6 Cigar Humidification Methods

Now that you have a good understanding of exactly what a hygrometer does and what can happen if your humidity is too high or too low, let us discuss how to really control the humidity in your humidor. Regrettably, you can't just use a damp paper towel in a ziplock bag...

1. The Hockey Puck Humidification Method
The unofficial hockey puck system was my very first way to control the humidity in my humidor and boy, was it stressful. This is actually the"puck" which is included with humidors the majority of the time and needs one to boil it into propylene glycol. I found it for a little bit of a guessing game since you need to be sure that your"puck" does not run out of juice. It was mostly stressful because I used the free version from my humidor so results may vary. I found I had to soak the puck every 15 days or so with a humidor of 30 cigars. However, once I upgraded to a Xikar puck, it was smooth sailing. I just had to re-soak each 30-45 days and found it to be more consistent. Soaking a humidor puck is very easy. It takes about 30 minutes and you just buy the propylene glycol individually. This remedy is odorless and only replaces water as a more pure form of moisture. Using tap water can cause issues because of chlorine or other chemicals, and bottled water won't stay moist provided that propylene glycol.

2. The Tubes or Mini Jars Cigar Humidification Method
Xikar and Drymistat make quite easy to use products which you can just open and pop it in a humidor such as this
large humidor. These have a much more controlled way of handling humidity compared to the puck technique. The only bad thing is that you have to replace these completely the majority of the time each 3-6 months completely. I don't advise attempting to"re-soak" them with the propylene glycol. The beauty of them, particularly the tubes is that they don't occupy much room in your humidor. But, depending on how big the jar arrangement will work better:

3. The Boveda Packs Cigar Humidification Method
Similar to the jar or tubes from Xikar and Drymistat, it is possible to go with a very controlled method of Boveda humidity packs. These are my favourite cigar humidification strategy and ones that I utilize for my tupperdor today. But they could err a little on the high side concerning humidity if you use them in a tupperdor. I would like to go a few percentages lower in the preferred humidity as a result if you have a tupperdor. They do a great job of consuming humidity whether it's too high and increasing if it is too low. As soon as your pack is stiff, then you just throw it away. That being said, many claim to have the ability to recharge these quite easily by simply soaking them for a couple of days after they get stiff. Although this may be a terrific way to save money, the recharged packs definitely will not be as precise as a first. To find out more about the way to recharge, take a look at this YouTube tutorial. For me personally, I really don't recharge since I'm going to spend hundreds of bucks on cigars, I don't want to cut any corners to save a couple bucks on Boveda packs.

4. The Heartfelt Beads Humidification Method
Heartfelt beads are a common humidity method that many advocate across cigar forums. This provider revolves around these beads and they've a great deal of diehard followers to their merchandise. These are popular with larger humidors or even wineadors. These are probably one of the costlier options but last forever. They do need spraying of water after week or two though so you have to abide by a program. This way is a bit more geared towards the more advanced cigar collectors. Normally, cigar collectors will have a pouch of these a coating at the bottom of their wineador.

5. The Electric Cigar Humidification Method
There is nothing greater than the place it and overlook an electric humidifier, particularly if you've got a big or valuable collection. All these are a bit expensive compared to the other options such as
wineador but there is the benefit of very little maintenance. The units also work best if plugged in -- so you will be required to run a level cord to the exterior of your humidor. However a few of these units have some really cool features like wi-fi capabilities and can humidify up to 1,000 cigars! (That could be a lot of Boveda packs...) You really do need to replace the cartridge every 6 -- 12 weeks but it's relatively inexpensive.

6. The Kitty Litter Cigar Humidification Method
To get a bigger wineador installation, many recommend kitty litter as a viable choice to control humidity. This is a very similar method to the Heartfelt beads strategy outlined above. The key is to obtain a kitty litter with no fragrance and spray distilled water every two to three weeks as needed. I have seen very positive testimonials from Exquisicat Crystals with very low dust nor odor.