New Humidor Help!

[lsiville]

Hello all.....my father recently built me a custom made humidor made from a type of spanish oak...or something...I'm not sure. Unfortunately, he passed away suddenly and it is one of the few things I have to remember him by. So I want to take good care of it.

Anyway, I have a brand new humidor, that I assume, needs breaking in. I was told the inside wood needs to be treated in some way. Can anyone tell me the best way to do this?

Thank you very much.

-Lou

 

[Roseysman]

Wipe down the insides with a damp cloth useing distilled water, then leave cloth ina open baggy in humidor for 24hrs then chk humidity level.
I know one humidor I had I only had to do this once, where as one I got from JRs I have to wipe it down at least every 3 or 4 months.
Also I suggest reading some posts in The Humidor section were ya posted this lots of good info there

 

[CoventryCat86]

Yes, wipe down the inside with distilled water. I use a sponge so that lint & threads from any rag don't get stuck in or splinter the Spanish Cedar.

THEN get some of these beads which will keep the humidity level darn near perfect. I would recommend the 65% over the 70%

 

[puffnstuff]

I'm certainly not an expert, but I've never quite liked the idea of directly wiping the interior of a humidor with a wet (or damp) cloth or sponge. it just seems like the wood should be more gradually exposed to the moisture that you'll expect it to hold. directly wiping it does speed up the process greatly, but I've had success with just getting the humidifier filled, and maybe putting a shot glass (or whatever suitably-sized container) full of distilled water in the humidor until the desired RH is reached. depending on the size of the humidor, this can (and probably will) take weeks, but with the sentimental value of your humidor, Lou, I'd recommend doing everything you can to baby it along the way. so, if you don't have a bunch of super-valuable cigars drying out while waiting for you to get your humidor set up, I'd go the slower'n'safer route.

sorry to hear about your dad.
cool that you've got such a great piece to remember him by. he'll (at least) live on in all the years of well-kept cigars that you'll enjoy from that humidor.

 

[Snowdust]

My rule of thumb on wiping down the inside is to do so very lightly. You do not want to wet it, but wipe with a well rung out sponge. The wood will show the color change, but then almost quickly evaporate before your eyes. You should be good with that practice.