Storage
How to make a tupperdor
A tupperdor is a sealed plastic food container with two-way humidity packs inside. Wash it, add one 60-gram pack per 25 cigars, close the lid, and it holds cigars at a steady humidity.
Why a plastic box keeps cigars so well
A humidor's job is to make a closed space and keep the humidity inside it steady, and a tight-sealing plastic box does the first part better than most wood boxes.
Wikipedia's humidor article says it straight: the case only has to create a closed environment, so any durable, airtight material can be used. Plastic doesn't soak up water, so there's nothing to season. No warping. No leaky lid. Add a two-way pack and the pack does the second part, releasing moisture when the air gets dry and absorbing it when the air gets wet.
Cheap, too. A gasket-lid food box costs less than a single good cigar.
Pick the container first
A good tupperdor container has a lid with a rubber gasket or a hard snap seal, and enough room to lay cigars flat with space for a pack.
| Container | Rough fit | Strengths | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Snap-lid food box with gasket | 10 to 50 cigars | Cheap, light, seals hard, easy to see inside | New-plastic smell for the first week |
| Screw-top or clamp-lid jar | 5 to 25 cigars | Very tight seal, looks good on a shelf | Round shape wastes space with long cigars |
| Hard-sided picnic cooler | 100 to several hundred | Big capacity, insulated against temperature swings | Lid seal varies; needs many packs |
| Zip-top freezer bag | 1 to 10 cigars | Free, packs flat | Punctures, no crush protection. Short-term only |
The "rough fit" counts are our estimates for robusto-sized cigars in typical containers of each kind. Your box's inside dimensions decide the real number.
Test the seal before you trust it. Close the lid on a strip of paper and pull. If it slides out easily anywhere, look for a different box. Clear plastic is handy: you can read the hygrometer and spot trouble without opening the lid.
Building a tupperdor in six steps
The build takes about ten minutes of work, plus a day of airing out.
- Wash it. Boveda suggests washing a new container with baking soda and water, rinsing, then drying it thoroughly.
- Air it out. Leave it open for a day. If it still smells of plastic, repeat. Cigars soak up odors.
- Add the packs. One 60-gram two-way pack per 25 cigars of capacity, per Boveda's own sizing.
- Add a hygrometer. A small digital one tells you the pack is working.
- Load the cigars. Lay them flat. Leave a little air around the pack so it can do its job.
- Check after a week. A reading within a few points of the pack's number means you're set.
Which humidity pack goes in a tupperdor?
A 69% two-way pack is the usual choice, with 65% for people who like a drier, easier-burning cigar.
Boveda's guidance names 69% as its most universal cigar RH and lists tupperdors among the places it fits. It also gives one firm warning: never use its 75% pack in airtight containers, tupperdors and humidor bags included. That pack is built for leaky wood boxes in very dry climates, and in a sealed box it overshoots. Replace a pack when it turns hard and crunchy. The humidity pack calculator works out the count for your container's size.
Do you need cedar in a tupperdor?
No, cedar is optional in a tupperdor: the two-way pack controls humidity on its own.
Spanish cedar does two things in a wood humidor. It buffers humidity and it lends its aroma to cigars. In a sealed plastic box the pack handles the buffering. The aroma is a taste choice. Like it? Lay a sheet or two of cedar from old cigar boxes on the bottom, as Boveda suggests. Know that dry cedar drinks moisture at first, so your pack works harder for the first week or two. Want the full cedar routine for a wooden box? That's how to season a humidor.
How many cigars will it hold?
Capacity depends on the box's inside dimensions and your cigar sizes, so measure inside, not outside.
Measure the interior length, width and depth in inches. Put them into the humidor capacity calculator and pick your usual cigar size. Then knock off a few for the pack and hygrometer. Don't cram it full. Cigars packed tight in a corner dry and rehydrate slower than ones with air around them.
Outgrowing one box? A hard-sided cooler, often called a coolerdor, scales the same idea up to hundreds of cigars. Same packs, more of them.
Keeping it healthy month to month
A tupperdor needs a glance every week and a pack swap every few months, depending on how often you open it.
Keep it somewhere cool and dark. Out of a hot garage, off a sunny windowsill. Heat is the bigger enemy than humidity in a sealed box, and a warm spell is when tobacco beetles hatch. The cigar beetles guide covers the signs. Open the lid now and then for fresh air, and rotate cigars from bottom to top so none sit untouched for months.
Choosing between this and other no-humidor options? The storing cigars without a humidor guide compares them.
Tupperdor build questions
Do you need distilled water for a tupperdor?
Not for a pack-based build. A two-way pack carries its own salt solution and never needs topping up. Distilled water only matters for sponge or bead humidifiers.
How many cigars can a tupperdor hold?
It depends on the inside dimensions and cigar size. Measure inside length, width and depth and run them through the humidor capacity calculator; leave a little air space for the pack.
Is a tupperdor as good as a humidor?
On humidity control, yes: a tight seal plus a pack keeps the reading level. It lacks cedar's aroma and buffering, and it is less pleasant to look at.
What humidity pack should you use in a tupperdor?
Boveda names its 69% pack as a fit for tupperdors and warns never to use its 75% pack in airtight containers. 65% suits people who like a drier smoke.
How often should you open a tupperdor?
Open it once a week or so even if you are not smoking from it. Fresh air and a quick look catch mold or beetle signs early.