Seasoning & Maintaining Your Humidor

By Claire Diebel

One of the most important, and often overlooked, steps in cigar care is seasoning your humidor before its first use. If you’ve just purchased a new humidor, or if yours has been sitting dry for a while, this process is essential. Done right, it ensures your cigars age gracefully and smoke beautifully. Done wrong… well, even the finest cigars can suffer.

At Diebel’s, we’ve seasoned more humidors than we can count over the years. This guide walks you through the two most common, and effective, approaches: the modern method using humidity packs and the traditional method using a humidifier and distilled water.

Both work. It just depends on your style.

Know Your Humidor: Key Components

Before you start, it helps to understand the basic parts of a typical humidor:

• Interior Lining: Spanish cedar is traditional, but not essential. Many quality humidors use alternative hardwoods like mahogany that still retain humidity and resist mold well. The key is a well-sealed, stable interior.

• Humidifier: Usually a black rectangular insert filled with distilled water or a 50/50 propylene glycol solution, used in traditional setups.

• Hygrometer: Measures the humidity level. Digital models tend to be more accurate than analog ones.

• Trays and Dividers: Help organize your cigars and allow air to circulate evenly.

• Seal: A tight-fitting lid and quality hinges are crucial. A good humidor doesn’t need to be fancy, but it must close snugly.

Getting Started: Set the Cigars Aside While Seasoning

You’ll want to season your humidor to create a stable, humidity-controlled environment before introducing your cigars. This step is essential to help the interior wood absorb enough moisture to maintain consistency over time.

Before you begin, be sure to store your cigars separately. If you’ve purchased from Diebel’s, we can seal them in airtight bags with humidity packs — they’ll stay perfectly fresh for several weeks while your humidor conditions.

Now, let’s walk through both seasoning methods so you can decide which one works best for you.

Option 1: Modern Method - Using Humidity Packs

This is by far the easiest and most reliable way to season and maintain a humidor, especially for beginners or anyone who wants low maintenance.

Seasoning Process (2 Weeks)

1. Remove the outer plastic wrap from two 84% Boveda seasoning packs
2. Place them inside your empty humidor
3. Close the lid and leave it sealed for 14 days
4. After 14 days, remove the 84% packs and replace them with 72% Boveda storage packs

That’s it! Your humidor is now fully seasoned and ready for cigars.

Ongoing Maintenance

Just keep using fresh 72% packs. When the packs feel stiff (like a credit card), it’s time to replace them. Boveda does all the work of regulating humidity and prevents fluctuations.

Pros:

• No mess or refills
• Accurate and consistent humidity
• Takes up very little space inside your humidor
• Great for travel humidors too

Cons:

• Ongoing cost of replacing packs every few months
• Less hands-on, if you enjoy the tradition of refilling

Option 2: Traditional Method - Distilled Water or Propylene Glycol

If you prefer a more hands-on approach or already have a humidifier insert, this method still works well.

Seasoning Process

1. Lightly dampen a clean sponge or cloth with distilled water
2. Wipe down the cedar interior (don’t oversaturate)
3. Fill the included black rectangular humidifier with distilled water or a 50/50 propylene glycol solution
4. Place the humidifier inside and close the lid for 10–14 days
5. Monitor humidity with a hygrometer — it should stabilize around 70%

Once stable, your humidor is ready to store cigars.

Ongoing Maintenance

Check your hygrometer weekly. Refill the humidifier as needed. If using propylene glycol, avoid adding more than once a month.

Pros:

• No recurring cost if using distilled water
• Traditional, tactile experience
• Can fine-tune humidity with different solutions

Cons:

• Requires more frequent monitoring and refills
• Less consistent humidity
• More risk of over-humidifying if overfilled

Finding Your Ideal Humidity Range

The widely accepted ideal range for storing premium cigars is 68% to 72% relative humidity. That said, there’s a little room for personal preference:

• 68-70%: Slightly drier, resulting in a firmer draw and more intense flavor concentration — often preferred for Cuban cigars or aged sticks

• 70-72%: The standard sweet spot — preserves oils and wrapper condition with a balanced burn

• Above 72%: Not recommended long-term, as it can cause over-humidification, mold risk, or spongy cigars

Whichever method you choose, aim for consistency more than perfection. Cigars respond better to steady conditions than constant fluctuations.

Should You Remove the Cellophane?

This one’s a personal choice - and there’s no right answer.

• Keeping cigars in cellophane: Offers physical protection, reduces airflow between sticks, and slows humidity absorption (which can help prevent rapid changes). It’s especially helpful for crowded humidors or travel.

• Removing the cellophane: Allows cigars to “breathe” more easily, share aroma in the humidor, and age together more naturally. Great for collectors and those storing long-term.

• Opening the foot of the cellophane: A great compromise is to slightly open the cellophane at the foot of the cigar. This lets the cigar start absorbing humidity more directly, while still offering most of the protection and structure that cellophane provides. 

In my own humidor, I leave cigars in the cello when they’re recent additions or something I'm planning to take out and about. For long-term favorites or brands I’m aging intentionally, I take the cellophane off.

My Take

While both humidification methods work, I personally recommend Humidity Packs, like Bovedas, for most customers. It’s consistent, hassle-free, and takes up less space. But if you like being hands-on and enjoy the ritual of checking your hygrometer, the traditional method can be satisfying, and effective.

If your humidor is made from solid wood, like the Michael Dixon, Brizard & Co., Diamond Crown, or Savoy Executive models we carry, you're in especially good shape. These premium humidors are built to retain moisture efficiently, age cigars evenly, and require minimal maintenance once properly seasoned.

Still Have Questions?

We're here to help. Whether you're shopping for your first humidor, troubleshooting an old one, or curious about cigar storage, just ask. Swing by the shop, give us a call, or contact us online.

Enjoy setting up your humidor, and even more so, enjoy what goes inside it.

- Claire Diebel
Third-Generation Tobacconist, Diebel’s