Expert: Bill Finck Jr. - 11/22/2008

Question
i received a humidor for my birthday and as with any gift i wanted to put it to use right away. but i also wanted to properly season it so it wouldn't ruin my cigars. i did all the tips and tricks i was reading online about how u should gently wipe the inside with a damp sponge then leave the sponge in the humidor over night and do it once more and then it should have been ready to go. i then put my cigars in after the last day.  after a couple weeks my cigars got dry (cracked when i touched them).although my hygrometer was reading 70-75%. i then took my humidor to my local cigar shop and asked the owner what to do and he immediately took it and sounded like he knew what to do. he then ran it under the sink quickly and then wiped the inside down of excess water and then put the cigars back in and said to do it again that night. he also sold me a jar of the beads of pg mixture. i did end up doing what he told me. right now my cigars aren't dry but my hygrometer is reading 80-85%. i wanted to know if that was bad for my humidor and what do i do now? P.S. this is a new hobby for me so i don't know much so go easy on me.

Answer
Nick,

Sorry about the delay in answering you. I was out sick a couple of days and got back to a ton of work yesterday...

First, I would never run water into a humidor. The joints are likely glued and you are taking a chance of them becoming loose if they get too wet. If the wood warps at all from being too wet, the lid won't seal and you'll never be able to hold moisture in the humidor. At this point there is nothing you can do about that except hope that no damage was done to your humidor.

As far as the cigars being dry, regardless of what your hygrometer read, the humidor was obviously too dry. Hygrometers are notoriously inaccurate, so disregard what yours reads.

What you didn't mention in your initial set up as the filling of the humidifier. If you missed this then you missed the most important part - the humidifier will constantly release moisture to keep the air humidified and the cigars moist. The only thing the shop owner did right was sell you a crystal humidifier and propylene glycol solution. If your new humidifier is the proper size and your humidor is still sealing tightly, you should now be able to maintain fresh cigars.

I have a 2 page paper I'd like to email you on humidors. If you'll send me your email address to b.finck@finckcigarcompany.com I'll send it to you. I think it will help you figure this out.

Bill