Do You Wipe Down Cigar Humidors To Season Them?

A cigar humidor needs to be seasoned before you use it. This process involves getting the water levels in the wood up to a level that ensures that the wood doesn't draw moisture out of the atmosphere. To do this, you will need to wipe down the wood with a sponge and you'll need to make sure you do it correctly.

Start by opening up your fresh humidor and inserting the humidifier. Remember that only distilled water should ever be used for seasoning the humidor, as well as for the humidifier when you're maintaining the moisture levels in the box during regular use. The second step is to actually wipe down the wood.

Get the sponge wet, but make sure that it isn't dripping. You'll just wipe down the wood enough to make it change color a bit and then close the box for 24 hours. The water will absorb into the wood and the humidifier will help in the process of making sure that there is adequate water in the atmosphere inside the box. After you have let the box sit for 24 hours, open it up and take a look to see how it's doing.

You'll likely need to wipe the wood down one more time before letting the wood sit for the rest of the seasoning period. Remember not to leave any standing water in the box. This can cause problems and may end up ruining the wood itself. Let the box sit closed for another 24 hours and then check it again. Remember that the hygrometer will read a little high, in all likelihood, but that doesn't mean that you cannot put your cigars in at this time.

After 48 hours, your box should be ready to use. There are some cases where you may have to give it another round of seasoning, however. If this is the case, just repeat the process for one more night. You can usually safely store your cigars in the box after 48 hours of seasoning, however. When you have this process all taken care of, make sure to watch the humidity levels in the box for a while to ensure that it isn't drying out. Your cigars will take their bets when they're stored at the right humidity and when you leave the box closed as much as possible to keep the water in the box from escaping into the atmosphere outside the box.