Best Practices for Maintaining Your Humidor

Humidor maintenance is — admittedly — not the most fun part of the cigar hobby. However, a humidor is essential for keeping cigars in their ideal smoking condition. A humidor doesn’t require much tinkering once you’ve set it up, but knowing how to keep it functioning could save you a lot of stress. Here are a few best practices for maintaining your humidor. 

Tip #1 Get the Setup Right

Buying the right humidor — and setting it up correctly — is the best way to ensure your cigars stay in ideal smoking condition. A cheap humidor that doesn’t provide an air-tight seal will undermine your best efforts to maintain the (roughly) 65% to 72% required to preserve premium cigars. Similarly, improper humidor setup will put you behind the 8-ball and can, in the worst cases, ruin your cigar collection. 

Tip #2 Check it Regularly 

You don’t need to stand over your humidor and check it every five minutes, but you should keep an eye on it and monitor the internal humidity at least once every few days. By reviewing your hygrometer regularly, you can identify potential problems with your humidor and potentially avoid damage to your cigars. 

Tip #3 Keep it in a Cool, Dry Place

Basements are often ideal for humidors because of their cooler temperatures and higher humidity levels. If you don’t have a basement, just make sure not to store your humidor right by a window or in direct sunlight. And try not to move your humidor around too much, either. Constantly fidgeting with and transferring your humidor around is a recipe for disaster. 

Tip #4 Re-Season When Necessary

Every few years, it may become necessary to remove your cigars from a humidor so you can “re-season” it. You may only have to do this if your humidity levels drop more frequently than usual. And remember: there are a couple of different ways to go about seasoning a humidor, but never use anything other than distilled water, and don’t try to season a humidor with cigars inside.

Alternatively, you could also consider investing in a new humidor if your current humidor struggles to maintain humidity levels consistently. 

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