Help!! Newbie needs humidor advice!

[flushh]

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.

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???
I want to get my humidor up and running correctly, and I'm afraid to make a newbie mistake!

Any advice would be appreciated.

[chrisboy]

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.

[Roham]

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.

[flushh]

Thanks, guys.
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.