How to Set Up a Humidor

Cigars must be kept in a consistent climate to deliver the best possible smoke, as the cigar maker intended. Cigar maintenance might sound like a lot of work, yet, with just a few easy steps and occasional upkeep, you can enjoy beautifully maintained cigars that are always ready to deliver a great smoke.

Proper cigar humidor setup and maintenance are vital to the cigar smoking experience, ensuring cigars are neither too dry nor too moist. No matter the humidor type, the main setup steps are the same. Let’s learn how to set up a humidor the right way, plus some tips for everyday humidor maintenance to ensure your cigars remain in optimal condition no matter what.

Season Your New Humidor

When selecting a humidor and humidifier, you need to prepare them for optimal climate control before stashing your cigars away. A properly conditioned humidor with an ideal 68% to 72% humidity at or near room temperature is crucial to maintaining a cigar’s quality, body, and taste throughout its aging process.

Step 1: Prep Your Humidor

Double-check where you plan to mount the humidifier within the humidor, ensuring it won’t damage your cigars or prevent the lid from closing all the way. Attach any mounts, such as magnets or Velcro, so you can easily move the humidifier when needed. If your humidor also has a hygrometer, then it is best to mount it at the same time to ensure the devices won’t interfere with how the humidor works.

Step 2: Boost Humidity Level

Before you put cigars in your humidor, you want to be sure the humidity level is optimal. The initial setup will require a humidity boost. The goal is to gradually increase humidity levels to about 80%. This ensures a fully humidified humidor that is ready for cigar storage. To start, fully saturate a sponge with water, place it on a dish or plastic bag within the humidor, and close the lid. If you are using a Boveda pack, put it directly into the humidor.

Some humidors can take up to a few weeks to achieve higher humidity, so be patient. For example, Boveda’s 84% humidor seasoning pack should be left inside the humidor for 14 days for the best results. Once the humidor reaches the target humidity, move on to Step 3. Otherwise, it is best to give it more time or repeat this step if there is no change.

Step 3: Optimize Humidity Level

Once the humidor is fully seasoned, it is time to stabilize the humidity at 68% or 72%. Remove the sponge, fill the humidifier with distilled water, and insert it into the humidor. You should soak foam or sponge humidifiers so that the material is fully saturated. Then, drain off any excess water. Fill gel, bead, and electronic humidifiers with distilled water, ensuring not to overfill.

Use only distilled water as it minimizes mineral deposits and limits mold and bacteria buildup. Distilled water is great on its own, but you can enhance humidity control even more with cigar solution. Cigar solution, or 50/50 solution, is a distilled water and propylene glycol-based fluid that helps stabilize humidity further and fight against mold and bacteria. 

Check out our Cigar Humidors: The Ultimate Guide to learn more.

Maintain Humidity Level

Now that your humidor is properly seasoned, you can add your cigars. However, you’ll want to monitor the humidity levels regularly to ensure proper cigar preservation. How often you need to add distilled water or replace humidity packs might take some time. Once you get into the groove, you can create a regular cigar maintenance schedule easily.

Leaving the humidor wide open is tempting when humidity rises above your preferred levels. However, this can damage the cigars or even the humidor itself. Instead, remove the humidification device for a day and prop open the humidor slightly to allow the excess moisture to dissipate gradually. Repeat the initial setup steps if you need to increase humidity.

A quality hygrometer makes it easier to gauge the humidity levels accurately and stay on top of regular maintenance. Some hygrometers even have alarms to remind you when to refill humidifiers. Wrap your hygrometer in a damp towel for about 40 minutes to calibrate it. Unwrap, and it should measure 100 percent. If not, you need to recalibrate the gauge. This is typically done by adjusting an internal spring in analog hygrometers or digitally for electric devices. Always check the device’s instructions before recalibrating.

Additional Tips for Humidor Setup

Store your humidor where it is easily accessible for regular maintenance while keeping the humidor at room temperature and out of direct sunlight. External and internal climate changes influence humidor functionality, so you might need to adjust humidity levels depending on the season, whether spring, summer, autumn, or winter.

Ensure enough space within the humidor for humidity to circulate to help maintain year-round humidity. Trays and dividers help distribute humidity while also keeping cigars better organized. Humidification packs like Boveda’s popular ones are maintenance-free and offer greater flexibility in organization and circulation. Add one standard 60-gram Boveda pack per 25 cigars and replace it after two or three months.

When selecting the best humidifier for your humidor, be sure to consider the size of the humidor, how many cigars it holds, and where you will place the humidifier within the humidor. Consistency is the key. Whether you choose a passive foam humidifier or an active electronic device, ensure the device is optimized for your humidor size and type.

How do cigar humidors work? What are the humidor seasoning steps? Now that you can answer these and other humidor questions, it’s time to turbo-boost your humidor and accessories like a pro.

Humidor Care is Your Path to Better Cigars

Proper humidor seasoning and maintenance are key to enjoying cigars at their absolute best. With easy humidor setup and consistent, yet painless, humidor maintenance, you are on your way to creating the optimal home for your cigars. Now you have the perfect excuse to treat yourself to a new favorite cigar from the Swiss Cuban Cigars collection. A better cigar-smoking experience awaits you!