How to Stop Mold returning

[jdizzle113]

I used to use a Daniel Marshall humidor which was great.  Nil issues with that.  Until a crazy girlfriend (now ex) decided to pick it up and throw it against the wall.  massive crack down the walnut finish, still functional but looks terrible now.

I decided to buy one of these http://www.boutiqueeliebleu.com/110-cigars-ebony-dragon-2-167.htm - thought they looked pretty nice and one of the selling points is when you drop the lid with won't slam shut because it's so airtight an air cushion forms when you suddenly drop the lid.  The thing is almost hermetically sealed.  This is where I think lies the problem - no air circulates into it at all.  

My setup is that I used 65% humidity beads.  (forgotten the brand but can find out).  one day after a trip a few weeks away I was shocked to see my entire collection had become mouldy.  I salvaged the ones I could (from some online guides) and the ones where the foot/base was contaminated I had to destroy.  

I was vigilant when I reloaded it.  But it happened again in a few months.  I've now destroyed all the cigars that were in there as I think they may have been the source.

My concern now is that there are still mold spores in the walls of the humidor itself and probably the beads (which I will replace).  

After the first contamination I took the advice of wiping down the inside of the humidor with isopropyl alcohol, letting it dry, then re conditioning it.  This obviously did't work.  

Wanted to know if you guys have any advice on how to treat a humidor that's been infested with mold?  does it need to be sanded, or chemicals used?

[PigFish]

I am no mold expert. Yet I understand that mold spores are constantly around us. They are soldiers of fortune. What they need typically is a food source and capillary water. Since the cigar is food, you are not likely going to remove the food!!! The key is the control of water via a high ErH environment.

I don't think that you really need to worry about removal of or killing the spores. This is just my opinion. You could of course use a hair dryer or heat gun and attempt to kill them with heat. This could of course warp or crack your wood humidor! I understand that heat between 130 to 150 will kill most mold, given the correct time exposure which depends on the mold. Opening the humidor to sunlight and heat of a hot day may be a solution, but as mold is ever-present, you may just expose to more mold as you cure!

Take a key out of the life of mold and reduce your rH. Controlling rH is really your long term solution. That as well as finding a lesser "affected" girl friend should help out your problems...

The mold travels in your air and on your cigars. It is always a threat if you feed and water it. Don't season your wood humidor! This gives it the water it needs to start growing.

Cheers! -Piggy

[Fugu]

Spot on, absolutely correct and nothing to add to what Piggy sais. You'll never be able to "remove" the fungal spores from your storage, perhaps you may be able to reduce germ count a bit, but that's virtually irrelevant. We can't - and we don't need to - keep our cigars aseptic. Spores are everywhere and in particular on your sticks. I guess, you won't want to autoclave them....

The only way to avoid mould growth is making the environment unfavourable for it to grow.

[jdizzle113]

thanks for the replies guys.  I'll try to maybe switch out the beads and keep the humidity lower (maybe even around 60%).  

Your suggestion about heat sounds good piggy - I have some UV lights - maybe I should shine those on the interior for a few hours.  

It's a great looking humidor - it'd be a shame not to use it - I guess I just gotta keep the rH down.  

And as for the advice about the "affected" girlfriend piggy - spot on ;-) now doing speciality training in psychiatry and can spot the personality disorders a mile away - and always run! ;-)  

[jdizzle113]

I decided to go with these products for humidity control:

http://www.bovedainc.com/solutions/tobacco/tobacco-faq/

bit expensive - but you don't even need to add water or do anything - just replace once it goes hard.  hopefully the strong seal of the humidor will work in my favour in this case.

as for treating any residual mold in the humidor I'm cautious considering the option of a wipe down with isopropyl alcohol as recommended by:

https://www.famous-smoke.com/cigaradvisor/how-to-remove-mold-from-your-humidor

http://www.cigarbasics101.com/humidor-basics-101/mold-humidor/

http://www.cigarinspector.com/cigar-tips/how-to-deal-with-mold-on-cigars-and-in-the-humidor

I'm aware the alcohol could potentially damage the cedar so I'd have to be careful.  I don't think I'll sand with 150grit sand paper as the 1st article suggests.

 

 

 

[BBS]

I was given this advice from a friend that knows of such things;

".....most likely these were exposed to the mold before you received them. A lot of stores over-humidify their cigars, and if you get any cigars in the tubes, check them periodically. The spores when starting out are very small and you cannot tell there is mold there... Then it slowly grows in the "perfect" environment (or pretty much any environment)...
 
I use nano-silver mixed with my distilled water, and this eliminates any possibility of contracting mold, and keeps the spores from spreading if there is mold introduced to the environment. It is odorless and tasteless, as well as non-toxic...

This will work, 2 ounces per gallon of distilled water. I use it with my aristocrats and my set it and forget it systems, as well as my beads. If I see any mold on recently purchased cigars, I used the same solution to gently wipe down the cigar, it kills any trace of mold..."

Here's the product he recommended:

https://www.amazon.com/Nano-Silver-Colloidal-Ounces-Market/dp/B00DQIEDWY

I've been doing this for a couple years in my Aristocrat, and I can't tell any difference in the cigars whatsoever.  There is no, none, zip, nada, no mold anywhere.  Even on the wrappers of the highly mold susceptible Fuente Anejos, the absolute worst cigar for mold I've ever seen.  I have a couple aged boxes that had tiny spots in the past, gave the wrappers a gentle wipe with this solution, dry boxed them all for a couple days, back in the humidor, no problems since.

As they say, one man's opinion......

[jdizzle113]

thought I'd post some photos in case anyone is interested in what a mouldy humidor looks like.  

[luv2fly]

As stated previously, mold needs food (organic material) and water to grow and thrive just like us.  

We have this problem where I live in our crawl spaces.  High humidity in the summer and wood flooring and joists.  Control the humidity and one component is cut out (condensation).  Been in crawl spaces where it was "raining" from the insulation and ductwork.  Don't see it on the wood since it absorbs the condensation quickly.  We control the humidity in the summer and mold growth does not return.  Of course it is dependent on the temp as well since it is always colder there especially if the ductwork is in the crawl space.

Mold spores are everywhere, can't get away from them.  

Wipe off the visible mold growth and reduce humidity.  Works in crawl spaces so it should work in the humidor.  

 

[jdizzle113]

thanks for all the helpful replies guys.  

I ended up wiping down the whole interior with lint free cloths absolutely soaked in 99.8% isopropyl alcohol.  it has removed the mould and the alcohol dried off very quickly.  I'm waiting for the residual smell of the alcohol to go completely (almost gone) - will then put some dishes of baking soda in there to soak up any remaining residual smell I can't detect.  

you're absolutely right that mould spores are ubiquitious (which is why I guess the bread always goes mouldy) and it's about the right conditions.  I think what happened is I wasn't very vigilant with the humidor and there was a week here where it was high humidity and high temps - which is perfect conditions for mould growth.  Unfortunately the humidity control system I was using (cigar pucks) couldn't keep up with absorbing the excess humidity. 

I've now bought some bovedainc humidity control packs which are supposed to be much better at absorbing excess humidity.  

After the alcohol treatment I'm sure my humidor is bone dry - but instead of wiping it down with distilled water I bought some conditioning packs (80% humidity) from bovedainc - you're supposed to leave it in there a few days with the humidor empty - hopefully it will allow the humidor to be conditioned in a gentle manner.  then I have the 65% humidity packs for cigar storage. 

I decided not to go with the "nuclear" option that many youtube videos suggest of sanding down the inside of the humidor with a fine grit - since the spores are always gonna be there there's not much benefit to it I think

I'll keep you guys updated on how it goes.  

[Fugu]

3 hours ago, jdizzle113 said:

After the alcohol treatment I'm sure my humidor is bone dry - but instead of wiping it down with distilled water I bought some conditioning packs (80% humidity) from bovedainc - you're supposed to leave it in there a few days with the humidor empty

Would suggest you just skip that step. Don't "condition" your humidor again with such a high humi-pack. Your humidor will be far from being bone dry right now. I guess in Sydney spring, you will currently be facing already rather humid conditons (?). Your humidor will be equilibrated to +/- the ambient. Just directly put in your packs with the desired target humidity, wait some days for stabilization and refill with your sticks.

3 hours ago, jdizzle113 said:

I decided not to go with the "nuclear" option that many youtube videos suggest of sanding down the inside of the humidor with a fine grit - since the spores are always gonna be there there's not much benefit to it I think

Good decision on that one! It's useless.