Blog & Cigar News | Mardo Cigars

Hey, what's going on everyone? This is Gerard, Mardocigars.com. Seasoning a humidor for the first time can seem challenging and also frustrating, especially when you invested in a very nice piece like this 104 year old Kentucky barn wood humidor. So we're going to go step by step in this video how to season a humidor. So stay tuned.

So being in the industry for as long as we have over the last two decades, I have seasoned multiple humidors for all the clients that we serve in our brick and mortar, and today we're going to go through the exact process of how to do this. So stay tuned. 

1st Step

Okay, so step one, we are going to need some supplies. The supplies I'm talking about can be found in any household. The only one that's out of the ordinary is the propylene glycol solution. What this is is distilled water propylene glycol and a propylene glycol allows the water to be more dense so it doesn't vaporize as easy. But if you don't have any of these bottles in your household, that's not a big deal. You're just going to need some distilled water and it has to be distilled water, so therefore it does not build any contaminants like mold inside the humidor. Distilled water has all the minerals removed from it.

Second is you're going to need a small sponge that's free of any oils or any fragrance. Also, you're going to need some paper towels so you can wipe down any excess water you accidentally spill because if you don't want any still water inside the humidor at all. Also we're going to need a Tupperware or if you just want to utilize only the lid of the Tupperware, you can also do that and I'm going to tell you why in a bit, why that's going to be a part of your process. Of course, and we're going to also need a rag or any kind of towel that's also free of any oils or any kind of fragrance, so therefore we don't contaminate the humidor with any kind of odors. Lastly, definitely the hygrometer so you'll know what kind of humidity your new humidor is keeping while you're seasoning it. So we're going to get right into the next step now.

2nd Step

Okay. The second part of the seasoning process, you're going to want to remove any kind of tray or any kind of divider that's inside the humidor, and this is where we're going to grab our clean rag and we're going to wipe away any kind of debris or any kind of wood shavings inside the humidor. When it's brand new, it does come with some dust in there, so let's just go ahead and do that. This humidor has been wiped down already for the sake of the video. So we're going to get back right into the video as soon as you guys are done with that. So we're going into step three.

3rd Step

Okay. Step three, this is where you're going to get the Tupperware. You're going to get your distilled water. If you have your propylene glycol solution, you can use that instead. You're going to saturate your sponge with the water. Especially ring out any excess water because we don't want any still water inside the humidor. Then now you're just going to simply wipe down the whole entire interior of the humidor with such strokes like that. Once you have the entire inside of the lid, which we already did this a little bit before the video, you want to move on to the inside of the humidor and repeat the process just like you did on the inside of the lid.

Now depending on the environment you live in, which part of the country, some areas are dryer than most, you may have to repeat this process a couple of times and that is where the hygrometer comes into play. So once you have wiped everything down, go ahead and place the hygrometer inside your humidor and this is where the Tupperware comes into play. Now if you don't want to use a Tupperware, or your humidor is not deep enough, you can utilize the Ziploc back. In this case, I'm assuming you use the lid. I'm going to place it inside the humidor just like that. I'm going to saturate my sponge and again I'm going to ring out all the excess water and I'm going to place the sponge right in the middle right there, away from any of the wood and now I'm going to close the lid.

Now, this is where the patience comes in. You have to give it at least, I would check it every hour, but 24 hours, just like that is what you want to do. Okay. So far we've have step one, meaning the supplies. Step two, cleaning out the inside of the humidor. Step three, saturating every inside nook and cranny of your humidor as well. 

4th Step

Step four, we cannot forget about the tray or any kind of divider that came with your humidor. This one will have to be also placed inside the humidor as well, and then checking every hour the humidity in your humidor. Then now we'll close this and we'll come back in an hour to see what it's reading.

5th Step

Okay, so we are one hour into it and what we're going to do now is going to check the hygrometer and see what kind of humidity it's keeping. There we are. We are at very high percentage, 75% humidity. So therefore I'm not going to resaturate the sponge and I'm not going to wipe down the interior again. Okay. So we've gone through every single step on the how to season a humidor. What are we going to do now is we're going to check this again in 24 hours and see if we get a drastic drop in humidity. Now, optimum humidity is anywhere between 68 to 72%. That is when you want to store your cigars inside your humidor. 

Come Join Us

Other than that, if you guys have any other inside tips or secrets, please let us know in the comments. My name is Gerard. Follow us on Instagram, like us on Facebook, and please click on that subscribe button and let your friends know. This is Gerard, Mardo Cigars. I'm signing out.