Expert: Bill Finck Jr. - 5/26/2008

Question
Hi, Ive got to admit that im a total beginner when it comes to humidors, but im slowly learning and enjoying the process which is great I guess

anyways, recently I went to the caribbean and grabbed a humidor to store some cigars. Unfortunately, I knew absolutely nothing... so ive made a lot of mistakes.  I never knew there was a lot of steps to take, my humidor didnt come with many instructions...

Anyways, this is what ive done so far.   The problem is that right now my humidity is around 63% which is a tad bit low

#1) I thought humidors just needed water in the humidifier.  So I wet the oasis aquafoam thing with boiled water. Obviously this did not work all that well.  I did not season my humidor, but it didnt come in a plastic wrap, so perhaps pre seasoned?

#2) When just water did not work, I read a little and found people saying to get a bit of boiling water in a bowl and leave it in your humidor to season it.  I did this... but humidity still low

#3) Thinking my hygrometer needs checking, I did the salt/water trick and it registered at about 72%, so now I add 3% to all my readings

#3) I decide to get propylene glycol which was actually surprisingly hard to find.  Pharmacy didnt have it for sale although they used it... eventually I found a cigar shop that had it, Im using Xikar premixed solution (so I dont have to add water).  I had high hopes, but its unmoving at 61%, been over 24 hours.   I tried adding more PG mix, but no change

This is what I think the problem is: because I added the water to the aquafoam before trying PG mix, the mix must be very low on PG.   WOuld this be correct?   I guess my next step would be to locate a flower shop and buy a new aquafoam thing to use with my Xikar PG premix...

any other help/hints/tips would be greatly appreciated.  I just want to learn as much as possible.... and also not ruin my cigars

I dont have many right now, just 3 cohiba siglo's, 2 cohiba exquisitos and 3 montecristo.  I think the fact that I kept the montecristos in the cellophane and the cohibas in the small boxes kept them from really drying out too much.   Hope to resolve these problems soon and keep my cigars well hydrated.  

Thanks in advance!   sorry for this being so long

Answer
Andrew,

First, go ahead and season the humidor now. .All you need to do is remove the cigars, wipe the inside of the humidor down with a damp (not wet) cloth and then let it sit for 24 hours.

While you are doing this leave the humidifier out of the box and let it dry out some. It probably does have too much water and not enough PG solution, although this is not that big of a deal.

Next, re-fill the humidifier with solution, put it back in the box and then put the cigars back in.

Regarding the hygrometer reading, unless it is digital it is probably wrong - nearly all analog types are pretty inaccurate. You also need to realize that you are measuring humidity relative to temperature. At 70 degrees Fahrenheit you want 70% relative humidity. At 72 degrees you want 66%, at 74 degrees you want 62%... Assuming the temperature where you have the humidor is around 74 degrees, your humidity is actually pretty good.

If you want to get an accurate relative humidity reading, consider buying a Xikar digital hygrometer from the same place you bought the PG solution. If they don't have one we sell them at www.finckcigarcompany.com

I'm willing to bet your humidor is fine and your cigars will retain their humidity. If they start drying out or you still have questions please let me know.

Thanks,
Bill