Seasoning a Humidor
From Stogiepedia
Seasoning is the process of initially letting the interior of your humidor absorb distilled water so that it can maintain proper humidity levels. Seasoning is a process that is generally only necessary for new humidors, but a humidor that has not been used for a long period of time may dry out and require seasoning before being used again.
[edit] How to Season a Humidor
To season the humidor, first spray the interior with distilled water. Thoroughly spray the entire interior and allow the water to be absorbed into the wood. If the humidor has wooden shelves, make sure to spray those too. It is important to only use distilled water in the humidor, as tap water contains minerals that will clog the pores of the wood and humidification device.
After spraying the inside, charge the humidification device thoroughly and let it sit in the otherwise-empty humidor. Next, soak a small sponge with distilled water and set it inside the humidor on top of a plastic bag (do not let the sponge come in direct contact with any of the wood). You will also want to place a hygrometer inside to measure the relative humidty inside the humidor. Close the humidor and allow the humidification device and sponge to sit in it overnight.
If the humidity is low (less than than 65%), re-spray the humidor again with distilled water, recharge the humidification device, and let it sit overnight again. Repeat this process until the humidor has a humidity level around 70% (but no more than 75%). Generally, it will take 1-2 nights to achieve this goal. Once the humidor is capable of holding a reasonable humidity level for several days, the humidor can be filled with cigars. The humidity may drop again once the cigars are in, but this is just the humidity adjusting to the addition of cigars. Simply recharge the humidifier when needed and the humidity should stabilize after a week or two.
If your humidor will not hold a relative humidity in the 65%-70% range, add a 50/50 mixture of propylene glycol and distilled water to the humidification device. After a week or two, the humidity should hold perfect at 70%.
