How to Repair a Cigar Humidor

This will deal with the two most common issues with a cigar humidor; unable to absorb water to stay humidified or the appearance of mold. In either case, follow these steps.

Step 1: First remove all cigars and cigar matter, the humidor needs to be completely empty. Leaving any bits and pieces of dry cigar will only make it more difficult to clean later.

Step 2: You will need fine grit #150 to #180 sandpaper and paper towels for this step. If there is mold, sand those parts first and throw away the sandpaper, otherwise, you want to gently and evenly sand the entire interior of the humidor. Be sure to sand the underside of the lid as well as all of the corners.

Step 3: Now take a paper towel, bunch it up and quickly dust out the humidor. Pretend you are using an old fashioned feather duster. If the dust is clinging to the wood due to static electricity, put just a little distilled or purified water on a paper towel and wipe it out with one stroke.

Step 4:  Now to re-season the humidor. Fill a ramekin with distilled water. For this step it must be distilled as the purified water has different chemical elements. Soak the towel and cover every last speck of Spanish cedar with it. If at any point the paper towel begins to turn brown or red, toss it and use another.

Image by alexbrn via Flickr

Step 5: Now leave the humidor open for up to five minutes. You can not put your cigars in water! Wait until the wood has soaked it up and is slightly damp. At that point, fill it up and maintain the humidor at around 70% humidity.

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