sazhman

Lee.mcglynn:

Yeah man not all products are the same. It sucks but it's something we all learn down the road

Hi again! Right, I did a salt 75% RH test with ZIPlock bag. After 6 hours it was 74% and not moving, I waited 3hours more and it was still 74%, so I guess we can say it is -1.

Sazhman

Hays:

Welcome to the forum man, you´ll get all the information you need here! My first post here was almost exactly the same as yours, at least in terms of the Cigar.com humidor and how to season it! You mentioned not being in the States...where are you located? Anyhow, there's been a lot of quickfire answers here that might be throwing out some brand-names you're unfamiliar with (Boveda, Xikar, etc), but maybe you already know them. If not, Boveda is a company that produces supplies for proper humidification, primarily their proprietary packets that maintain a specific humidity (they're available at different RH - relative humidity - levels). They also offer kits that are specifically meant for seasoning a humidor, so maybe that's an option for you in this case. Xikar is primarily an accessories brand, offering lighters, cutters, cases, and hygrometers. They're popular because they have an excellent warranty, and a wide range of products.

Anyway, your cigars might be in questionable shape in spite of appearances, after being kept in such inconsistent conditions for several months. Your best best of recovering them (and the humidor at this point) would be to separate the two. Get a humidity pillow (typically at any tobacconist or via Cigar.com), or short of that I've used a small bunch of tissue moist with distilled water. Toss this in with the cigars into a Ziploc bag or tupperware container in a dark, temperate place (unused drawers or cabinets are good for this). Then proceed to season the humidor properly; at this point I'd probably allow for 10-14 days to reach stabilization. A few guys here have thrown out all kinds of numbers, but if this is your first humidor then it's also probably the first time you're experiencing real control over the humidity of your cigars - I'd encourage you to stick with the golden standard (70·/70% RH) for now, not least of which is because the Spanish cedar in your humidor will most easily maintain 70% RH.

After you've reached stabilization (equal RH over several days, but it's ok if this is a few points above 70% as the RH will drop when you add cigars), put your cigars in the humidor - as long as your humidification source (humidification pillow, or towel + distilled water) hasn't completely dried out, they should be fine to put in the humidor. With that said, don't expect to smoke them and enjoy them properly for perhaps a month or so - it takes time, and more importantly stable conditions, to recover from being improperly stored. Buy some more sticks and keep the humidor full, giving you stuff to smoke while they're recovering and also making it easier to maintain proper humidity (an empty humidor struggles keeping stable humidity).

Thank you my friend for taking me through all little things, very appreciated. I live in Armenia. Its already 4 days humidity level inside of humidor is 64%. Actually the day you wrote this, it dropped to 61% but I reprepared Humidifier and its solid 64%. While its keeping its humidity, Im testing as you said "separate the two", so I can separate cigars and season the humidor. I took 34 gallon tupperware, tossed there one humidity pack, which came with cigars(rehydrated with distilled water), put the hygrometer, and waited for 24h. I checked back, and it was showing 85% RH. I think it will be to much for cigars to put in, so Im now strugling how to not get more then 70% RH in that tupperware. Here's the photos And this is the cigars I bought.