Mold in Humidor

[ABNCigar]

I was adding sticks to my humidor today, and when I was rotating the stock, i noticed that just behind the humidification device, there was bluish/green mold. I removed all cigars from the humidor and removed all visible mold. What else should I do now?

I am double checking the calibration of the hydrometer, but it has been showing around 67% for the last 3 months. I normally add distileld water to the humidification device 1x per month. Is there something else I should do? 99% off all my sticks are stored in their celo wrapper, and I cannot se any mold on them. The ones that are not stored in Celo do not show any signs of mold damage. What is my next step, and what can I do to avoid this problem in the future. Some on told me swithing from water to a 50/50 mix of alcohol water mixture is the answer.

I would appreciate any help.

[JPH]

Alcohol.....no

Are you using the floral foam stuff...? what kinda device?

[bazookajoe]

Originally Posted by ABNCigar

I was adding sticks to my humidor today, and when I was rotating the stock, i noticed that just behind the humidification device, there was bluish/green mold. I removed all cigars from the humidor and removed all visible mold. What else should I do now?...

I had the same problem - no matter how well I cleaned it up the mold came back in the same spot. Finally got beads and no more mold.

(I sealed the back of the credo and put the beads in where the oasis foam was)

[ABNCigar]

The humidification device is floral foam in encased in plastic, its what came with humidor

[raisin]

That type of humidification is prone to having high rh in certain area's. Beads are a more uniform supplier of humidity to your cigars, make it easy on yourself!
Once those mold spores get into a wood humidor, they are extremely difficult to eradicate. Coolodors can be sterilized with bleach reliably and are an excellent recourse if you continue to have mold problems.

[salimoneus]

foam is teh suck

beads give me pleasure

[ABNCigar]

ok....I am planning on making a trip to the local B & M to get some beads tomorrow....should I do anything else to get the mold out? Wipe down the inside with anything? Someone suggested to me to wipe down the inside with the 50.50 solution you can fill the humidification device with? I plan on asking the owener of the B&M for his opinion

[JPH]

Originally Posted by ABNCigar

The humidification device is floral foam in encased in plastic, its what came with humidor

Ironically..... Yesterday I checked this little humidor I have that I just stuck one of those foam things in because i had it laying around....it had the beginnings of mold on it....I think that over time those things just get moldy...I threw it out and put beads in.....

that 50/50 glycol/water solution may help...but screw all that get some beads

[JPH]

Originally Posted by ABNCigar

ok....I am planning on making a trip to the local B & M to get some beads tomorrow....should I do anything else to get the mold out? Wipe down the inside with anything? Someone suggested to me to wipe down the inside with the 50.50 solution you can fill the humidification device with? I plan on asking the owener of the B&M for his opinion

I'll be surprised if the b&m has beads....if not you can get them online.... If you wipe it down with a DAMP...not soaked... rag with DISTILLED water it should be cool

[salimoneus]

i would seriously consider wiping the interior with something to kill the mold that is already in there, maybe alcohol? then let it air and dry out for a while. alcohol dries up pretty odorless so it should not affect the cigars, but not sure how much the wood will like it. i don't speak from experience, but i would be hesitant to put my smokes back into a humidor without knowing the existing mold is surely gone.

[Chuckie]

I had the same problem with one of my boxes. Right behind the humidifier was mold.
I also had a few sticks that had mold on them

I took all the rest of the sticks out and checked them carefully and then put them in the cooler.

As to the humi, I wiped it down with denatured alcohol. Kills the mold and dries really fast. You have to let it air out for several days to get the smell out. If you do this, just make sure the rag is not soaking wet, but just a little damp. Also, do it outside as the denatured alcohol has quite a strong smell.

That humi is not back in service yet, but the humidifier hit the trash can just as soon as I saw the mold. Not sure whether I will go with beads when I put this box back in service but I will stay away from the oasis foam.

[M1903A1]

I just had a similar development, however the mold has gone no farther than the humidifiers. Should I still be worried?

[wharfrathoss]

had the same problem w/the $20 special that Holt's had awhile ago-mine was on the foam in the element & a few spots on the wood, no sticks were affected (thankfully!)-i was using 50/50 solution which is supposed to be mold resistant but obviously not mold proof-anyhow, after some gorillas calmed me down, i yanked the element, threw out the foam, washed the case w/a light bleach mix then soap & hot water (i used it later to hold beads in a pantyhose bag)-i wiped off the spots on the wood w/a damp cloth, then soaked a Qtip in 90% isopropyl (rubbing alcohol)-used the Qtip to wipe the spots where the mold had been-i left the humi open for the spots to dry (doesn't take long) then put a spare element with 50/50 solution in there till the beads came in-when they did i followed the directions from a sticky here to retrofit my old element case w/beads-been working great ever since, holding steady 65%, no mold returned-i believe if you catch it quick enough, the mold doesn't get so deeply into the wood that you can't get it out-sorry for the novel, hope this helps

[Ligero Larry]

Mold is the devil. I would recommend all of the items above but take it one step further. Take a very high grit sand paper and give the whole interior a once over. I've done this in the past with excellent results.
-L