Beginner Questions (Ask Them Here!)

[HailTheBrownLeaf]

If I was to do the shot glass method do I need to wait until I get my Bovedas tomorrow or can I go ahead start tonight by putting DW in a shot glass or two with the trays stacked on top of each other in my Klip-It?

Would both trays season properly at the same time if I have one stacked on top of the other inside my Klip-It??

[CigarNut]

You do not need to wait for the Boveda packs. A sponge is better than a shot glass, if you have one as the sponge has more surface area.

[HailTheBrownLeaf]

Originally Posted by AdamJoshua

See i knew someone that knew better would post, thanks for the input

Originally Posted by CigarNut

You do not need to wait for the Boveda packs. A sponge is better than a shot glass, if you have one as the sponge has more surface area.

Ok so how do I do this sponge method? Walk me through step by step please.

My brain hurts from all these different methods for different folks. I'm confused lol.

[HailTheBrownLeaf]

I assume these sponges would work perfect yes?

http://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/scotch-b.../6000016953173

I've never bought sponges in my life so I wanna make sure those would work lol.

[AdamJoshua]

Yes any sponge, as long as they aren't pre-soaped. All you do is soak the sponge in distilled water and put it on a small plate inside whatever you are trying to season. Close it up and leave it closed, check the sponge in a couple days to see if it dried out, if it did re-soak it. The reason sponges are better than the shot glass method is that there is more surface area on the sponge.

[Grey Goose]

Originally Posted by Brlesq

I've seasoned about 2 dozen desktops and a couple of cabinets by wetting a papertowel with distilled water and rubbing them down, then using the shot glass method. It has never caused a problems for me, and you can tell they are much cleaner by the amount of red micro sawdust that is collected on the wet papertowel. (Spanish cedar sawdust has a reddish hue to it.)

Paper towels get torn up on the grain of the wood IME, and leave paper towel residue bits, even on the smooth cedar in humidors, I prefer wiping them down with cotton rags like they sell for gun cleaning patches, etc...

[HailTheBrownLeaf]

Originally Posted by AdamJoshua

Yes any sponge, as long as they aren't pre-soaped. All you do is soak the sponge in distilled water and put it on a small plate inside whatever you are trying to season. Close it up and leave it closed, check the sponge in a couple days to see if it dried out, if it did re-soak it. The reason sponges are better than the shot glass method is that there is more surface area on the sponge.

Oh ok cool.

So I soak the entire sponge, wring it out a bit, and put it on a plate in one of my cedar trays?

Since I'll be using 2 cedar trays inside a 7 litre Klip-It as a Tupperdor will both trays season at the same time if I have one stacked on top of the other??

[HailTheBrownLeaf]

So I just got my Western Caliber IV hygrometer in the mail plus my Boveda hygrometer calibration kit.

How do I use them? I haven't taken the hygrometer out of the box yet.

[Dux]

Originally Posted by HailTheBrownLeaf

So I just got my Western Caliber IV hygrometer in the mail plus my Boveda hygrometer calibration kit.

How do I use them? I haven't taken the hygrometer out of the box yet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBEQ2jdwIHU

[HailTheBrownLeaf]

Originally Posted by Dux

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBEQ2jdwIHU

Got it going on my own before I saw this.

I think now I will start seasoning my trays tonight with the "sponge soaked in DW on a plate" method.

How wet do I wet the sponge? I assume I wring it out a bit before putting it on the plate?

[Wharf Rat]

Originally Posted by HailTheBrownLeaf

Got it going on my own before I saw this.

I think now I will start seasoning my trays tonight with the "sponge soaked in DW on a plate" method.

How wet do I wet the sponge? I assume I wring it out a bit before putting it on the plate?

It's not critical. The plate is meant to catch any water that drips out, right?

[AdamJoshua]

I was going to say, a shot glass of water is pretty wet

[HailTheBrownLeaf]

So I ended up going to Canadian Tire and grabbing these:



I wet one very well with DW and put it on a plate and put the plate in the top tray in my Klip-It

Here's how it looks now...





And here it is resting beside my bed on my CD storage box/nightstand for stuff resting and doing its thing.



One question though, given at how thick the sponge is (it's basically
touching the inside of the lid of the Klip-It when I put the lid on it and sealed the Klip-It shut) will that mess up the seasoning process if its touching the inside of the lid???

[T.G]

Originally Posted by HailTheBrownLeaf

One question though, given at how thick the sponge is (it's basically
touching the inside of the lid of the Klip-It when I put the lid on it and sealed the Klip-It shut) will that mess up the seasoning process if its touching the inside of the lid???

Nope, not at all. If it were contacting the wood, it might oversaturate it, but plastic doesn't have that problem.

[HailTheBrownLeaf]

Originally Posted by T.G

Nope, not at all. If it were contacting the wood, it might oversaturate it, but plastic doesn't have that problem.

Thank you

[HailTheBrownLeaf]

Slightly stupid question regarding sponges but I figured I'd ask so I'll know for future reference.

I just noticed that on the pack of my package of sponges it says "rinse before and each use."

Now obviously I didn't wanna rinse the sponge under the tap with tapwater, so I just soaked it with DW and wrung it out with my hand before soaking it very well again and putting it on a plate on the top tray in my Tupperdore to let it start seasoning the trays. That should be ok right since I didn't "rinse" the sponge in the conventional sense under a hot water tap with soap?

[icehog3]

Yes, it should be just fine.

[Porch Dweller]

Originally Posted by HailTheBrownLeaf

Slightly stupid question regarding sponges but I figured I'd ask so I'll know for future reference.

I just noticed that on the pack of my package of sponges it says "rinse before and each use."

Now obviously I didn't wanna rinse the sponge under the tap with tapwater, so I just soaked it with DW and wrung it out with my hand before soaking it very well again and putting it on a plate on the top tray in my Tupperdore to let it start seasoning the trays. That should be ok right since I didn't "rinse" the sponge in the conventional sense under a hot water tap with soap?

You could always take the sponge out and give it a sniff. If it has any strong odor to it, wring it out really well under some hot water, let it dry, then start the DW process again.

[HailTheBrownLeaf]

So my new Western Caliber IV hygrometer that I just got yesterday has now been sitting in the Boveda calibration pack for 24 hours exactly.

It's currently reading at 29 degrees Celcius and 77%

Should I leave it in the calibration bag for another 12 hours as the calibration kit says to leave the hygrometer in there anywhere from 24-36 hours.

[Dave128]

No idea what that Celsius thing is that you speak of, but if it's in a Fahrenheit range that you like I think you're GTG. Also, it wouldn't hurt to leave it in the bag for another day or so.