mold in a humidor

celtic250

If I had mold on cigars and very little on the wood of the humidor what would you recommend I do? I only had a xikar 250 count in the humidor that holds approximately 125-150 cigars. Is that too big of a xikar humidifier in there? I figured it would be fine since they "only release 70% humidity" regardless of the size of the humidor. Any help from someone with experience would be great. Thanks!

laker1963

celtic250:

If I had mold on cigars and very little on the wood of the humidor what would you recommend I do? I only had a xikar 250 count in the humidor that holds approximately 125-150 cigars. Is that too big of a xikar humidifier in there? I figured it would be fine since they "only release 70% humidity" regardless of the size of the humidor. Any help from someone with experience would be great. Thanks!

You could clean out your humi using vinegar to scrub the mold out. you will need to let it sit open for a few days to release the smell of the vinegar and then you will have to reseason the humi.
Do you know what the source of the mold was? If it was just from the cigar then you should not have any further problems.
If mold returns in the future (from this same incidence) I would use some 10% bleach solution and rescrub the area. let if dry while open and reseason again.
As for your humidity, I am not familliar with the one you mentioned. Is it able to both give off and take in humidity? I use the beads because they are so versatile. It could have been caused by too much humidity. What was the temp. where the humi was stored? You only used distilled water? Lot's of things to check out to make sure you correct the problem.

Lasabar

First Off Humidification:
If your humidifier only GIVES off Humidity then it may be too much, but if your hygrometer is calibrated (look up "Salt Test" in forums) and it is reading around 70% Relative Humidity then your humidifier is fine. If you're worried you can get "Beads" made from Silicone (Heartfelt Industries or ConservaGel) that not only OUTPUT humidity, but they take it IN if you're overhumidified.
BUT, I would say something had to put Mold in there in the first place, either you're not using Distilled water, or you are actually OVERhumidified or something else that leads to MOLD.

Secondly - To get rid of Mold:
If the mold was small and just starting and you have some good sticks, I'd say brush it off and smoke 'em soon, just don't leave them in the humi. To make sure you get the mold out of your Humidor you want to take a fine grit sandpaper and sand where you see mold and any place you THINK mold may have touched. Make sure you get all the dust out and REseason your humidor. If you think the mold is bad you may also want to take Vineagar and some water mixture and wipe the inside of your humi down and let it dry thoroughly and then reseason it.

After that make DOUBLE sure you aren't overhumidifying your stuff and get a "Calibrating Hygrometer" so that you KNOW you won't be over 70% Rh

Hope this helps!

celtic250

I only use distilled water in my humidor and the hygrometer reads 66-70 degrees F and 66-70% humidity at all times. I never had a problem with mold until my dad brought me back cigars from Miami and about a month after I had put them in my humidor is when I first noticed the mold. I have not noticed any new mold since I have thrown those cigars out. Do you think that the vinegar and water solution will work or should I sand down the old mold spots?

Lakota72

I would certainly sand down the mold spots at a minimum. But like like lasabar said. Lightly sand dont go too crazy on it.

Heavy

I've had mold issues in the past (just the fluffy white stuff and not much of it. never got the the green/black stage - that would be trouble). I cleaned it out with a vinegar/water solution then vacuumed the hell out of it. Let it sit open for a while then re-seasoned (I may have actually done the vinegar/water wipedown and vacuum treatment twice, can't remember).

As for sticks, +1 on what Lasabar said. Wipe em down and smoke em sooner than later. As long is the mold didn't really get into the foot of the cigar i don't think it should be a major issue.

As far as the sticks from Miami being the culprit of mold, I have no idea but i guess they could have introduced mold spores into your humi, but again I'm just guessing on that. If there's any doubt at all I'd just quarantine those sticks from the rest of the herd.

celtic250

I am looking into getting the Heartfelt beads and was wondering what the best method for mounting them in my humidor would be. Can I put magnets on the back of the rectangular bead case and mount it where I previously mounted my xikar 250 count crystal container? My humidor is

http://www.humidorvault.com/v/vspfiles/photos/HUM-1621-DS-3T.jpg

skweekz

If you get Conservagel beads, they come with a nifty blue mesh bag to put them in.

celtic250

I am moving all my sticks to a tupperware tonight and am going to wipe down my humidor with vinegar water solution in order to take care of the minor mold issue. Before I start I was wondering what part vinegar to what part water you use? Thanks and all information in this thread has been very helpful.

celtic250

I have been told that the vinegar/water mix will not work in my situation. I have also read that isopropyl alcohol/water mixture works as well. I am starting to reach the panic stage as I do not have the money to replace the humidor or the sticks inside. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated at this stage.