Hello Dianna,
What are your thoughts on this method of recharging Humidipaks?
4 Likes
I’m a Cuban cigar freak… I keep them at 60% and use bovedas (bovies) to keep them at the right RH. I NEVER crack a box before 5 years of age. 60% is perfect for long term curing, while minimizing the risk of mold.
Honestly the amount of insane obsession with RH and “curing” when it come to cigars vs weed is on a different level.
To recharge them, just chuck them into a plastic container with some deminieralsed water an leave them a few days. I have had bovie packs for at LEAST 5 years by doing this.
10 Likes
Another way
3 Likes
Hi there! As you can imagine, this isn’t something Boveda encourages.
But if I were to give my opinion, I would say that there are ways to do this without submersing the paper-like packet into the water.
Basically, there is no way to really know if you’ve rehydrated the pack and its contents to the correct weight again. Does this change this equilibrium effect of the salt water slurry if more water is absorbed on rehydration? I don’t know for sure.
Another thing I know is how standing water almost calls to bacteria. Do you know what I mean? So, once again, are we inviting bacteria to adhere to that brown packet?
To close, knowing that the osmosis holes will absorb moisture from the air, confirms that submersion in h20 is unnecessary. KWIM?
Cheers!
5 Likes
Our local grow supplier sells his dried out Humidipaks at a ridiculously low price. I pick them up, and do a recharge. I have used both methods, but submerging can cause the packet to deteriorate allowing its content egress. I have been using the moistened paper towel method, and enclosing in a plastic bag. It has worked great, and I have saved some dinero. I have not had an instance of starting a bacterial culture. Distilled water is a must.
7 Likes
For sure. I figured they could be recharged so developed this process a while ago. This is the first I have thought about reading online about it.:
I recharge mine by having a large jar, I place a shooter glass containing water in the bottom of the jar, then place a RH meter in the bottom of the jar and about 4 small Boveda packs then seal the jar. The RH meter will show about 70 to 90 percent humidity as the packs keep the environment from hitting 100% like it would if they were not in there. Once each pack is completely liquid inside again i remove it. If the humidity in the jar starts to rise too much then you have left it in there too long.So you should dry it a little. You will see the water in the shooter glass slowly drop while they are recharging. I only put a little water in there. Doesnt take much. About one single shot shooter glass will recharge about 4 small Boveda 62%ers.
If you are worried about bacteria then make sure the equipment is clean before use and the water from the tap for the shooter glass should have chlorine in it. Otherwise, add your own.
I cant believe people just throw them in water 
just saw those vids. Well i guess if it works.
7 Likes
I have recharged for a while and learned some of the same things.
Sterile which means no tap water but distilled.
Do Not submerge Unless time is the issue as the paper will degrade over time and you need to keep an eye on them so they don’t overcharge but alternatives work like paper towel or if you have more time a Method like the shot glass works.
I also keep the zips they come in to store my recharged ones so they don’t degenerate.
4 Likes
Yeah for sure on the shot glass method. It takes about a week to recharge them from rock hard bone dry. About 3 days for one that is starting to get a lot of lumps/crystals inside. It works for me only because i have enough to have some recharging while using others.
Although very slow, another way which I haven’t used much is to use a large Boveda to recharge small Bovedas by sealing them in a jar together. I did this when I had spare large ones and needed to recharge some small ones. This is not as effective and can take a while.
3 Likes
Great ways to do it Thanks
I want to mention one more thing to prolong recharge and break down
Store your Boveda pks in a glass sealed mason jarwhen not in use, (I pack mine all together in one jar)
Just like weed can dry out even though it is in a plastic zip loc baggie so can these pks.
4 Likes
A note of interest with RH, while I was engaging with Cigar consumers, we have feedback from one who lived in the mountains in Colorado. He had to use 72% RH all the time just to store his stogies.
The varying of humidity is getting greater as the planet heats up.
2 Likes
Sounds like a good process however, distilled water without chlorine is a must.
Boveda’s contents are pure water, salt, xanthan gum to thicken. You don’t want to add any other compounds to that slurry. In addition, the minute you add chlorine, they lose their ability to be food grade.
3 Likes
Exactly. I have a few jars of spares Bovi’s ready to be used.
3 Likes
Yeah see with cigars there is a few issues at play when it comes to the ideal RH…Some people prefer them to be slightly higher in RH as it effects the taste. Also Cuban cigars tend to be kept for many years to cure before they are smoked, wheras there is rarely any benefit to aging non cubans, and in fact a lot of them actually lose flavour with age. Where I live. if I use the 69% humi packs over time I end up with superficial mold on my stogies… 
2 Likes
Have you thought of using the 65’s ?
1 Like
I ended up with a mix of 60 and 65%… even though apparently mixing RH levels is not supposed to be ideal. I did find though for the most part in the 100l cooler I keep my cigars in that so long as I have sufficient numbers of bovies and keep them hydrated the RH in general will sit withing a few % of 63%. So long as course as I don’t keep opening the box to let the outside air in. It’s goign to depend on the outside RH to a decent extent… Sometimes in summer here RH outside is over 90% for weeks on end., stand still long enough and you’ll go moldy 
I have tried pretty much ALL the different methods to keep RH levels stable… beads, hydrated foam etc… Bovies have been FAR and away the most reliable, the least effort and in general the most stable. All that said… I never have even tried them with my weed lol…
1 Like
Just pulled the curred but limp weed from the bottom of a jar whose hygrometer read 85%rh.
I had a “refreshed” Bovida 62% in the jar.
The packet is thick with moisture. Clearly overcharged. I suspect the % adjustment is closely correlated to the packet’s weight.
@Dianna_Donnelly, I appreciate your positive attitude around this (would be) conflict of interest. That said, would you tell me the precise weight of a brand new, small 62 packet.
Love your product! Doing what I can to make mine last.
1 Like
Oh yikes. I’ve been wondering about this for a while. For research purposes, I rehydrated a few as well.
You can over hydrate them and I’m trying to get the answer how easy it is to offset the slurry and the ratio of salt and water.
I’ve measured a few of my 4 grams that are in a sealed mason jar. They’re all over 4 grams though none exactly the same. Is it 4 grams ish? Perhaps.
I’ve reached out to R&D and marketing to find out for sure.
Do you think you can save it?
1 Like
Not sure. If heating it until it is its proper weight fixes it I am golden. Also, I could put in a rice bed until same.
My science pretty much ends there.
Either way, I will learn to do better by its brethren.
Edit: Got around to this. Will keep you posted.
3 Likes
So when you say “heat it” do you mean in an oven?
Evaporation is all it needs. To heat it even a bit would most definitely damage the efficacy and the terpenes.
Just leave it out or even in jar with open lid.
Cheers!
1 Like
Lol! I thought we were talking about the Boveda pack. They are a limited resource! I have plenty of pot.
1 Like