Forgot My Humidor Completely

[elnoblecigarro]

I messed up. I completely forgot my humidor for a few weeks. Yesterday I suddenly remembered that I haven't added water in a long time. And the humidity was at 48 %

Overnight I managed to raise it to 56%, I'm aiming for 60-65%. Hopefully no lasting damage done, I had just bought new cigars last summer.

Remember to maintain your humidors!

 

[deadidunn]

Grab some Boveda packs. Easy Peasy.

 

[musicman]

Your smokes will be fine. I gave up trying to maintain a cedar humidor here in the desert. It was too much work! I keep my smokes in large tupperware now, with some Spanish cedar for seasoning purposes. One Boveda pack at 65 lasts for a year or so.

 

[elnoblecigarro]

Your smokes will be fine. I gave up trying to maintain a cedar humidor here in the desert. It was too much work! I keep my smokes in large tupperware now, with some Spanish cedar for seasoning purposes. One Boveda pack at 65 lasts for a year or so.

It's easy here most of the time but during cold winter the air is so dry more attention is necessary. I just completely forgot my humidor.

I'll look into Boveda packs if I can find them here, they could be of assistance during winter. Do they actually keep the percentage they promise or should I aim higher/lower? Say If I wanted 65 %. Would one packet be enough for about 40 sticks (small cedar humidor, quite full)? I would expect they last shorter time in a cedar humidor than tupperware.

 

[musicman]

It's easy here most of the time but during cold winter the air is so dry more attention is necessary. I just completely forgot my humidor.

I'll look into Boveda packs if I can find them here, they could be of assistance during winter. Do they actually keep the percentage they promise or should I aim higher/lower? Say If I wanted 65 %. Would one packet be enough for about 40 sticks (small cedar humidor, quite full)? I would expect they last shorter time in a cedar humidor than tupperware.

In my experience, the 65% packs keep the RH at 65, give or take a percent either direction. I think one would be fine for 40 sticks.

 

[deadidunn]

Boveda also makes some seasoning packs, around 85% i think. I've heard some people rejuvenate their humidors on occasion, not sure if it's necessary.

 

[elnoblecigarro]

Boveda also makes some seasoning packs, around 85% i think. I've heard some people rejuvenate their humidors on occasion, not sure if it's necessary.

I don't think the situation is that grave. I try to avoid higher percentages because I had a mold fiasco two years ago caused by too much moisture. Many good cigars were lost that day.

 

[tom12]

Good thing about Boveda is that the packs are really easy to rehydrate, I use deionised water for mine.

 

[shaneireland]

It's easy here most of the time but during cold winter the air is so dry more attention is necessary. I just completely forgot my humidor.

I'll look into Boveda packs if I can find them here, they could be of assistance during winter. Do they actually keep the percentage they promise or should I aim higher/lower? Say If I wanted 65 %. Would one packet be enough for about 40 sticks (small cedar humidor, quite full)? I would expect they last shorter time in a cedar humidor than tupperware.

Boveda is absolutely the way to go. They actually regulate in both directions, so a 65% pack will pull moisture exceeding that, or release moisture in an environment that's under 65%. Boveda themselves recommend one of the larger 60g packs for every 25 cigars, which I would also recommend depending on the container. A wooden humidor probably needs 60g of Boveda for every 25 sticks and might still "dry up" fairly regularly, especially if it's not full of cigars. The less cigars you have in a cedar box, the more moisture you'll need to keep conditions stable.

I use Coleman coolers for long-term storage, as they are mostly air-tight and more importantly, they do a better job of keeping wild temperature swings here in the southeast from messing up my stash. Relative humidity can fluctuate quite a bit without many issues (from high 50s to mid 70s), but high temperatures can cause beetles and that's no good. Colder is better, as far as temperature is concerned and it gets damn hot here for 8 months out of the year.

Anyhow, I've got several coolers but my biggest probably has 1,000 sticks in it, mostly in boxes, and I only have about a dozen 60g Boveda packs in there, not 40. And I only have to change them once per year. Humidity is constant in the mid-to-high 60s.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Relax, cigars aren't that fragile. They will be fine.

 

[elnoblecigarro]

Boveda is absolutely the way to go. They actually regulate in both directions, so a 65% pack will pull moisture exceeding that, or release moisture in an environment that's under 65%. Boveda themselves recommend one of the larger 60g packs for every 25 cigars, which I would also recommend depending on the container. A wooden humidor probably needs 60g of Boveda for every 25 sticks and might still "dry up" fairly regularly, especially if it's not full of cigars. The less cigars you have in a cedar box, the more moisture you'll need to keep conditions stable.

I use Coleman coolers for long-term storage, as they are mostly air-tight and more importantly, they do a better job of keeping wild temperature swings here in the southeast from messing up my stash. Relative humidity can fluctuate quite a bit without many issues (from high 50s to mid 70s), but high temperatures can cause beetles and that's no good. Colder is better, as far as temperature is concerned and it gets damn hot here for 8 months out of the year.

Anyhow, I've got several coolers but my biggest probably has 1,000 sticks in it, mostly in boxes, and I only have about a dozen 60g Boveda packs in there, not 40. And I only have to change them once per year. Humidity is constant in the mid-to-high 60s.

I just ordered two Boveda bags (60g). I ordered the 69% version since that was what I found. If they can't overmoisturize, I figured having two would last longer. I do intend to keep my normal humidifier in too.

 

[anotherbob]

You could send on to every expert here and have them confirm they're fine

 

[stokesdale]

I messed up. I completely forgot my humidor for a few weeks. Yesterday I suddenly remembered that I haven't added water in a long time. And the humidity was at 48 %

Overnight I managed to raise it to 56%, I'm aiming for 60-65%. Hopefully no lasting damage done, I had just bought new cigars last summer.

Remember to maintain your humidors!

I keep my Davidoffs in the cedar box they are shipped with with Bovedas in them...$500 a box and have never had any issues at all and maintenance free!

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I thought that this was going to be a saga about having to turn around to go back home to get your humidor.

 

[pantsBoots]

I just ordered two Boveda bags (60g). I ordered the 69% version since that was what I found. If they can't overmoisturize, I figured having two would last longer. I do intend to keep my normal humidifier in too.

They absolutely can over-moisturize. While Boveda uses different formulations for the gel in the package to try and hit certain RH ranges, remember you are adding a moist element into the humidor and the RH listed on a pack was probably calibrated in a controlled environment. If the humidor wood is dry and not seasoned, the Boveda will dry out quickly. Likewise, if the surrounding environment is very humid, the Boveda will take on moisture.

There are two key things to remember when humidifying, well, anything. For one, temperature and RH work hand in hand; higher temperatures induce moisture to circulate and lower temperatures induce it to settle. For two, RH, like temperature and other natural processes seeks equilibrium. Boveda is a two-way humidity agent, but so are cigars, wood and other humidifying agents. I personally have grown to prefer heartfelt beads above all else as they seem to work better, though it may be due to my humidors being over 10 years old and in constant use.

As a side note, hygrometers are helpful, but you should not rely on their reading as gospel, unless you've purchased a laboratory-grade model, which run into the hundreds of dollars. As a side note to a side note, forget about the salt water test for calibrating your hygrometer. Consumer-grade hygrometers are programmed to work within a certain range of RH in which they are considered reliable, typically in the range of +/- 5%. Pay attention more to how the cigars smoke when figuring about whether to add (or remove) humidifying agents to your humidor.

 

[ahinesdesign]

Lower relative humidity for a few weeks is not a problem at all. I have some cigars given to me by a work colleague that had been in a dresser drawer for almost 2 years, but after a little time in the humidor, smoked wonderfully. Like was said earlier, cigars are not that fragile...

I have used a wide variety of humidifiers in humidors over the years. The most reliable has been beads (can't remember if they are the Heartfelt or another brand) but I've been using them for almost 20 years without a hiccup. Always wanted to try one of the Cigar Oasis active humidifiers, but why bother when passive methods work so well?