Expert: James Yee - 1/16/2009

Question
I recently bought an expensive Brigham humidor (about 100/150 capacity) and cannot get readings on the digital hygrometer above 52-58% even though I have gone through the "prepping" twice.  I have resorted to soaking a small paper towel in distilled water & leaving it in the humidor in a small dish for a day or two.  What am I doing wrong???  I have a good collection (about 150) expensive cigars that are now in two other humidors while I try to activate the new one (gift)....

Answer
Hi Edward,

The first step is to make sure that your hygrometer is properly configured.  Even though most digital hygrometers are factory-tested, calibrated and extremely accurate, some digital hygrometers do require some minor configuration so that they can work properly.  Check any documentation that came with your digital hygrometer to ensure that it is properly configured.  

If your hygrometer is properly configured, then the next step is to thoroughly inspect your humidor and make sure that there are no construction flaws or defects that would cause humidity to escape.  Make sure that the humidor doesn't have any gaps or cracks in the corner joints or humidor lid that would compromise the humidity.  If it does, contact the retailer or manufacturer for repair or replacement.

If both the humidor and hygrometer are fine, then it's possible that your humidor isn't thoroughly seasoned yet.  Here are detailed, step-by-step instructions for seasoning a humidor:

What you'll need:
1 - Your humidor
1 - Digital hygrometer (or analog)
1 - Your humidor's humidification device
1 - Clean (ie: fully sterilized) spray bottle
1 - Clean (ie: brand new) sponge
1 - Sheet of plastic food wrap/clear plastic baggie or a small dish
1 - Bottle of distilled water
1 - Bottle of propylene glycol (optional)

First, use the spray bottle and spray the entire wood interior of your humidor with distilled water.  Don't worry, this will not warp or damage the wood.  Let the humidor sit for five minutes before wiping up all the excess water inside your humidor with the clean sponge.  (Important: If you humidor's interior is not porous wood, you cannot season it.)  Your humidor interior should now be moist but have no visible puddles of water.  Next, saturate both the humidification device and sponge with distilled water.  Place the saturated sponge in a small dish or on top of a sheet of plastic food wrap (so that it doesn't come in direct contact with the wood) and place it in the center of your humidor.  If the sponge is dripping with water, it's better to place it in a small dish.  Install the humidification device and hygrometer into your humidor as you normally would and let the humidor sit with the lid closed for 24 hours.

After 24 hours, check on the humidor.  If the sponge and/or humidification device has lost a lot of moisture, repeat the seasoning process.  When the humidor is able to sit for 24 hours without losing much moisture in the sponge or humidification device, your humidor will be properly seasoned and ready to use.  

After the humidor has been seasoned, monitor what the humidity level is inside your humidor.  If the humidity level is near 70%, your humidor is performing properly.  If the humidity is greater than 74%, you will need to add propylene glycol to the humidification device to lower the humidity.  Start with a 50/50 mixture of propylene glycol and distilled water.  This should be enough to create 70% humidity but if the humidity is slightly off, fine-tune the mixture as needed.  (If the humidity is too high, add a few more drops of PG. If humidity is low, add more distilled water to dilute the PG.)  

It's important to remember that once you add propylene glycol to your humidor, it may take up to a week for the humidity to stabilize and during this time, the humidity may dip and peak wildly.  If this happens, please be patient as the humidity will eventually stabilize.

In the event that the humidity is still too low after properly seasoning your humidor, you may need to add either a secondary humidification device or upgrade to a larger primary humidification device to boost the humidity to an more ideal level.

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

Regards,
James