Why Humidors Lose Humidity

Maintaining a humidor can be easy, but if it’s struggling to maintain humidity you’re not alone. Cigars should be stored at between 69% - 72% humidity and between 16-18 degrees celsius. It is normal for the conditions of your humidor to change with the change of the weather as long as you can adjust it too but if your humidor is struggling to maintain humidity there could be a reason why.

Most humidors are either made of Spanish cedar or wood with a cedar lining but not all humidors are high quality and some will need more attention than others. It tends to be the lower quality that loses humidity easier but that doesnt mean because you bought an expensive humidor you won’t get the same issue. 

Get a reliable hygrometer

Before you panic about your humidor losing humidity, make sure that it actually is. Having a reliable hygrometer is essential to monitor the humidity accurately. Invest in a precise hygrometer like the Caliber IV and make sure you calibrate it (I would recommend using a Boveda one step calibration kit). If this still hasn't sorted the issue than maybe you need to look at the humidor itself.

When starting a cigar collection I always recommend starting with a small inexpensive humidor, but some of them are not of the highest quality which can cause your humidor to leak. A leaky humidor allows humidity to escape through the seal when the lid is closed. To fight this issue you can refill your humidifier more often or use a higher RH Boveda pack but the best thing to do is to replace the humidor for a better quality one when you can.

Humidor seasoning

Did you season your humidor properly after you bought it? If you can’t get a general reading of 69% before putting your cigars in then they will compete with your humidor for moisture and in the end both cigars are humidor will dry out. Whereas if you season it with a Boveda 84% pack this will give the humidor plenty of moisture so when the cigars have taken away some moisture, the wood itself is still moist enough to keep humidity in. Once you have seasoned your humidor, try to get consistent readings around 70% and you can then store your cigars inside again. A good humidor will be able to keep the humidity around 69% as long as you maintain it regularly.

Don’t Leave the lid open

If you obsess over your cigars you’ll find yourself opening the humidor often, this is actually damaging your cigars as it’s letting out humidity. If you do constantly want to look at your cigars, I would invest in a glass top humidor so you can stare at your heart's content.

Regular Maintenance

Performing regular maintenance by refilling your humidifier with distilled water or humidification solution is always a good thing, as is swapping out Boveda packs when they dry out. However, doing this too often means you're letting out humidity by opening the lid often. Boveda packs last anywhere from 2 to 6 months depending on how many cigars you’re storing, so checking weekly is a waste of time and causes you more problems.

Location

Avoid storing your humidor in direct sunlight or near a heat source. Doing this will cause humidity to evaporate inside and your cigars will get dry as a result.

Storing cigars that are dried out

People that don’t know anything about cigars won’t know about humidors and assume you can treat cigars like cigarettes but that is not the case. If someone like that has bought you a box of cigars, more than likely they would have dried out and if you put them in your humidor they will soak up all the moisture and take your humidity down. I recommend putting dried out cigars in a ziplock bag with a Boveda pack for a few weeks so they can fully humidify before transferring them into your humidor and thus won’t affect the humidity inside.

Written by Oliver Partington