As the issue of humidor seasoning popped up recently several times, I thought this would be the right time for this post. Below are the instructions for new humidor seasoning that came with one of my desktop humis. These are useful especially to those who have no access to Boveda seasoning packs (like myself). This was supposedly written by people who make humidors, and if nothing else, following all the steps at least should not hurt.

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Before you begin storing cigars in your humidor it must be first seasoned. This ensures that the wood has absorbed moisture and come into equilibrium with the environment your cigars should be stored in. Failure to season a humidor will result in dried out cigars, because the wood will absorb moisture from the cigars. The most important item you can bring to the seasoning process is patience. We all want to put that new humidor out and fill it. By spending some time seasoning the humidor you will enjoy trouble-free operation for your humidor and have a much easier time maintaining the humidity.

1. Calibrate your hygrometer or if it is already calibrated, place it inside the humidor. Do not put the humidifier in the humidor yet.

2.Place shallow bowl of distilled water inside the new humidor and close the lid

3. Leave alone for at least 3 days

4. Check the reading of the hygrometer

5. Once the reading reaches approximately 80%, make a note of the date and close the lid.

6. Leave the humidor closed for another 2-3 days

7. Remove the bowl and install your humidifier

8. Monitor the humidity once per day until it naturally settles back to about 75%

9. Open the lid and fill the humidor 1/4 full

10. Close the lid and leave for 2-3 days to allow it to come to an equilibrium

11. Repeat steps 9-10 until the humidor is full or you run out of cigars

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JR Cigars university has a little different recommendations for Breaking in your New Humidor

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Edited/added:

CA's Cigar 101: Storing Cigars - scroll down to Seasoning a Humidor.

Somewhat less detailed instructions from Cheaphumidors.com on how to set up your humidor

Tips from About.com

Quite detailed info from cigarbeat.net

Update 05/21/08: Tips from Cigar Answers

This message has been edited. Last edited by: V.O.,

Great post very use full indeed thanks for sharing.

For step 2...

A new ~5"x3" sponge thoroughly rinsed and soaked with distilled water on a saucer or plate works a lot better than bowls or cups of water. It's the surface area of the sponge that is ~100 times more than a bowl or plate of water that makes the differemce.

I found this site to have an abundance of information. http://www.humidor-guide.com/

Very informative post, great job V.O.