I already messed up!

[landhoney]

Its a long story, so I'll spare you, but I recently bought my first humidor. My boss received one in the mail, I looked at it, he told me the price, I walked back into my office and ordered my own. Time to start the craziness I thought.
Anyway, I read a bit; wiped down the interior with distilled water, waited, moistened the sponge/oasis, waited, proper RH, cigars go in(10), days later, more H2O, wait, RH to high, sponge/oasis comes out and you guessed it - MOLD ON IT!
So what to do? Chuck the cigars, wipe down with vinegar(heard this on ************ I think), I though maybe vodka would work(no flavor, kills bacteria). Anyway, tomorrow I'll go down to the B&M and get the proper equipment. I'd hate to lose the 10 great cigars, but at least my big order from CI doesn't arrive till Monday. BTW, it is an advertised 300 count humi, glass top, one top tray. Help would be appreciated.
What a first post.

[Kaisersozei]

Mold on just the sponge? Don't chuck the sticks! (or if you're really worried about it, send them to me! )

Here's the thing I found when trying to season/stabilize the humidity in my 100 ct glasstop Bally: the more sticks, the better you can maintain a proper RH. It took almost 3-4 weeks for mine to sit at an RH I was comfortable with. That was also about how long it took to get it half full.

Ditch the sponge and go with Heartfelt beads. I think you might still have a bit of a struggle until you fill that thing up. In the meantime, maybe move the sticks to some tupperware or a ziploc bag. They'll keep for awhile until you can get the humi right.

Good luck, and welcome to CS! BTW, post an intro in the New Gorilla Forum.

Originally Posted by landhoney

Anyway, I read a bit; wiped down the interior with distilled water, waited, moistened the sponge/oasis, waited, proper RH, cigars go in(10), days later, more H2O, wait, RH to high, sponge/oasis comes out and you guessed it - MOLD ON IT!
So what to do? Chuck the cigars, wipe down with vinegar(heard this on ************ I think), I though maybe vodka would work(no flavor, kills bacteria). Anyway, tomorrow I'll go down to the B&M and get the proper equipment. I'd hate to lose the 10 great cigars, but at least my big order from CI doesn't arrive till Monday. BTW, it is an advertised 300 count humi, glass top, one top tray. Help would be appreciated.
What a first post.

[uncballzer]

Definitely 2nd checking out the beads at either Heartfeltindustries or cigarmony--these are much easier to deal with.

Cleaning wise, I'd go with everclear--use it on my pipes: higher alcohol content.

And don't throw away the stogies. Light one up right now, the rest, put in tuperware or a ziploc til you get ready to add them to the humi again.

http://heartfeltindustries.com/products.asp?cat=14
ps, be careful at this store, you can get a high bill just as quick as you can in a B&M.

[bobarian]

Use only distilled water. With beads or sponge/foam. Regular H20 will promote mold growth. Your smokes are not ruined unless the foot was infiltrated. You can wipe them off with just about anything. If its not too bad you can just brush them off and they should be fine. And definitely invest in some beads from Heartfeltindustries.com

[Don Fernando]

throw away the sponge/foam, buy beads. And if you order at Heartfelt industries, just pick the right checkout procedure, the google procedure is expensive.

[Steeler2]

I had the exact same problem with an indulgence humi on start-up.

I used only distilled water on the humidifiers, and added a small tray in the bottom of the humi to get the humidity around 70%. Lo and behold, a few days later I had mold on the humidifiers (foam type) and mold on the surface of the water in the tray.

Here is how I dealt with the problem:

1) I cleaned/wiped down all my cigars with a microfiber cloth and light bleach & distilled water solution (one tablespoon for a quart of distilled water). I soaked the cloth and wringed it very dry then wiped down the smokes (I had about 100 of them at the time). There was no visible mold on the stogies but I wanted to be sure no spores survived.

2) I wiped down the humi interior with the same solution by soaking the cloth then wringing it very dry then wiping all the trays and the entire interior.

3) I dismantled the humidifiers, wiped off the green foam with a paper towel and the bleach solution then washed off the plastic foam housing with the solution ensuring all traces of mold were gone.

4) I used a pre-mixed ethyl glycol solution on my humidifiers as this solution is a natural anti-fungal which prohibits mold growth.

I also got a digital hygrometer at B&M and used their walk-in humi to test the humidity reading. (It was dead on and got to herf with the owner while waiting!!)

I took the hygro home and found that there were different readings in different trays and that the lower tray and bottom of the humi were lower than the top.

I got some crystals (6oz jar), soaked them in distilled water and put it in the bottom.

I then put a foam humidifier in the middle tray with glycol solution and filled the two foam humidifers in the lid with glycol solution.

This got my humi hovering around 69-70 RH and no mold for several months.

Now when I re-charge the foam elements I use distilled water to soak them in, shake out the excess h2o thoroughly, then squirt on the glycol solution as a mold inhibitor.

YMMV Stepping down from my box...

[landhoney]

Thanks guys, bought some crystals in a jar and the glycol solution from the B&M, along with some more cigars. I am ordering the beads when I am done posting here. I think I'll clean the inside out with either rubbing alcohol or vodka. Then wait for the humi to stabilize a few days and put the cigars back in.
I bought ten more today, with the 30 arriving tomorrow I'll be at 50-60 and imagine it will feel pretty full. Some of them are nice smokes too, can't wait to post pics and reviews.
BTW, the mold was indeed just on the foam, which if I haven't metioned previously is now in the garbage. Thanks for all the help, glad I don't need to ditch the sticks.

[RGD]

Originally Posted by landhoney

Thanks guys, bought some crystals in a jar and the glycol solution from the B&M, along with some more cigars. I am ordering the beads when I am done posting here. I think I'll clean the inside out with either rubbing alcohol or vodka. Then wait for the humi to stabilize a few days and put the cigars back in.
I bought ten more today, with the 30 arriving tomorrow I'll be at 50-60 and imagine it will feel pretty full. Some of them are nice smokes too, can't wait to post pics and reviews.
BTW, the mold was indeed just on the foam, which if I haven't metioned previously is now in the garbage. Thanks for all the help, glad I don't need to ditch the sticks.

No need to do any more cleaning there as long as the sponge has been tossed. Check your temps - being high is what caused the mold.

Ron