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How to build a coolidor (humidor but use a cooler instead)

Its usually a sticky everywhere i frequent on cigar forums and saw humidor questions and felt like sharing some info about a cheaper alternative thats just as good if not better than wood humidors.

Ok. Now that I have a few moments to expound on the subject. I am going to borrow a thread from another forum from another great BOTL. I am taking no credit for it other than sharing it with you guys.


Materials needed: (well what i used)
Cooler - I used a smaller one but I've seen people used the huge Marine coolers. If you buy off season then prices are pretty reasonable
Bleach - preferably the non-smelly stuff. I bought the other and it took a while for it to air out
Baking Soda - I'll explain later
Cedar cigar boxes - for singles
Hygrometer
Cigar humidification beads or kitty litter
Cigars
A few free hours overall




Step 1
Look upon your newly purchased cooler. Take a deep whif of that new cooler smell... You dont want that. Now frown and pour in water almost to fill it. Then add in a few cups of bleach. Close the lid and let it sit over night. Another option which I actually prefer is get a few newspapers and crumble all the pages up and fill the cooler and let it sit overnight. does the job just as good and no mess or bleach smell


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Step 2
Open it in the morning and pour out the bleach and water. It might smell a little like bleach now so wipe it down with some clean water and let it sit outside in the sun for a day. If you dont have sun right now set it under some lamps and walk away. Again if you use the newspaper you can skip this step


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Step 3
IF it still smells of bleach put some baking soda in a dish and put it in the cooler. Close it and wait a day or two. Continue with the set out in sun then baking soda routine till you have a fresh smelling cooler. Another step you can save using newspaper


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Step 4
Once things are smelling right it's time to fill the cooler with your boxes and regulate the RH. If you have a bigger cooler and boxes full of cigars you can skip this step and go to the next one.


Place the boxes in how you are going to have them and figure out where you will palce your humidification. The reason I suggest kitty Litter is because its cheap and it works great. Litter pearls is what i use but exquisicat seems to be the standard. Obviously unscented unless you love lavender flavored sticks!!!! I put the KL in a tupperware container i had cut the lid out of. It worked great. I've seen others use baby food containers with holes in the top. It's what ever makes sense for you.


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Anyway put in your humidification, your (salt tested - instructions are as follows) humidification device and your boxes.

Salt Test:
Salt Test. Use this to test your hygrometer to see how far off it is!


Step 1 - Get an airtight container. Some people say zip-lock bags but i dont buy that.


Step 2 - Place some salt in a lid of a soda bottle or other small container


Step 3 - moisten the salt with water... don't flood it just dampen it


Step 4 - Place the salt as well as the hygrometer in question in the container and close the lid tightly. Let it sit for at least 8-12 hours


Step 5 - After that time the humidity in the container will be 75%. Don't ask me how its just how nature works. Check the number your hygrometer is reading. If its other then 75 then you now know how far off it is. change it to the correct reading or remember how far off it is for the next time you want to read it.


Step 6 - enjoy your cigar a little bit more now that you know your hygrometer is accurate. :biggrin:


Here's a visual for you!


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Let that sit a day or two to absorb the moisture, just like a new humidor.


Step 5
Add your cigars! Don't forget to take one out and smoke it to congratulate yourself on a job well done. Heck take two.




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Credit goes to CHRIS7891011 from another forum i used to frequent but was borrowed from dennis nichols on stogiefriends.com who used chris' work.


Overall the coolidor does not pass the eye test but does pass the "does what its supposed to do for cheap" test. Here are a few pics i snapped of mine tonight. I have a 50qt extreme cooler.

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If you have any questions feel free to ask. And yes i do have a few boveda packs in there too. Never can be too careful!!!!
 
Great tutorial, only thing is that i'd suggest dawn dish soap, seems like the bleach is overkill and is actually prolonging process. I was able to wash mine out with the soap, rinse with a little distilled and left outside for a while and thats all.
 
Great tutorial, only thing is that i'd suggest dawn dish soap, seems like the bleach is overkill and is actually prolonging process. I was able to wash mine out with the soap, rinse with a little distilled and left outside for a while and thats all.
Thats why i use the newspaper method. No water needed to prep. i dont like bleach but the unscented works pretty well. 1000000% rather use newspaper though.
 
A humidor cooler or coolider is easy to manufacture and cost effective also. The main thing is that it holds moisture very well as the cooler has solid seals. Thanks for the information.
 
I used to put the thin sheets of cedar from boxes on the inside of my coolidors....didn't really attach them to the inside walls...just let the boxes and bundles inside hold them up...I knew some guys that taped them to walls or even glued them...to much work for me...I used three coolidors for years...worked really well but being air tight it was easy for the humidity levels to get high so some times I just propped the lid open a bit or pulled the drain plug off for a few days until things settled down.
 
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