Used Humidor, Getting Rid of Previous Aroma

[rab1957]

I just bought a used humidor off of Craig’s List. It is in excellent shape, but it has an aroma like it was used to store cigars that were infused with something for flavor. I’m still new to cigars so I’m not sure what the proper term is. How do I get rid of this aroma so I don’t ruin the cigars I’m going to put in it, Aurora, Astral, Romeo & Juliet and others along that line?

[sboyajian]

open it.. and leave it open for a bit.. week or two..

then reseason..

Not sure what else you could do without damaging the wood.

[Cypress]

Good question. I am not sure what you could actually do to get it all out. The oils from the infused cigars might have seeped far into the wood and may be difficult to get them all out. The safest thing at this point is to do what Steve said first.

[Architeuthis]

In my experience, once a musty odor, or a particular flavor (good or bad) gets into the wood you can never get it out. Save some time and energy by getting a new one. You'll do so anyway in the long run...

[sboyajian]

Actually I wonder if maybe it wouldn't be better to take a small bowl of distilled water and put it in the box by itself for about 3 or 4 days, then alongside it, add a small thing of Baking Soda. The wood should be breathing a bit by then, and the Soda may absorb the smell.

You could also try the newspaper and charcoal trick..

[Architeuthis]

Originally Posted by sboyajian

Actually I wonder if maybe it wouldn't be better to take a small bowl of distilled water and put it in the box by itself for about 3 or 4 days, then alongside it, add a small thing of Baking Soda. The wood should be breathing a bit by then, and the Soda may absorb the smell.

You could also try the newspaper and charcoal trick..

I've gone so far as filling an entire humidor with baking soda and sprinkling water on it... The embedded odor just never leaves. One box I knew I was gonna trash I just poured bleach into and let it sit for a week. After it dried out it smelled like the original scent with bleach mixed in... <G>

[sboyajian]

hahahahaha.. I just had visuals of the bleach incident..

[Coop D]

That bleach smell had to be nasty!!!!

[rab1957]

I think I'm going to try the baking soda. The smell isn't that strong. I've had the conditioning packets in the humidor for a few days now so the wood should have opened up. I'll keep you posted on what happens.

Thanks for all the advice.

[SMOKE20]

Bleach would not be the best idea. I would leave it open for some time and see if the smell lessens

[Architeuthis]

Originally Posted by sboyajian

hahahahaha.. I just had visuals of the bleach incident..

It was done to prove the point that virtually nothing can be done to take the odor out of a contaminated humidor... Damn thing didn't leak though... <G>