Humicare water pillow questions

Bob Luken

Questions about the Humicare water pillows we get from ccom packed with our orders: These are usually Humicare brand water pillows which are refillable and claim on the label to regulate at 67% RH. Has anybody tested these with a hygrometer to see if you get the advertised RH? And is it possible to over stuff them with distilled water and get an undesirable and very high RH? I just popped two pillows that I got with my latest order inside a quart ziplock by themselves and it's already risen to 86% RH an hour later. These were plump with water but not too bad and they have what I would call a slightly above average content of water based on the rest of them I've received from ccom. (I think I've got about 30 of them on hand at the moment) It seems like if I were to put cigars that were resting at 65% inside there with these pillows, and send a trade/bomb, the only thing that it would be doing is over-humidifying these cigars during shipment.

Rain

Call The Beard and tell him to mail orders with kitty litter from now on. Problem solved!

Bob Luken

Rain:

Call The Beard and tell him to mail orders with kitty litter from now on. Problem solved!

Hell yeah! Why F#ck around? Huh?

Cigary

I use these pillows all the time and they are useful for humidors that hold between 15 and 25 cigars. They work perfectly and are great when I send out cigars to others. I have several smaller humidors where I just use these pillows and my RH is right at 67% plus of minus 1%. I've never done a test with only the pillow in a bag but I'd suspect not having any cigars in there would probably make the RH rise as you already know. Try putting 15-25 cigars in a big ziploc and then put a pillow in there with them ( make sure it isn't touching any of the cigars ) and check in 8 hours as to what the RH is. As I said mine all read in that 67% RH.

Bob Luken

Cigary:

I use these pillows all the time and they are useful for humidors that hold between 15 and 25 cigars. They work perfectly and are great when I send out cigars to others. I have several smaller humidors where I just use these pillows and my RH is right at 67% plus of minus 1%. I've never done a test with only the pillow in a bag but I'd suspect not having any cigars in there would probably make the RH rise as you already know. Try putting 15-25 cigars in a big ziploc and then put a pillow in there with them ( make sure it isn't touching any of the cigars ) and check in 8 hours as to what the RH is. As I said mine all read in that 67% RH.

You read my mind. I figured I'd try that next let it sit overnight and check it again.

Cigary

Let us know what you find...I'm curious as to what RH you get. On the packet it says to put in DW for 20 seconds and I'm usually a stickler for instructions and doing what they say. I get these pillows for dirt cheap on CBID...my last order I got 20 of them for $2 and won't even tell you how many cigars I won on auction with that order...I'm hopelessly addicted to cigars and auctions.

Bob Luken

Cigary:

Let us know what you find...I'm curious as to what RH you get. On the packet it says to put in DW for 20 seconds and I'm usually a stickler for instructions and doing what they say. I get these pillows for dirt cheap on CBID...my last order I got 20 of them for $2 and won't even tell you how many cigars I won on auction with that order...I'm hopelessly addicted to cigars and auctions.

I've just gotten so many from ccom with ten packs and five packs I guess I have a couple dozen. A few of them seemed dry so I added DW. But I'm noticing something else that's curious. The newer ones that have the darker blue, newer look, (perhaps newer graphics) and four small holes in the pack instead of two large ones, These newer ones seem to soak up water and swell up WAY faster than the old ones. I will NOT dip these any more. In the future I will be adding water with by the drop with a syringe or a spoon. LOL

Cigary

LOL...yeah, they did change the color and graphics but the message on the outside is still the same Bob. I noticed that phenomena as to they swell..they are like a pregnant egg and since I noticed that I only let them sit in DW for 20 seconds. At the worst you can always put them in a bigger humidor and I tend to put them into my tupperadors where they thrive and lock in a 67% RH in those. I put two of them in a tupperador that can house up to 150 cigars and they work really well. I even did an experiment where I put KL into the bag that houses the pillow...works great and it actually works so well that I keep all of the little outside baggie and put KL into them.

Rhamlin

I use these on the boat . Just drop one in a ziplock bag and it last forever. Never tested them before though but my sticks I bring with me always seem good.

Bob Luken

After I got home the digital hygrometer was at 100% RH inside the ziplock with only the two Humicare pillows and nothing else. Now I am going to test what a ziplock with cigars and those same Humicare pillows will read. The cigars came directly from a humi at 65% and right now I'm letting them sit in the quart ziplock by themselves with the hygrometer to get a reading over the next few hours and if it stays stable I'll ad the pillows and see what happens overnight.

Bob Luken

After allowing the cigars to sit by themselves in the quart ziploc for two hours last night the reading was 67%RH. Then I placed the same two humicare pillows in and left them overnight. After twelve hours the reading was holding 78% RH. I then used a small fan to air out the ziplock after removing the pillows. Now I have again left the same cigars alone in the ziploc and the reading is now 71% after about one hour. I will leave it alone for at least another few hours to see if anything changes. However if nothing changes this could mean that using these pillows in a small container could be over hydrating our cigars. Since these cigars alone kept 67% by themselves, and now after 12 hours with the pillows, the cigars alone again are stable at 71%, that would mean that they absorbed about 4% additional humidity in just twelve hours of exposure to the pillows. Who knows how much more they could absorb if given more time?

onestrangeone

I know that if you overfill them the gel or whatever is inside will squish out thru the mesh. It seems to me that this would probably have an effect on the Rh as well.

Cigary

Bob...how many cigars did you put in the ziploc...each pillow says it will humidify 10-15 cigars so if you are putting 2 pillows that may taint the experiment. I'm too lazy to do this so I'll live through your experiment here. I'm really curious as to what you are doing because at some point if they are over the 70% RH it can cause problems. I use the pillows but my hygro tells me that they are at 67% but this is in a wood humidor which allows RH to process itself into the wood. If the environment is totally sealed ( ziploc or tupperware) I know from experience that the RH will go up. It's almost like a dance with a sealed environment as opposed to a wood humidor...( which is why I love KL so much...it's a one way humidifier ). Keep us posted as to what you found if you are leaving them in the ziploc longer. See if you can put 15 cigars in a ziploc...put one pillow in there and see what you get the next day....ok...now I'm very curious and will do this myself tonight.

Lee.mcglynn

Hhhhhmmmmmm you may want to look at that boveda thread again lol but yeah what temp are they at and also what was the original rh of the sticks tested? But again....boveda?!

Bob Luken

onestrangeone:

I know that if you overfill them the gel or whatever is inside will squish out thru the mesh. It seems to me that this would probably have an effect on the Rh as well.

I'm thinking this is true myself. But I don't think these two specific pillows I'm monitoring are overly saturated or even saturated to the point that the gel would be forced out. I haven't added any water to these pillows. The two that I used for the test arrived just as they are inside two ten packs from ccom.

Cigary

Lee...are you getting a kickback from Boveda? lol

Bob Luken

Cigary:

Bob...how many cigars did you put in the ziploc...each pillow says it will humidify 10-15 cigars so if you are putting 2 pillows that may taint the experiment. I'm too lazy to do this so I'll live through your experiment here. I'm really curious as to what you are doing because at some point if they are over the 70% RH it can cause problems. I use the pillows but my hygro tells me that they are at 67% but this is in a wood humidor which allows RH to process itself into the wood. If the environment is totally sealed ( ziploc or tupperware) I know from experience that the RH will go up. It's almost like a dance with a sealed environment as opposed to a wood humidor...( which is why I love KL so much...it's a one way humidifier ). Keep us posted as to what you found if you are leaving them in the ziploc longer. See if you can put 15 cigars in a ziploc...put one pillow in there and see what you get the next day....ok...now I'm very curious and will do this myself tonight.

I agree that I have too many pillows for the amount of cigars. I haphazardly started this crazy test by seeing what two of these pillows would do inside a quart ziplock. And to keep some bit of the test constant I used the same two pillows again when I added the cigars. I could only fit 10 cigars inside the quart bag and still have room for the hygrometer and the pillows. I'm not saying or trying to prove that these over humidify in all types of environments. My only focus so far has been on the use of these inside ziploc bags. However I'm still surprised at the apparent gain or absorption in humidity of the cigars themselves in just 12 hours. I have been away today and I've left those ten cigars alone in the bag with the hygrometer so I will be checking them soon to see if they've held the apparent gain in RH over the course of the day and I'll post a separate update.

Bob Luken

Lee.mcglynn:

Hhhhhmmmmmm you may want to look at that boveda thread again lol but yeah what temp are they at and also what was the original rh of the sticks tested? But again....boveda?!

Temps were generally around 70F but I haven't been measuring that. The sticks came from a stable 65%RH cooler.

Cigary

Atta boy Bob....you're experiments will save the rest of us from doing them...we live through you and appreciate the time invested.

Bob Luken

After about 10 hours the sticks alone have a reading of 70% RH. I'm going to let these sit overnight to see if it continues to move back towards the starting RH for these sticks or if they will hold onto any of the additional humidity.

Bob Luken

Now it's been 24 hours or so total time and the cigars alone in the quart ziploc are still reading a 70% RH. The next step is to add a single pillow. I have chosen a pillow that has very little moisture. you can squeeze it and be sure there's some in there. I'ts not totally dry but this is what I've decided to try next with these 10 cigars. I'm hoping this will give me a reading close to the 67% RH that is indicated on the product instructions. I aired out the bag with a small fan for a few minutes and brought the RH on the hygrometer down to 63%. The room RH was at 60%. I added the pillow and sealed it back up. I know I'm just making this up as I go along. Even I can see that these results may not be all that difinitive because each step is affected by the last step.

Cigary

WTG Bob...I'm right here in the stands watching as this goes on. Looks like it just might be something that stays at the 70% RH...I can live with that in a smaller humidor as I use them to hold what I will smoke for the week....I'm in and out of them so Im sure that the RH would average around 67% anyway.

twistedstem

just kiddin think the work u did is impressive.i was always curios about this myself...

Lee.mcglynn

Cigary:

Lee...are you getting a kickback from Boveda? lol

i wish lol just trust them for my stuff especially the sealed containers

Bob Luken

Cigary:

WTG Bob...I'm right here in the stands watching as this goes on. Looks like it just might be something that stays at the 70% RH...I can live with that in a smaller humidor as I use them to hold what I will smoke for the week....I'm in and out of them so Im sure that the RH would average around 67% anyway.

Thanks for the encouragement. LOL

Bob Luken

twistedstem:

just kiddin think the work u did is impressive.i was always curios about this myself...

LOL, I don't know if I helped prove anything except we need more tests, Knowing what happened inside one ziploc bag isn't enough. Hmmmmm. Maybe I need to apply for some grant money. LOL

Bob Luken

Bob Luken:

Now it's been 24 hours or so total time and the cigars alone in the quart ziploc are still reading a 70% RH. The next step is to add a single pillow. I have chosen a pillow that has very little moisture. you can squeeze it and be sure there's some in there. I'ts not totally dry but this is what I've decided to try next with these 10 cigars. I'm hoping this will give me a reading close to the 67% RH that is indicated on the product instructions. I aired out the bag with a small fan for a few minutes and brought the RH on the hygrometer down to 63%. The room RH was at 60%. I added the pillow and sealed it back up. I know I'm just making this up as I go along. Even I can see that these results may not be all that difinitive because each step is affected by the last step.

Update: I decided to add a second quart bag to the lineup in case these cigars are holding onto any moisture that the earlier tests have added along the way. I picked ten additional cigars from the cooler at 66% RH and added a pillow with very little moisture to the second bag. Bag one is the one I've been using all along. After nine hours, the results: Bag one (the original) is now at 75% RH and 67F. Bag two is now at 73% RH and 68F. Too close to call that as anyting but similar. Again it seems that in this circumstance (Small sealed ziploc with slightly hydrated pillow) the RH is above the usual desired range but wouldn't do much harm during shipment for a few days. However, looking back at the results with the moderately plumper, fuller pillows, (which is normal hydration per humicare instructions) RH levels in the high 70s could easily be expected inside the ziploc with your cigars.

twistedstem

Bob Luken:

twistedstem:

just kiddin think the work u did is impressive.i was always curios about this myself...

LOL, I don't know if I helped prove anything except we need more tests, Knowing what happened inside one ziploc bag isn't enough. Hmmmmm. Maybe I need to apply for some grant money. LOL

a government grant for cigar smoking studies..hhmmn..might work lol

pilgrimtex

That all sounds right to me. I have a number of wally world jar type humidors. LOL that I store my extra cigars in and use humidipaks and they consistently are up at 70% or more and I keep the house at 77 deg f during the summer months.

Bob Luken

pilgrimtex:

That all sounds right to me. I have a number of wally world jar type humidors. LOL that I store my extra cigars in and use humidipaks and they consistently are up at 70% or more and I keep the house at 77 deg f during the summer months.

OK, but remember, Humidipaks are different from Humi-care water pillows. You probably know this but for everyone's benefit I'll mention it again. Two different products.

pilgrimtex