Okay guys here is the deal; I do not have a humidor and I cannot have one anytime soon. So I keep my current stock (which is only 3 Cubans now, but will increase when I get the Jose Piedra bundle soon) in a tightly closed plastic box. For a humidifier I have tried two things: 1st, a small tray in which I put a little amount of salt with distilled water. My analog hygro showed about 70-75% humidity. 2nd, I used the same try, but instead of the salt I used a damp sponge, which made the hygro display 80% or even sometimes 85% RH. How can I keep the thing constant at 70%?? Notice that I do not intend to store them for a lot of time.

Go to your local B&M and get a Fuente Humidipouch. It is a large plastic bag that has a humidity source and will keep your cigars just right for up to 6-months.

And here is our problem: I do not have a local B&M. This is the problem in the first place, I have no local cigar shops, at all.

I have to maintain the needed humidity with these primitive equipment I have.

Cut the sponge down to a smaller size, and experiment with adding table spoons of water to maintain the desired humidity.

Try to enclose the sponge in a small glass container with a lid that has small holes. You do not want the sponge sliding off the tray and ruining your cigars. You may want to even glue the small glass container into the corner of the plastic humidor. Baby food jars would be a perfect size.

quote:

Originally posted by LuckyBreak:
Okay guys here is the deal; I do not have a humidor and I cannot have one anytime soon. So I keep my current stock (which is only 3 Cubans now, but will increase when I get the Jose Piedra bundle soon) in a tightly closed plastic box. For a humidifier I have tried two things: 1st, a small tray in which I put a little amount of salt with distilled water. My analog hygro showed about 70-75% humidity. 2nd, I used the same try, but instead of the salt I used a damp sponge, which made the hygro display 80% or even sometimes 85% RH. How can I keep the thing constant at 70%?? Notice that I do not intend to store them for a lot of time.

quote:

Originally posted by LuckyBreak:
And here is our problem: I do not have a local B&M. This is the problem in the first place, I have no local cigar shops, at all.

I have to maintain the needed humidity with these primitive equipment I have.

Well, you obviously have internet access, so you should be able to find everything you need here: www.heartfeltindustries.com. The 65% beads should work well (70% is fine for NC's but too high for Cubans).

While you're waiting for your order to arrive, you could partially unseal the container, if for no other reason than to get that ridiculously high humidity level down temporarily before your cigars are completely ruined. But, there is really no advice, no matter how well meaning, that will take the place of you obtaining the proper equipment to store your cigars. You simply can't keep a constant RH level with the equipment you're using. At 80-85% you need to remedy the situation immediately or you could easily have a mold outbreak.

I'm not sure why you placed salt in your storage container, but I hope you didn't keep it in there long. If you did, don't be surprised if your cigars taste a bit like sea water.

Make it easier on yourself (and your cigars) and go online to get what you need.

i don't think any of the online ordering solution are good for lucky (as he lives in Egypt, and shipping there from US retasilers is kind of hard)

lucky... do what steve said.. cut out the sponge.. and experiement with adding some water.. but DO NOT OVERSATURATE the sponge.. as it will not be able to absorb excess humidity..

go to a pharmacy, and ask them for propylengycol (I'm not sure exactly how to spell it, but this is how to pronounce it).. I'm sure you have that in the local pharmacies (as they have that in labenese pharmacies, so I don't see why egypt wouldn't).. create a mixture of 50% propylengycol and 50% distilled water, and wet your sponge (without oversaturating it) with the solution you just mixed..... this will help maitain a 70% RH..

do NOT use the water with salt, as this will stabilise at 75%, and that is too high for CC's.. and your cigars will taste like they've been dipped in the mediterranean sea.

it's too bad my mom's not going to egypt this year, as I would have sent you some boveda packs.... but I'll keep an ear out for anyone going there, and I'll send you a few packs with them then (which should last you for a while)

Lucky, try these guys.
I have a couple and they work fine.
They will ship to Egypt for $4.00 US.
Get as many as you think you need.
I use distilled water with mine.

http://cgi.ebay.com/PerfecStore-Plus-Gel-Humidifier-for...QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Check out their other products on that link if that size or shape does not suit you.

I will try doing what Salibas proposed. Unfortunately I do not have a method of buying online (credit card, paypal,etc..) , let alone the very high taxes on almost everything coming in by mail orders.

I think what Salibas said could be done, I'll check for the glycol in the pharmacy and use it with the distilled water.

Also thanks a lot for your offer Salibas.

I tried doing what Salibas said now and I think it worked. I went to the pharmacy and asked for Propyle Glycol, they didn't have any but maybe because it's a small pharmacy. I'll ask tomorrow in a bigger one. Anyway, I got a small tray and glued it to the lid of the plastic box, I put the small piece of sponge in the tray and I used a dropper to drop a couple of distilled water drops, just to make the sponge slightly damp. This has been an hour ago and now the hygro needle points to slightly above 70. I know analog hygros aren't accurate, but when I used the salt or the big sponge it pointed to 80 and more, so we have an improvement here.

glad to hear that it's working for you lucky...

hopefully you'll find the propylengycol at a larger pharmacy.....

Do you have access to unscented kitty litter? It works just like the humi beads.