Humidor Paranoia

[croatan]

I've always wiped the wood down. I didn't even know there were opinions out there to the contrary.

[SuperChuck]

The moral of this story is use humidity beads. :)

Using a digital hydrometer is a good idea, too.

[illilli]

The moral of this story is use humidity beads. :)

Using a digital hydrometer is a good idea, too.

AMEN Brother!

(The other moral is: Don't do stupid stuff when you set your humidor up like me)

[SuperChuck]

(The other moral is: Don't do stupid stuff when you set your humidor up like me)

The upside is you're mostly just suffering from Newbie Jitters. Your humidor is not rendered completely unusable just because you had some humidity issues. You don't have to feed your cigars to the dog.

Put a shotglass of rice in your humi until your RH gets down to 65-70. The rice will absorb the excess humidity. If they're so damp they're visibly bloated, give them a couple weeks to dry out.

[The Master]

You never want to rub down the inside of a humidor with distilled water.

If your humidity is too high then remove the humidification device until it gets back down to 65 percent. If when you put it back in and it goes up again, leave it out. I have had humidors in the past where I kept the humidifiaction device out for months at a time. Your cigars hold humidity, it could take months for them to lose their excess moisture.

[centurycigar]

Wiping down the wood is a must, not only does it help with the overall humidity of the humidor and seasoning of the humidor, but it also helps swell the wood a tiny bit which results in a much better seal. I good seal helps maintain the humidity. loose lids are a big cause of humidity loss.
Check this link out from Cigar Aficionado

http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar...101/fp398.html

[The Master]

Just because CA writes it, don't ever think it is gospel.

In all my years of experience with many different humidors there was never ever a reason to wipe the inside with distilled water.

[SuperChuck]

We need a sticky of me saying RELAX! :)

When I was starting out, I checked my humidity every 34 minutes. If it was anywhere below 70%, I'd pour a gallon of water onto my humidifier. The end result was cigars that popped every time I tried to smoke one. These things were bloated like that chick in the Midol commercials.

Cigars are slow movers. Panicking and trying to "fix" something is only going to cause more problems. Similarly, you're trying to create an environment for them, which is even slower. Putting water on a humidifying element doesn't suddenly add moisture to the air. That's a very slow process.

[centurycigar]

The end result was cigars that popped every time I tried to smoke one. These things were bloated like that chick in the Midol commercials.

LMAO !

[thepyrofish]

I had heard that they can warp if you wipe them, so I didn't do it. Mine works just fine.

[illilli]

We need a sticky of me saying RELAX! :)

When I was starting out, I checked my humidity every 34 minutes. If it was anywhere below 70%, I'd pour a gallon of water onto my humidifier. The end result was cigars that popped every time I tried to smoke one. These things were bloated like that chick in the Midol commercials.

Cigars are slow movers. Panicking and trying to "fix" something is only going to cause more problems. Similarly, you're trying to create an environment for them, which is even slower. Putting water on a humidifying element doesn't suddenly add moisture to the air. That's a very slow process.

Man, you have described me to a T, but I could wait 60 minutes....

[SuperChuck]

Man, you have described me to a T, but I could wait 60 minutes....

Home brewing is another hobby of mine. You see the same problems in beermaking. Beginning brewers tend to freak out if ANYTHING is imperfect. They sterilize their brewpot, triple-filter their water, and start to panic if they don't see bubbles in the first 15 minutes. They start to get concerned that they killed their yeast because it's only 69 degrees, not the recommended 70.

Meanwhile, brewing is a rediculously inaccurate science. I've had fermentations that go strong for a week, I've had fermentations go three days. Once I even brewed the day before a heatwave and came home to a fermenter that had erupted like Mount Vesuvius! And you know what? All those beers came out just fine.

[ggiese]

We need a sticky of me saying RELAX! :)

When I was starting out, I checked my humidity every 34 minutes. If it was anywhere below 70%, I'd pour a gallon of water onto my humidifier. The end result was cigars that popped every time I tried to smoke one. These things were bloated like that chick in the Midol commercials.

Cigars are slow movers. Panicking and trying to "fix" something is only going to cause more problems. Similarly, you're trying to create an environment for them, which is even slower. Putting water on a humidifying element doesn't suddenly add moisture to the air. That's a very slow process.

We need this post for Bill Clinton over on Cigar Pass (the infamous Humidor Problem thread...)

[Diesel Grinch]

The moral of this story is use humidity beads. :)

Using a digital hydrometer is a good idea, too.

What Flavor?

[illilli]

Well, leave it to me to find them, but be unable to find them now, of course. Here are two, but not some of the original ones I found:

http://www.simplycigars.co.uk/acatal...rs_Humidor_Car

http://www.cigarlife.com/rdrmail/rml0d.htm

I am not debating with you on the correct method to season a humidor; simply stating that I did find information saying not to wipe down the inside. At any rate, as evidenced by the high humidity in my humidor, I accomplished the mission of getting the cedar saturated.

[Cheeze]

Well, leave it to me to find them, but be unable to find them now, of course. Here are two, but not some of the original ones I found:

http://www.simplycigars.co.uk/acatal...rs_Humidor_Car

http://www.cigarlife.com/rdrmail/rml0d.htm

I am not debating with you on the correct method to season a humidor; simply stating that I did find information saying not to wipe down the inside. At any rate, as evidenced by the high humidity in my humidor, I accomplished the mission of getting the cedar saturated.

I have heard the same about wiping down the inside. I received a humi from Cuban Crafters and their instruction says not to wipe the inside...