Expert: James Yee - 7/21/2008

Question
Ok. So I've been trying cigars for a few months so I thought it was about time to buy myself a humidor. I did my research online and went to my local cigar shop for answers. Eventually I got a fifty dollar humidor with an analog hygrometer. The guy at the shop told me how to season it, and Ive read online how to.

My problem is that my humidor will not stay above sixty-five or so. If i do the whole damp sponge thing it shoots up to about eighty so I take the sponge out and it drops right back down. How do I fix this? How do I keep it stable?

Answer
Hi Wayne,

The first thing you should do is thoroughly inspect your humidor for any gaps, cracks or other physical defects.  Major damage or defects on a humidor such as a loose lid or gaps in the corner joints can actually cause the humidity to seep out and prevent a humidor from holding proper humidity.  Leather wrapped humidors and humidors with glass inlays can also lose humidity if they're not properly constructed.

If your humidor physically appears to be fine, then you will need to continue to season your humidor until the humidor's humidity can hold at 70% humidity or higher with only a charged humidification device.  If after seasoning, the humidor holds too much humidity (74% or greater), you can easily fix this with a 50/50 mixture of Propylene Glycol (PG) and distilled water.  This mixture will balance the humidity out at exactly 70%.  (Note: It should be noted that PG should only be used if the humidor's humidity is already too high.  It's not effective for boosting low humidity.  Continue seasoning until the humidity holds at 70% or higher.  Afterwards, you can add PG to balance the humidity.)  

Also, PG can last a long time inside a humidor (on average 2 years) so you only need to add this mixture just once and afterwards, add only distilled water to the humidification device when needed.  PG is available at most cigar stores, tobacconists, drug stores and pharmacies.

As an alternative to seasoning, you can increase humidity by adding a second humidification device.  This will boost the humidity to a more reasonable level.  Again, if the humidity is too high, adding a 50/50 mixture will correct it.

Hopes this answers your question. If you have any more questions, please feel free to just ask and I will be happy to help.

Regards,
James