How to Rehydrate Tobacco

boudreaux · Apr 9, 2013

After extensive search, still did not find my pipes from 35 years ago, including 2 Preben Holms.

But did find a walnut wood humidor, and it had loose tobacco of unknown origin and two pouches bought in a Lufkin, Texas Pipe and Lite shop back in 1982. Price: 2 oz. for $1.50 (Wow how prices have changed!)
Anyway, the tobacco still smells good in its plastic pouches. What's the best way to rehydrate tobacco like this?

seanlamb63 · Apr 9, 2013

There are a few ways, I put mine in a bowl and lay a damp paper town with distilled water over top of it and let it sit for a few hours; or if its really dry I'll put it in a metal mixing bowl and sprits it with distilled water lightly and mix it up generously. Once I put it back in my mason jars it comes back to life in no time.

lordofthepiperings · Apr 9, 2013

The mentioned method works pretty well. Lately I've just been tearing off a bit of a sponge and dampening it then throwing it in the middle of the tin or pouch and letting it sit overnight.

trailspike48 · Apr 9, 2013

As a newbe I love all the information I get from you guys. Thanks.

boudreaux · Apr 9, 2013

My thanks to everyone for their suggestions. :D

cigrmaster · Apr 9, 2013

I use the damp towel with distilled water method also. I used to use a large mixing bowl but then I believe it was Jud who said he used a shallow baking pan to get a more even re hydration which makes sense to me. Good luck and let us know how you make out.

kcghost · Apr 10, 2013

If you directly spray/spritz water on the tobacco you run a risk of mold. Put the tobacco in a spacious plastic bowl. Give a thin dish towel a spritz or two. Lay it over the plastic container. Lay some something over the towel to both cover it and to hold it in place. Let it sit for 12 hours or so. Repeat if necessary.
It is better to go slow than to try and force feed the moisture into the tobacco.

seanlamb63 · Apr 10, 2013

If you use Distilled water, you shouldn't run in to the risk of mold, least I never have. Also making sure to not soak the tobacco and just lightly mist it helps as well.

spartan · Apr 10, 2013

You can check out this thread to see how I prefer to re-hydrate my tobacco.
Super Simple.
http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/re-hydration#post-306639

andrew · Apr 10, 2013

I acquired some vintage Hollandia tobacco in the same manner, it's from the 1960's and no longer in production. I put in in a sealed jar and taped a moistend cotton ball to the top of the jar and sealed it, then after about a week it's finally at a nice moisture content. I find this to be the best way out of all the ways I've tried so far. It takes a bit longer, but I feel it's worth the wait.

john218 · Apr 10, 2013

I take the tobacco out of the tin, place it in a Tupperware type container, cover the top with two layers of paper towel dampened with distilled water and seal it with the plastic top. I check it after a day and if it's not moist enough, dampen the towel again and reseal it. I think the slow approach works best.
I bought a glass storage container to use strictly for tobacco after noticing some residual odor in a plastic container that had been used to store food.

cobsandclays · Apr 10, 2013

I had some that dried out in the ziplock bags, which I discovered when I was transferring my tobacco to canning jars. I have several boveda humidor 65% humidity packs so I emptied the tobacco into a gallon size freezer bag and tossed in a pack. I kept an eye on the humidity and took the pack from each bag when the humidity went up to about 55%, and moved the tobacco to the canning jars. This is basically the same as the above methods that involve distilled water, but it's very passive. To recharge the packs I put them in a tupperware container with damp paper towels until they're juicy.
Save that smoke!!

ohin3 · Apr 10, 2013

The damp towel over the bowl method works very well for me. Rehydrated tobacco does, to me, seem to be missing a little something but I still never throw tobacco away just because it's too dry.

admin · Apr 11, 2013

Dust in the Wind - A Primer on Tobacco Moisture

briarfriar · May 22, 2013

Just a quick note to praise the Boveda packets. I picked up half a dozen of the 69 percent packs, and dropped one in each of six re-sealable storage bags to revive various very dry tobaccos. In 24 hours, every bag contained rehydrated happy pipe tobacco. Fresh, but not too wet. Just spongy enough to merit leaving a clump to air dry for 10 minutes before packing a bowl.
It does require some diligence though. These packs (they're equal in size to the hand sanitizing wipes you get at Chinese restaurants) are intended to service a lot more tobacco than the few ounces neglected in long open tins. Keep an eye on the tobacco to prevent mold.
I see they're available for sale on-line, but at prices that seem steep to me. Grab 'em at your B&M.

How to Rehydrate Tobacco

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