outta the frying pan into the fire...

[Arleban]

This is crazy. I built my tupperdor and it is doing pretty well. Apparently not a moment to soon. I checked my humidor (the little 12 ct. one) to see how the humidifier was holding up. I looked at the sponge thing in the small circle and thought, "Wow! It must be pretty dry. I can see it's kind of fuzzy." Then I looked more closely and it was whitish...and I think it's mold!

I checked the one cigar I had left in there and it looked ok, but I didn't want to put it with the others, so I had to smoke it. My other cigars in the tupperdor look ok too. Now, info and question time.

The humidor is in my computer room, probably the warmest room in the house. It has usually been around 75 F and 63% humidity in that humidor. I moved the tupperdor in the basement. I think that is probably why the mold started since the humidor is so warm. How do I get rid of the mold?

When I got the humidor I soaked the sponge in the 50/50 solution and let it drain like the bottle said. I was just checking it today to see if any distilled water was needed. Is there a way to save the humidifier? It's one of the basic black disk kind that has the sponge thing inside of it and you can turn the outer part of the disk to expose the holes or not.

[kansashat]

Man! I thought PG was supposed to be an anti-microbial.

I got an idea for you. Start checking your mail box in a couple or three days. I have never had mold in any of my homemade or commercial humidifiers & I use PG & distilled water. I wouldn't keep it in the basement maybe????
Try putting the humidor close to the floor if that is feasible with your child. Maybe a locked cabinet? Closer to the floor should be a couple of degrees cooler (especially in the winter).

[SeanGAR]

Originally Posted by Arleban

This is crazy. I built my tupperdor and it is doing pretty well. Apparently not a moment to soon. I checked my humidor (the little 12 ct. one) to see how the humidifier was holding up. I looked at the sponge thing in the small circle and thought, "Wow! It must be pretty dry. I can see it's kind of fuzzy." Then I looked more closely and it was whitish...and I think it's mold!

Mold is tough to get rid of once it colonizes, especially in a porous surface like wood or the spongies. When I had mold on some leather books (Harvard Classics) I inquired in libraries and they told me to wipe off with distilled water and then get them in sunlight or other UV light source.

I use iodophore for sterilization in brewing but it smells like iodine (which is whats in it) so that won't work in a humidor. Sunlight won't penetrate the foam much so toss it pronto. I would soak the disk itself once you remove the foam in 70% alcohol. I use lab alcohol but Bookers Bourbon would be an acceptable substitute - kidding, drink the bookers, find some other alcohol or dilute isopropanol to 70% and use that. I would leave a container in the door with alcohol for a week so the fumes get in there and hopefully knock out the spores. Maybe a better alternative is soaking or rubbing everything with hydrogen peroxide (breaks down to water and oxygen so it is guaranteed odor free). This is what they use to sterilize the tetra brick asceptic packages.

The foam is cheap, you can get some "wet" foam in a floral shop for a buck and cut to fit.

It is wierd you developed mold although some will grow in the 65-70% humidity range. I had whitish mold grow in one of the humi-care crystal things I bought from CI for 10 bucks after only 4 months of use. Boy was I mad.

[mr.c]

Areleban are you sure its mold and not bloom? I have some cigars in bloom and I must say its a little unnerving seeing them that way.

On edit : should have read more closely I have my humi in the basement highest temp was 68 I think, hanging around 65 at 65% rh

interesting pics of mold vs bloom fyi http://home.alltel.net/jbperry/cig.htm

[txmatt]

I have had a hard time keep my coolerdor below 75 all summer. No basements in this part of TX. I haven't been hit by mold though. I strongly suspect you had the cigar too wet for awhile, or maybe the dealer kept the humidor too wet. Barclay ran high if I remember right.

I think the basement would be a fine place as long as you make sure your RH doesn't get much above 70% in the humidor.

I again want to stress the best way to store your cigars is with a coolerdor. I can give you more detailed instructions, but you only need 4 things:

1) 45-48 qt igloo cooler - The "ice cube" model from Wal-Mart for $13 works great.

2) Empty cigar boxes to fill up most of the volume in the coolerdor. You can get these for free or $1 each from most tobaccoists. I bet Barclay would set you up.

3) Climaxx Premier Media - This takes the hassle out of humidification and it is much cheaper than buying PG solution and even distilled water. Buy a pound from BargainHumidors.com (most people buy the 65%). They should run you around $25. You will only need 1/2 of the pound but you will want to rotate them out if you store the coolerdor in a humid Ohio basement. When the humidity reads above 65% in there take the "dry bag" from upstairs and swap it with the "wet bag" in the basement coolerdor. Buy a pair of women's stockings/panty hose, put 1/2 pound in each toe, cut off excesss and tie off the end. If you find you only need 1/2 pound (some people just use a hair dryer to dry out the beads) you will DEFINITELY be able to sell the other 1/2 pound to someone here.

4) A Digital Hygrometer (I think you already have this).

I guarantee all of your humidity problems will be gone if you put one of these together.

[Arleban]

Sorry, I don't think I typed as clearly as I should have. As of right now I have a tupperdor in my basement at about 65 F or so and 67% humidity. That's cool, because that is what I wanted. My actual wooden humidor is in my computer room at around 75-78 F and 63 % humidity. The humidor with its little humidifier is the one with the mold.

My tupperdor is using the Ci-gel to humidify and it is working pretty well so far. I am definitely looking into the climaxx beads when the gel wears out. I guess right now I will take out the humidifier in the humidor and wipe it down like suggested with the 70% alcohol and just leave it alone until I get some climaxx beads to use. Do those wear down? How long do they last?

Further update: The 63% in the humidor was definitely too low. One of my cigars had a slight split in the wrapper!!

[SeanGAR]

In retrospect I'd use the hydrogen peroxide not alcohol to avoid bad smells, unless you are able to thoroughly remove the alocohol. Regular pharmacy peroxide will be perfect.

And ditto the Climax, that stuff is absolutely wonderful.

[Arleban]

Originally Posted by SeanGAR

In retrospect I'd use the hydrogen peroxide not alcohol to avoid bad smells, unless you are able to thoroughly remove the alocohol. Regular pharmacy peroxide will be perfect.

And ditto the Climax, that stuff is absolutely wonderful.

whoops. hydrogen peroxide, right. That is what I meant.