Expert: James Yee - 9/24/2008

Question
Hello-

A couple of weeks ago I noticed mold on a few of my cigars and in my humidor. I did some research on how to get rid of it and followed the steps. I first wiped off all my cigars with paper towels and a bit of distilled water. After that, I separated the infected ones from the non infected ones and put them all in the fridge for a few days. After being in the fridge for a few days, I then took them out and left them sitting at room temperature for about 2 days or so. (There has been no signs of mold re-appearance at this time.)

With the humidor, I wiped it down very carefully (all compartments) and then used alcohol to wipe it all down. I left the lid open for a couple of days to get the smell out and then re-seasoned my humidor. I re-seasoned it by placing a cup of distilled water in there for about 5 days or so. Eventually, my digital hygrometer read anywhere from 70-73 and stayed at this level for about two days.  I was about to put the cigars back into the humidor when I checked the tray and noticed a bit of mold re-appearing in the same spot as before.

I am shocked to see it reappear so quickly after cleaning it. It literally has been just about a week and it already is coming back?? My question is what can I do now? Is the humidor completely ruined, or is it still salvageable?

I apologize for the long post but would appreciate any help you can give me on this. I thank you so much for your time and look forward to your response.

Thank you,
Rob

Answer
Hi Rob,

Good news, it's possible to save your humidor.  Because mold reappeared in the exact spot as before, it's very possible that you may have missed some residual mold spores embedded in the porous Spanish cedar when you were sterilizing it.  This is not an uncommon problem as it can sometimes be tricky to fully eliminate mold from a humidor and one mold spore is more than enough to cause mold to relapse.  Try cleaning the humidor tray again but use a bit more rubbing alcohol and hopefully all the mold particles will be eliminated.  (To make things easier, what you can also do is let your humidor dry out for a week and then vacuum it using a strong vacuum cleaner and a soft-bristle attachment.  By letting the humidor dry out first, it will be easier to pick up the mold particles.  After vacuuming, sterilize the humidor with alcohol and then re-season as you normally would.)

Also, be sure to make sure your humidity level does exceed 74% - even during the seasoning process - as this can cause mold to reform.  To make sure the humidity doesn't rise too much, you can add a one-time dosage of 50% propylene glycol and 50% distilled water to your humidification device and this should balance the humidity at 70% and prevent it from rising.

Hopes 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