Expert: James Yee - 7/19/2008

Question
Hi
Have white mould forming on my cigars on the top insert of my humidor.
I have all Cuban cigars and we are at sea. Should i do more to protect the
humibor??

Answer
Hi Derek,

The first thing you need to do is remove all your cigars from your humidor and put them in plastic Tupperware containers.  Put all the cigars that have mold into a separate Tupperware container for now. Next, take a vacuum cleaner (with a soft bristle attachment) and vacuum the mold inside your humidor.  Make sure you vacuum your entire humidor thoroughly to remove as much mold as possible.  After your humidor has been vacuumed, delicately wipe your humidor interior with Isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol).  Don't use too much alcohol.  A little is enough and you just want to slightly moisten the wood but not saturate it with alcohol.  The alcohol will prevent mold from reforming.  The humidor is now clean but may need to be re-seasoned.  (If you need seasoning instructions, please search my question archive or just ask and I'll give you step-by-step instructions.)

To save your moldy cigars, delicately wipe the mold off them with a paper towel moistened with distilled water.  Try to remove as much mold as possible without damaging the cigar(s).  Next, delicately re-wipe the cigars with a tiny bit of isopropyl alcohol.  This will kill off any remaining mold spores.  Delicately re-wipe the cigars again with distilled water (to dilute and remove the alcohol) and the cigars are now clean.  If the cigar mold has moved to the open foot of a cigar, it's best to throw that cigar away as it is hard to completely purge all the mold from the visible layers of tobacco at the cigar foot.  If you don't kill all the mold, it will have a chance to reappear.

Next, keep all your cigars in the Tupperware containers (with closed lids) and put them in the refrigerator.  Let them sit in your refrigerator for at least 1 week.  This is done to see if any residual mold will reappear.  By putting them in the refrigerator, we are giving the mold a chance to appear but slowing down their growth so it does not spread quickly.  If any mold reappears, clean the cigars again.  After this test, your cigars will need some time in your humidor to re-humidify before you smoke them.

Cigar mold forms in humidors when the humidor's humidity is 75% or greater.  Check the humidity level in your humidor.  If the humidity is higher than 74%, you should add a 50/50 mixture of Propylene Glycol and 100% distilled water.  This mixture will lower your humidity to 70% which is the ideal humidity level for cigars.  Propylene Glycol can last a long time in a humidor (on average 2 years) so you only need to add this mixture just once and afterwards, add distilled water when needed.

Also, humidors tend to become more humid during hot summer months so it's best that you relocate your humidor to a cooler room such as a basement.  Also avoid keeping your humidor near a window or source of lighting such as sunlight or hot desk lamps.

Hope this answers your question. If you have any more questions, please feel free to just ask and I will be happy to help.

Regards,
James