Crystalline structure on outside of box


CigarNerd

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Hello,

I'm aging cigars in their boxes for about 10 years and on many of those boxes I can see a crystalline structure which is 100% not mold since it is very hard and next to impossible to remove. It feels like a solid blob of minerals. On painted wood-boxes these minerals appear on the stickers.
The cigars look perfect, none of these minerals can be observered on them.
I kept those boxes in a large plastic box with extra sealing to be 100% sure they are airtight. At the beginning I put 65% Bovedas into those large platstic boxes until I was sure I have reached 65% equilibrium, have removed the Bovedas since then and placed a Hygrometer inside the plastic box just to be sure. So there is no source of water inside the box and the moisture is not going anywhere.

Is anybody experiencing the same stuff or has any clue what the hell this might be?

 

This is one my large plastic boxes:

image.jpeg.2a7f8f26e10d09761caaa64014726ea3.jpeg

 

Funny case are these 2 boxes which were placed in the large plastic box at the very same time. One has this minerals, the other not.

image.jpeg.cc5861eb081642e2f0fdc6f4404f4157.jpeg

image.jpeg.8369cfba86407ce40b93ffc9496681fd.jpeg

image.jpeg.3001f9c985cd27ee6a802550b84e960f.jpeg

image.jpeg.cbd23b658aba1aeb587745776ffe00db.jpeg

image.jpeg.9bdfc5b0facda699bff56071425c539d.jpeg

image.jpeg.4d368dc531c3a0fee959574261d99faf.jpeg

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I think it must be somehting like that, because sometimes I see it emerges out of the individual layers of the glued wood layers:


image.jpeg.657f4aa157aa4739bb79f7b24502d439.jpeg

image.jpeg.c4722b5361dcd826951afb4fbecfeeff.jpeg

image.jpeg.c3d0431e5181d349d0a949f43cd0b791.jpeg

What I don't get is why I do see that stuff on like 70-80% of my boxes, but so far I could only find another guy from germany with this stuff on one box. And he is not using plastic containers.

 

 

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      Reaction of the glue off gassing and another unknown chemical that crystallizes it before it can move away as a gas?   Possible the chemical is not confined to just being in plastic bins. Only a guess but based upon location and painted boxes not having it I think it may be hitting close to the actual cause.  
 

      Considering the extra steps you are taking to completely seal the box I assume the minimal to zero air movement is also part of this.   In a very stable temperature with zero sun or changes and I see the conditions in your box being well designed to create crystals in the air if conditions are met as compared to a “leakier” box that may have some air movement due to convection and air leaks. 

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  • 4 weeks later...

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