Vintage Dunhill humidor humidifier

[okanogeturk]

Hi everybody, I am relatively new to the humidor business, and I actually posted the same question yesterday, but can't find my topic (also new to the forum). So I apologise for any caccophony.

I just putmrchased a vintage Dunhill humidor which has a rectangle, brass framed humidifier with a grill of round holes on both sides. It looks there's a white layer of something under the grill (inside) but I can't guess what's the material.

my question, after tiring you with reading so far, how do I charge that humidifier so that I can start using the humidor?

Thanks in advance!

okan

[J-ROB]

The white material is clay. It works quite well for slow release of moisture although not as "regulated" as modern beads, perhaps.

I have an old Dunhill branded humidor (USA Decatur made, I think) that I use for my NC dog walking cigars. After proper seasoning for a week or so with a glass of water inside, that box has proven quite reliable over time. Holds around 65%. I spray the clay with distilled water every few weeks or whenever humidity drops.

I attribute the success of that vintage humidor to its good seal rather than the antique clay moisturizer, but if you have a good specimen like I do, the overall system works reasonably well. A jar of beads would probably require less maintenance but I keep a spray bottle of distilled water handy and it is no big deal.

 

 

 

[okanogeturk]

16 hours ago, J-ROB said:

The white material is clay. It works quite well for slow release of moisture although not as "regulated" as modern beads, perhaps.

I have an old Dunhill branded humidor (USA Decatur made, I think) that I use for my NC dog walking cigars. After proper seasoning for a week or so with a glass of water inside, that box has proven quite reliable over time. Holds around 65%. I spray the clay with distilled water every few weeks or whenever humidity drops.

I attribute the success of that vintage humidor to its good seal rather than the antique clay moisturizer, but if you have a good specimen like I do, the overall system works reasonably well. A jar of beads would probably require less maintenance but I keep a spray bottle of distilled water handy and it is no big deal.

 

 

 

Thanks much for this. I had no idea it was clay.

so, in terms of practicalities (and sorry for the ”tell it like telling it to a child” thing), do I just spray distilled water on the silver colored grill without opening anything? And maybe drying the excess off the brass frame etc. before putting it back to the inner lid?
 

thanks again!

[Derboesekoenig]

Please all that is holy and sacred, do not use that piece of antiquity. Bovedas negate the need to ever need to be mindful of the humidity. Perfect set and forget. They're amazing. That is all. Easiest thing ever

[Burningman]

If you can open the case perhaps you can remove the clay and replace it with Boveda bags or beads? This way you keep the classic look of the piece while using modern humidification.

[J-ROB]

The clay will absorb what it can absorb. Dip, spray, douse...whatever. It holds a lot of water but once it is saturated, it is obviously so.

Surely, Bovedas are more reliable  and constant than this antique technology, but I've been using my Dunhill with clay bar for a few years and it works better than I ever expected it to. It is not a maintenance-free setup though. I have a Boveda Butler bluetooth hygrometer to alert me if I forget to take care of business and humidity drops to 60%.  Keeping the box fairly full of cigars probably helps maintain some stability. And I guess i got a good, somewhat well-sealed specimen of vintage humidoriana.

I'm in that humidor every day, so I mostly remember to rehydrate the clay more or less weekly.  I used to keep a 65% Boveda in there with the clay as a regulation device, but I took it out for something and never replaced it. 

In my main tabletop humi, I rely on 62% Bovedas but this time of year, with the heating cranked and room humidity low, the Bovedas tend to dry out. I sometimes put an antique Aztec clay moisturizer in a metal tube in there to introduce some humidity into the system and revive the Bovedas if they are starting to get crunchy. Mix of modern and ancient technology...

Most of my cigars are in plastic bins with Bovedas inside a large built-in wineador in my kitchen. A perfect set and forget arrangement. But, in my experience, wooden humidors seem to need occasional inputs of distilled water, even with Bovedas inside.