Ruined Humidor?

maimer12 · December 2009

So I look in one of my humidors the other week. Apparently I neglected it too long. Out of town, etc. The sponge was covered in mold, stuck to the bottom. Yeah I'm pissed at myself. Only lost a few cigars though. I have never seen so much mold in a humidor. It actually went through the bottom panel of the humidor. What the hell??!!. I cleaned it off best I could and then used a bleach cleaner spray to help kill it all the way through. I treated it many times and pretty sure I killed it all. Dried it out for weeks. I can't smell chemicals. The question I have is: did I ruin my humidor for any future cigar holdings and is it now just a mantelpiece? --Maimer12

ejenne87 · December 2009

I don't know what the rest of the guys here will think but I know that I would never use that humi again unfortunately. Hopefully you didn't spend a lot on this one and you can get a new one, maybe even a bigger one, and be alright.

phobicsquirrel · December 2009

I had a humi that had mold in it due to a sponge and I still use it for my gurkha reserves. Never had an issue with it since. Though i now use beads. I'm not saying you should use it again, just in my case it worked out.

Goldy · December 2009

I would season it back up to RH and see if its doing well. After a few weeks/month check for mold and if it comes back I would toss it. If not then I think you should be ok.

bacon.jay · December 2009

j0z3r · December 2009

Before you do anything with it, mix up a solution of 5 parts warm water, distilled if you like, and one part white vinegar, then wipe down the entire humidor with the mix and let it air dry, maybe even wipe it down a second time to be safe. The vinegar will kill any remaining mold and evaporate without leaving a smell. Then follow the advice given above.

bforrester · December 2009

Probably wouldn't hurt to throw in a bowl of baking soda for a day or two to help absorb odors from the bleach as well.

j0z3r · December 2009

Krieg · December 2009

I agree, reseason and get some beads. I never use foam anymore. If the mold comes back, then toss it.

jihiggs · December 2009

just to be safe I would sand it out a bit, before reseasoning. in the future, use vinegar to clean mold.

clearlysuspect · December 2009

Heavy · December 2009

I had some mold problems as well when I was first starting out with my humi, but I managed to salvage everything. One question - what did the mold look like? Was if full blown black and green nasty stuff, or just the early stages with the white mold?