So I opened up my humidor today to find out what I have room for and I saw white, fuzzy mold growing from my square sponges which velcro to the inside of the lid. So... what do I do now? And BTW, my hydrometer doesn't seem to be working at all...
1. Remove moldy sponges and throw far away.
2. Replace with beads (heartfelt or conserva-gel)
3. Cross fingers
4. Buy new hygrometer and calibrate with salt test
1. Remove moldy sponges and throw far away.
2. Replace with beads (heartfelt or conserva-gel)
3. Cross fingers
4. Buy new hygrometer and calibrate with salt test
+1. I would also make sure that the new hygro is digital and to keep a very close eye on the sticks for the next several weeks to ensure that they have not been contaminated by mold.
If it's a small humi I've heard you put those in the freezer for a day or two to kill off mold...unless that was if you had beetles. Were you using propylene glycol with the sponge and water?
The freezer is for beetles. The mold spores would start to re-grow as soon as they were defrosted.
If the mold has not come into contact with the wood or sticks themselves you are probably OK.
If it DID touch the wood then you will need to clean it all off (sanding, or bleach) or again the mold spores will re-grow.
If there is any smell associated with this mold, do NOT smoke those sticks, or you will be smoking the spores.
If you were not using distilled water, then that is likely where your problem is. I would toss those little sponges and get some beads or gel. Also a new digital Hygro is in order. There is no sense in spending a lot of money on sticks if they are not going to be stored properly. Good luck, keep us posted.
I had the same problem. This is what I did. First toss your sponges, get some rubbing alcohol and treat the area where you saw the mold, and don't worry about the smell it will evaporate really fast. Get some beads (use distilled water) with a good Hygrometer I use the Humi-Care Digital Hygrometer. The mold grows with high humidity and temp so you need to monitor both.
1. Remove moldy sponges and throw far away.
2. Replace with beads (heartfelt or conserva-gel)
3. Cross fingers
4. Buy new hygrometer and calibrate with salt test
+1 almost - I would suggest using the Boveda calibration kit with the new digital hygrometer.
Also, where does your humi sit? Is it in direct sun for the majority of the day, or maybe directly under a heating vent? If you move the humidor to someplace cool and dark (finished basement maybe), it may help to keep this from happening again.
I had a lot of mold problems when I first got my humidor and I had to start from scratch on two different occasions because I did not listen to the sound advice these guys on here had to offer. When I finally did follow the advice, everything worked perfect from there.
Definately get rid of the sponge and switch to humidity beads. If you want to know where you can find some for super cheap that work great, just send me a pm and I'll be glad to send you a link.
Definately find yourself a digital hydrometer. There are plenty that can be found online or in department stores for cheap.
Someone mentioned using alcohol to clean your humidor. Even though I'm sure this will work, it just kind of scares me thinking about rubbing alcohol near my humidor. Following the advice of a BOTL, I used a 50/50 mix of White Vinegar and distilled water to clean mold off the wood of my humidor and then set it out in the sun to dry out. This worked beautifully for me and I haven't seen mold since.
I'm sure all this sounds like a lot, but you'll be glad you took the extra steps to ensure your cigars are kept in the best conditions. Good luck.
You can pick up a digital hydro at WalMart for $7, however, I'm not sure if it needs to be calibrated because I got mine off of Amazon. No calibration needed. Just turn it on and throw it in the humi. First thing I learned about when I came here was the beads vs foam. I didn't wait til I had a problem, I swapped out all my foam for beads. Little pricey, but considering how much money I spent on sticks, it was a drop in the bucket. Hope it works out for ya.
Comments
1. Remove moldy sponges and throw far away.
2. Replace with beads (heartfelt or conserva-gel)
3. Cross fingers
4. Buy new hygrometer and calibrate with salt test
If the mold has not come into contact with the wood or sticks themselves you are probably OK.
If it DID touch the wood then you will need to clean it all off (sanding, or bleach) or again the mold spores will re-grow.
If there is any smell associated with this mold, do NOT smoke those sticks, or you will be smoking the spores.
If you were not using distilled water, then that is likely where your problem is. I would toss those little sponges and get some beads or gel. Also a new digital Hygro is in order. There is no sense in spending a lot of money on sticks if they are not going to be stored properly. Good luck, keep us posted.
Also, where does your humi sit? Is it in direct sun for the majority of the day, or maybe directly under a heating vent? If you move the humidor to someplace cool and dark (finished basement maybe), it may help to keep this from happening again.
Hope this helped, good luck to you!
Definately get rid of the sponge and switch to humidity beads. If you want to know where you can find some for super cheap that work great, just send me a pm and I'll be glad to send you a link.
Definately find yourself a digital hydrometer. There are plenty that can be found online or in department stores for cheap.
Someone mentioned using alcohol to clean your humidor. Even though I'm sure this will work, it just kind of scares me thinking about rubbing alcohol near my humidor. Following the advice of a BOTL, I used a 50/50 mix of White Vinegar and distilled water to clean mold off the wood of my humidor and then set it out in the sun to dry out. This worked beautifully for me and I haven't seen mold since.
I'm sure all this sounds like a lot, but you'll be glad you took the extra steps to ensure your cigars are kept in the best conditions. Good luck.
"Long ashes my friends."