How to Regulate Humidity Levels

Now that the weather is getting warmer I thought it would be a good time to discuss how the temperature change might affect conditions in your cigar humidor.  Depending on where you live, general humidity levels could be increasing as the weather heats up.  If your hygrometer starts showing levels higher than you’d like you have a couple of options.

What I generally do (and a lot of people disagree with it) is remove the humidifier for a little while until humidity levels get lower and then put the humidifier back in.   If this is the route you choose, make sure to monitor your hygrometer to make sure levels don’t get too low before replacing the humidifier.  One thing you don’t want to do is just leave your humidor open.  This can throw off humidity levels a bit too drastically and the levels may get too low before you realize it.  Simply removing your humidifier for a little while will produce a more subtle change in levels.

What I’ve seen some people do is insert the strips of cedar that come in cigar boxes into their humidors. This is probably the best way to regulate temperatures in your humidor since the dry cedar strips will absorb some of the humidity in the humidor and should bring down the overall humidity levels.  I don’t generally hold on to them so it isn’t an option for me.

Remember, you don’t want humidity levels to get too high because it can cause mold to develop. This is a sure fire way of ruining your cigars.

~ by HumidorsAndMore on May 20, 2010.