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Mold in my Humi

unmerrymelodiesunmerrymelodies Posts: 19
in General Discussion
Hey all, earlier this week I went to recharge the humidification sponge in my humidor and when i pulled it out of it little cedar holder I saw that there was mold growing on the bottom of the cedar holder. I took the whole holder out and saw that there was mold on the actual cedar lining under the holder as well. Thankfully there was no mold on any of my cigars. I scraped all the mold off both the holder and the bottom of the humidor but I was wondering if anyone had any ideas for further cleaning. I read on one site that i should rub the areas that had mold with alcohol, but I didn't want to damage the cedar. Is that a good idea or does anyone else have any ideas for me?

by the way i have beads in there as well I just had left the sponge in for superstitious reasons. I don't think I'll be putting it back in.

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    j0z3rj0z3r Posts: 9,403 ✭✭
    Use a mixture of white vinegar and water, 4-5 parts water and 1 part vinegar. Make sure you wipe off any visible mold, and then wipe down every surface of the humidor with the vinegar water to kill any remaining spores. After wiping leave it open to air dry and then, to be safe, wipe it down once more and let air dry. After you're done with that, you'll probably have to re-season it, but the mold should be gone.

    When you wipe it down, just use a damp rag, not one soaked in water.
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    unmerrymelodiesunmerrymelodies Posts: 19
    j0z3r:
    Use a mixture of white vinegar and water, 4-5 parts water and 1 part vinegar.
    Should I be using distilled water or just regular tap water?
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    j0z3rj0z3r Posts: 9,403 ✭✭
    I don't think it would matter too much, but if you'd be more comfortable with distilled then by all means use it.
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    sightunseensightunseen Posts: 2,130 ✭✭
    You should then swear off foam for the rest of your life and get some beads.
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    KCWKCW Posts: 1,334 ✭✭✭
    unmerrymelodies:
    Hey all, earlier this week I went to recharge the humidification sponge in my humidor and when i pulled it out of it little cedar holder I saw that there was mold growing on the bottom of the cedar holder. I took the whole holder out and saw that there was mold on the actual cedar lining under the holder as well. Thankfully there was no mold on any of my cigars. I scraped all the mold off both the holder and the bottom of the humidor but I was wondering if anyone had any ideas for further cleaning. I read on one site that i should rub the areas that had mold with alcohol, but I didn't want to damage the cedar. Is that a good idea or does anyone else have any ideas for me?

    by the way i have beads in there as well I just had left the sponge in for superstitious reasons. I don't think I'll be putting it back in.
    As I've said in a previous thread. I've had success w/ the Alcohol per manufacturers' recommendation. I would not put Vinegar in my humi. Alcohol is a volatile sovlent that will evaporate. Vinegar will leave a residual odor.
    Use Distilled always.
    My $.02
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    j0z3rj0z3r Posts: 9,403 ✭✭
    KCW:
    Vinegar will leave a residual odor.
    Since when? I've always know white vinegar to evaporate and not leave any trace odor. The key is letting it evaporate.
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    KCWKCW Posts: 1,334 ✭✭✭
    j0z3r:
    KCW:
    Vinegar will leave a residual odor.
    Since when? I've always know white vinegar to evaporate and not leave any trace odor. The key is letting it evaporate.
    Just my $.02 Jozer. No offense.
    I own a Cleaning company and we had a client who insisted we use a Vinegar solution on certain things. From that experience I learned that the smell never really goes away (on wood) in my opinion. I've had an issue w/ mold in my Regulator and the cedar regulator holder. The manufacturer of my Humi. recommended the Alcohol. It worked for me w/ no remnant in my smokes afterwards. I too have also gone to beads since. Again, my $.02
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    j0z3rj0z3r Posts: 9,403 ✭✭
    Oh I wasn't offended or anything like that, just that it's been my experience that vinegar will evaporate completely. If you've experienced differently, then I can't say you're wrong, only that my experience differs.

    About using alcohol though, wouldn't that tend to dry the wood out a lot?
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    HeavyHeavy Posts: 1,591 ✭✭✭
    When I had a mold issue I used a small bit of rubbing alcohol with distilled H2O to wipe down the humi and there was no residual odor after letting it air out for a day or so. Of course it was completely dried out after that (not sure what caused more of the drying - the alcohol or leaving it open, although I'm sure the combination of the 2 did the trick) and it definitely needed to be reseasoned. Worked fine - no re-emergence of the mold.

    Now that's not to say the vinegar wouldn't work either, I've just never tried it. Just passing along my experience. I've heard plenty of people on here saying that vinegar works great too.
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    unmerrymelodiesunmerrymelodies Posts: 19
    Well it all came down to what I had at home. No vinegar and one bottle of rubbing alcohol. It's drying now and I'll re-season it tomorrow. Thanks for the help.
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    KCWKCW Posts: 1,334 ✭✭✭
    j0z3r:
    Oh I wasn't offended or anything like that, just that it's been my experience that vinegar will evaporate completely. If you've experienced differently, then I can't say you're wrong, only that my experience differs.

    About using alcohol though, wouldn't that tend to dry the wood out a lot?
    I only applied it to the affected area (which wasn't very much). But you're right. It does rob the wood of some moisture (where it is apllied) but, thats the idea. Mold does not like a dry environment and thats what you have to do to get rid of it from wood. If it were extensive, I would just toss the Humi. Most of the mold was in the regulator which I replaced w/ Beads.
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    KCWKCW Posts: 1,334 ✭✭✭
    unmerrymelodies:
    Well it all came down to what I had at home. No vinegar and one bottle of rubbing alcohol. It's drying now and I'll re-season it tomorrow. Thanks for the help.
    I failed to mention you need to let the humi get to 65% for a few days before getting the rh back up. Should be no need to re-season. (I'm assuming your smokes are OK)
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    bacon.jaybacon.jay Posts: 720 ✭✭✭
    I'm not even kidding about this, I had a nightmare last night about mold in my humidor. In my nightmare I was still living at home and my humidor was in the kitchen (weird, I know) and I opened it and the WHOLE inside was COVERED in mold D: Some of the cigars on the top and ALL of the cigars in the bottom under the tray were totally obscured by a thick blanket of gray, green, and white hairy fuzz. I seriously woke up out of a dead sleep and had to go check them...

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    KCWKCW Posts: 1,334 ✭✭✭
    bacon.jay:
    I'm not even kidding about this, I had a nightmare last night about mold in my humidor. In my nightmare I was still living at home and my humidor was in the kitchen (weird, I know) and I opened it and the WHOLE inside was COVERED in mold D: Some of the cigars on the top and ALL of the cigars in the bottom under the tray were totally obscured by a thick blanket of gray, green, and white hairy fuzz. I seriously woke up out of a dead sleep and had to go check them...

    LMAO
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    RedtailhawkozRedtailhawkoz Posts: 2,915 ✭
    bacon.jay:
    I'm not even kidding about this, I had a nightmare last night about mold in my humidor. In my nightmare I was still living at home and my humidor was in the kitchen (weird, I know) and I opened it and the WHOLE inside was COVERED in mold D: Some of the cigars on the top and ALL of the cigars in the bottom under the tray were totally obscured by a thick blanket of gray, green, and white hairy fuzz. I seriously woke up out of a dead sleep and had to go check them...


    I used to do that with COCAINE! Wait I never slept when i was doing that! ROTFLMAO
    Many Moons AGO!
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    taddowtaddow Posts: 51
    I had a slight mold issue back in the day and a little rubbing alcohol with a light sanding with some fine grit sandpaper took care of it. I still use that humidor and have yet to have problems.
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