Help!! Newbie needs humidor advice!

Hey, all. I have smoked cigars periodically for about 7-8 years now, but I've just become more "serious" about it. I got a Colibri Quantum torch lighter, a Colibri stainless steel cutter, and a brand new 100 cigar rosewood humidor all in the last two weeks and I'm really enjoying reading all the good posts on this site about cigar recommendations, etc. :smiley20:

Here's my problem...some websites say to get a damp sponge and wipe down the cedar interior of the humidor before/while you season it. Other websites say don't ever wet the wood or you might ruin it with warping/mold, etc. What should I do??? :smiley24:
I want to get my humidor up and running correctly, and I'm afraid to make a newbie mistake!

Any advice would be appreciated.

hi flushh!

seasoning a humidor means that you get the humidity of an empty humidor at the right level (65-70% RH) before you put your smokes in. some people want to hasten this process by wiping the cedar walls with a damp sponge to get some moisture in it really fast. this could warp the wood and is not really advised.

a new humidor would have really dry cedar walls and would need some excess moisture before it can stabilize and maintain 70% humidity. a sure (but slower) way to do this is to soak up your humidifier more than usual and leave it in the humi for 2-3 days(maybe more) until cedar walls absorb all the moisture it can and the humi stays at 70% constantly. then you can put your smokes in without worries.

I agree with chrisboy. Wiping it down with a wet cloth wouldnt be too bad if done lightly. But thats if your in a rush... Probably better would be to put a bowl or cup of water in the humidor for a few days. And here is another idea I read, microwave the cup of water for a minute or two before putting it in the humidor. This will cut the wait time down from 2-3 days to maybe 1-2 days:) Hope this helps.

Thanks, guys. :smiley14:
I guess it makes sense that wiping it down would be to "speed up" the seasoning process. I have instead had a small container of 50/50 solution in the humidor along with a full humidifier for about 5 days now. I will move my hygrometer over to the humidor tomorrow to see what she's running. Right now, the hygrometer is in my "coolerdor" so that I can keep tabs on my cigars until the humi is ready. :smiley20: