How to make your own inexpensive humidor

This isn't a fancy piece of furniture. It's a functional way to store large quantities of cigars without investing many hundreds of dollars in a expensive, wooden humidor. Commonly referred to as tupperdors, igloodors, and colemandors, these storage devices have been used by many cigar smokers, including myself, to store more cigars than we have room for in our fancy, wooden humidors.

I built my first 2 in 1996. They are still working just fine.

Skills Needed:

This is a really easy project. The most difficult thing to do is to making a bunch of holes in a piece of plastic.

Equipment Needed:

Coleman 48 Quart Performance Cooler, or any good, brand-name of a size to your liking. The lid should close snugly. A word of advice here... buy the next bigger size than the one you think you need (the voice of experience). I got a 48-quart model at Costco for $25.00 (watch for sales). It holds hundreds of cigars. Then I filled it and got another. And another. You get the picture. :-)
Florist's oasis. You can usually find this at an arts and crafts shop stocked with the floral arrangement stuff. There are two kinds, wet which absorbs water and dry which doesn't. You want the wet kind. It costs around $2.00 for more than you'll ever need. Perhaps you can host a little build-a-thon with some friends?
Propylene Glycol (PG). Or you can get this from a pharmacist. It costs about $7.00 for 500ml (again, more than you'll ever need). I got mine at Walgreens, but they had to order it. Be sure and talk to the pharmacist. A pharmacy tech or a clerk will usually have no clue what PG is or how to procure it. The pharmacist may be suspicious or curious about what you want this for. Tell them the truth. Why do you need PG? The CIGAR SMOKER's FAQ has a great explanation. If you're too busy to muddle through the details, then just take my word here... you need PG.
The HygroSet II Digital Hygrometer for Humidors. A bargain at $19.00.
A sandwich-sized tupperware container. Or a soap holder (2-piece). About $3.00 anywhere.
Distilled water. Can you use water from the tap? Probably. However, your tap water may very well contain spores and other microorganisms. Do you want to chance it?
A drill or some kind of punch to poke a lot of holes in the sandwich-sized tupperware container.
Optional: Some boxes from your cigar shop made from Spanish cedar (not all are... if in doubt, ask). Usually free, though some sell them for a couple bucks each.

How to make:

Using your drill or punch, take the sandwich-sized tupperware container and make lots and lots of holes in the top and sides. Do not put holes in the bottom and leave a little space along the sides of the bottom unpierced too. This is so moisture has a place to go just in case you overfill your oasis slightly.
Cut a piece of the florist's oasis to a size a little smaller than the tupperware container. It should rattle around a little inside when you put the lid on and shake it. There is no need to be fussy here.
Mix 1/4 cup of PG and 1/4 cup of water together to make a solution to make 1/2 cup of solution. PG is a food additive, so tell your wife/SO not to worry about ruining a good bowl.
Dampen the cut piece of oasis with the PG solution. (If it doesn't absorb the solution like a sponge, you bought the wrong kind of florist's oasis. Stop here. Throw away your oasis and go back to the store and get the wet stuff.) Don't soak the oasis, just get it thoroughly damp. It should be wet, but not dripping. It's OK to have a few dry spots, but most of it should be dampened. You might need to make more solution depending on the size of your oasis.
Put the oasis in the tupperware container and put the lid on. This is your humidifying device. Over time (months, in most cases), it will dry out and you'll have to add more distilled water. Your hygrometer will tell you when it needs more water. Your humidity will start to drop and remain reading low over a period of many consecutive days.
Test your hygrometer's accuracy and calibrate, if needed. The calibration directions are a bit long. I refer you to the CIGAR SMOKER's FAQ (which is a great reference for just about anything you want to know about cigars). My hygrometer was off by 8%, so this part's important.
If you wanna be really fancy/schmancy you can break up the cigar boxes and use a non-odorous glue to attach then to the sides of your cooler. Personally, I just put/leave the cigars in the wooden boxes. :-) Note: If you are storing cigars in the box they came in, it's best to remove the lid from the box.
Put your cigars, boxes, tupperware with oasis, and hygrometer in the cooler and put the lid on. It may take several days to achieve 70% humidity. Be patient and don't freak. It won't hurt your cigars to be a little under-humidified for a few days. Also, if you add a box or two of under-humidified cigars to your humidor, expect the relative humidity to drop for a week or so while things reach equilibrium. Cigars take a while to absorb moisture. It can take as long as 3 weeks for severely over/under-humidified cigars to reach 70% again.

There you go. Monster humidor for under $50.

If you have any questions, comments, or I didn't explain something well enough, drop me a line and I'll try and help you out. Let me know how it comes out!

Happy Smokes!

Last updated: $Date: 2017/04/19 03:07:26 $