How often do you re-season a humidor? if ever?

[smokinbrew]

so i have my OLD WORLD humidor purchased about 4 months ago, seasoned, balanced out, kept at 65-75% capacity always have a humidifier in there (little jar with gel from Xicar) but recently i noticed my humidity dropping and it bottomed hard today at 60% usually stays about 69%. should i remove my cigars and re-season it? problem is i dont have anywhere else to put them so i need some ideas for a quick fix on that. i was thinking of adding another jar but i dont want to over humidify the sticks. what do ya'll think. any advice is greatly appreciated

 

[ChefBoyRG54]

Are you in a cold climate? Mine needed some love recently since the winter Michigan air is very dry. First time I've had to add dw to the kitty litter in months

 

[Craig Mac]

Winter time can always be tough keeping humidity up. No need to panic, just throw an additional humidification device in there like a Boveda pack and it will level out in no time. 60% isn't bad and easy to recover from. Most here will tell you they like to keep their humidors around 65%

You can add another jar, just check it every couple days. If it goes over 70% take it out for a couple days. No need to be concerned, we've all been there.

 

[rdomfoto]

Winter is definitely a drier time of the year, so watch for Rh levels to drop. That little jar (I have the same one) can lose it's moisture pretty quickly if it's too dry outside. First thing I would do is to check the level of the gel. You may need to add some.

That being said, I would actually replace them with Boveda packs. When the packs dry out, they are easy to recharge by storing them in an airtight container with a smaller container of DW for 24-36 hours. Plus you have the added benefit with the packs that they will absorb excess moisture. That jar of beads will ensure that your humidor is a minimum of whatever Rh it's designed for (69%, I think) but if the humidor goes above that, the jar won't absorb the excess humidity.

Also, how confident are you that your humidor isn't leaking? If it's seals properly (try the paper test) then my guess is that you need to add more gel. But if it dropped to 60% that quickly, methinks your humidor is properly sealing.

 

[rdomfoto]

Here's another question - how large is your humidor and how many cigars do you have in it?

 

[smokinbrew]

Are you in a cold climate? Mine needed some love recently since the winter Michigan air is very dry. First time I've had to add dw to the kitty litter in months

im in orange county CA right now it has been colder these last few days but its still 50+. I'm from Utah so cold doesn't start until 15 and below LOL

 

[ChefBoyRG54]

im in orange county CA right now it has been colder these last few days but its still 50+. I'm from Utah so cold doesn't start until 15 and below LOL

Same here, but California is a desert!

 

[smokinbrew]

Here's another question - how large is your humidor and how many cigars do you have in it?

it is a 100 capacity humidor, bought it from cheap humidors.com, it does seal perfectly, i checked that myself. so full capacity for my humidor because of the size i smoke it holds about 65-70, i usually keep around 50 in there at a time give or take a couple. so as far as the jars, i didn't know that they didn't absorb humidity as well, i know boveda packs are good but worried about laying them on the wood, will that lead to mold or anything? how does the kitty litter work? and what about those little Gel pellets or balls what ever you want to call them do they work?

 

[smokinbrew]

Same here, but California is a desert!

LOL that is true my friend, so is Utah and i forgot about that ha ha.

 

[rdomfoto]

You can lay the Boveda packs directly on the wood without any issue. A lot of the brothers here use them in their desktop humis. Kitty litter is fantastic and I use it in my cooler. Just needs to be sprayed gently with distilled water initially and, depending on how often you're opening the humi, re-sprayed every few months. If you go with Boveda packs, get a couple. As I mentioned, you can easily recharge them when they dry out but if you have two (or three), then you can be recharging one and leave the other in the humidor, then swap them out, and finally put the second one back in when it's recharged. No worries about over-humidifying with the Boveda - especially in SoCal.

Use the silica gel-based (unscented) kitty litter. In a 100-count, a coffin filled with it would work nicely and not take up too much space. I've not had to spray my KL since March although my cooler is reading about 62% Rh, so I might give it a quick spritz this weekend.

 

[smokinbrew]

You can lay the Boveda packs directly on the wood without any issue. A lot of the brothers here use them in their desktop humis. Kitty litter is fantastic and I use it in my cooler. Just needs to be sprayed gently with distilled water initially and, depending on how often you're opening the humi, re-sprayed every few months. If you go with Boveda packs, get a couple. As I mentioned, you can easily recharge them when they dry out but if you have two (or three), then you can be recharging one and leave the other in the humidor, then swap them out, and finally put the second one back in when it's recharged. No worries about over-humidifying with the Boveda - especially in SoCal.

Use the silica gel-based (unscented) kitty litter. In a 100-count, a coffin filled with it would work nicely and not take up too much space. I've not had to spray my KL since March although my cooler is reading about 62% Rh, so I might give it a quick spritz this weekend.

Thank you for the help i will try the Boveda ad when i get my large cabinet i will try the kitty litter or an electric, although i didn't have a great experience with an electric one in my last chest.

 

[javelin377]

Just get some Boveda packs and be done. They are awesome.

 

[smokinbrew]

Just get some Boveda packs and be done. They are awesome.

what about if the boveda lays against a cigar or on top of them? i assume it will over humidify that stick and make it soggy. i would avoid laying it on top of the cigars of course but I'm worried about the Realestate it would take up in my humidor.

 

[javelin377]

mine lay on my sticks, or sticks lay on them. never had an issue

 

[smokinbrew]

Really? thats freaking awesome!
thanks for the help!

 

[StogieNinja]

Here's the rub: Even if the seal where the humidor opens and closes is nice and tight, you're still losing a lot of rh through the bottom. The problem with most Chinese-made wood humidors is that there's nothing to seal the bottom, it's just unfinished Spanish cedar that's incredibly thin, with some felt glued over it.

Ditch the humidor, and get a tupperware, cooler, or wine cooler, you'll have a much easier time.

 

[jfettlol]

i always have a few bovedas in with my KL. i think re-calibrating my hygro's is more frequent than re-humidifying. (all 5 of my hygrosets dropped a solid 10% in a few months, all out of calibration. it seems extremely slow rh drops mess them up, or atleast mine.)