I've got f$&*$*ng mold in the humi!!

Heavy

When I opened the humi to dig around tonight I smelled a faint musty-ness. Long story short - I flipped my tray over and found a few spots of white fluffy mold on the bottom of it. I have a Monticristo humi stick (which i guess is like most other humi-gels) and the mold was directly underneath the part of the tray where I keep it.

I pulled the tray out and am going to wipe it down with white vinegar and let it air out for several days then re-season.

So my 2 questions to my BOTLs are: 1. Do I need to pull all my sticks out and treat the entire humi (I'm guessing so because of possible invisible mold spores?)
2. Do you think I need to do anything to my sticks? It doesn't look like any of them have been affected (i.e. there is no visible mold on any of them) and most are in their celo.

I think I caught this fairly early but the thought of ruining my sticks freaks me out!

laker1963

Heavy:

When I opened the humi to dig around tonight I smelled a faint musty-ness. Long story short - I flipped my tray over and found a few spots of white fluffy mold on the bottom of it. I have a Monticristo humi stick (which i guess is like most other humi-gels) and the mold was directly underneath the part of the tray where I keep it.

I pulled the tray out and am going to wipe it down with white vinegar and let it air out for several days then re-season.

So my 2 questions to my BOTLs are: 1. Do I need to pull all my sticks out and treat the entire humi (I'm guessing so because of possible invisible mold spores?)
2. Do you think I need to do anything to my sticks? It doesn't look like any of them have been affected (i.e. there is no visible mold on any of them) and most are in their celo.

I think I caught this fairly early but the thought of ruining my sticks freaks me out!

To be safe yes you need to pull the sticks and clean the whole humi. Molds spreads by spores and can be everywhere inside your huni if you can see it.

If it was me... I would probably remove the cello. Only because I would be afraid they may also have become contaminated. I usually only remove cellos from sticks in the aging humi, because of the protection they provide, but in this case I would make an exception, if only for peace of mind.

Heavy

Do you think i could just wipe down the celo on each stick? I know the celo is porous, but don't know if it's porous enough that the mold spores could take hold.

laker1963

Heavy:

Do you think i could just wipe down the celo on each stick? I know the celo is porous, but don't know if it's porous enough that the mold spores could take hold.

Yeah, that I don't know. I guess you could do a sniff test of them, BUT... if they are contaminated, and being (like you said, porous) how long before the sticks take on that taste and are ruined? It's a gamble, you will ultimately have to decide bro'.

Lasabar

Sorry to hear that... Hopefully you noticed it right as it was happening and you caught it in time!

Smokeee

^^makes mad dash to go check humi^^
Hope you caught it in time and no sticks get harmed. Poor little fellas!

Nick2021

Sorry to hear that, only experience with mold I have is the Camacho Liberty I received and I simply ended up smoking it right away....I am curious now about my humidor though based on what you said...

Krieg

Sounds like you caught it pretty early, thankfully. I would def take out your cigars and wipe down your humi and reseason. The cigars without cello, I would probably get rid of, just to be safe.

t_evan50

Smokeee:

^^makes mad dash to go check humi^^
Hope you caught it in time and no sticks get harmed. Poor little fellas!

+1 Hope you get everything straightened out ok.

phobicsquirrel

laker1963:

Heavy:

Do you think i could just wipe down the celo on each stick? I know the celo is porous, but don't know if it's porous enough that the mold spores could take hold.

Yeah, that I don't know. I guess you could do a sniff test of them, BUT... if they are contaminated, and being (like you said, porous) how long before the sticks take on that taste and are ruined? It's a gamble, you will ultimately have to decide bro'.

I'm no expert but I've had a couple of sticks that had mold on them while being stored (liberty 08's, GOF don carlos, ashton vsg). Now with the liberty's they were all sealed in their coffins, and the one's that weren't part of the box and that were in my humi also had a few small spots on them. I have no idea why this was or how it happened and why only them. I wiped them all down, tossed their coffins and put them in baggies in my coolerdor.
After a few months not one spot. I did the same with my don carlos GOF, I took them out of their boxs and tubes then put them in baggies. The VSG's I removed all from the box they were in, put most of them in cello (hard to find cello to fit the wizards) and put them back in the box and the extras I couldn't fit back in I put in baggies. All of the sticks are find now. I have no idea what caused this to happen and why only these sticks.... maybe the wrapper? on a side note, the GOF"s were in the same coolerdor as the carilto GOF's and they were both tubo's, however the carlito's are just fine.
But heavy,
Laker is right on taking everything out of the humi, wipe it down and let is sit open for like a month to completely air out and dry. Then you re-season it. I had my 30 count do this way back when I used a sponge. I had mold growing in many places. I wiped it out, let is sit for over a month open and then I re-seasoned it. Now I put all my infused gurkha's in there and it's been fine now for over 3 years.

BTW this experience is why if I ever get the means to stock up on my favorite smokes I will always open the box to have the accessible to inspect. Even in perfect RH levels and moderate temps some sticks have got mold on them. I have no idea but two of them happen to be cigars that I would like to stock up on.

Lasabar

Also... Mold sucks, and can get out of control, but most people say whether they were exposed to Mold or HAD it on them you can just brush it off and smoke it...

I wouldn't age them anymore or let them sit for months at a time, but after your humi is cleaned and dried and re-seasoned, maybe keep the affected cigars (which actually had mold on them) and keep them in a separate baggie, but don't throw them out, just SMOKE!

Nick2021

phobicsquirrel:

laker1963:

Heavy:

Do you think i could just wipe down the celo on each stick? I know the celo is porous, but don't know if it's porous enough that the mold spores could take hold.

Yeah, that I don't know. I guess you could do a sniff test of them, BUT... if they are contaminated, and being (like you said, porous) how long before the sticks take on that taste and are ruined? It's a gamble, you will ultimately have to decide bro'.

I'm no expert but I've had a couple of sticks that had mold on them while being stored (liberty 08's, GOF don carlos, ashton vsg). Now with the liberty's they were all sealed in their coffins, and the one's that weren't part of the box and that were in my humi also had a few small spots on them. I have no idea why this was or how it happened and why only them. I wiped them all down, tossed their coffins and put them in baggies in my coolerdor.
After a few months not one spot. I did the same with my don carlos GOF, I took them out of their boxs and tubes then put them in baggies. The VSG's I removed all from the box they were in, put most of them in cello (hard to find cello to fit the wizards) and put them back in the box and the extras I couldn't fit back in I put in baggies. All of the sticks are find now. I have no idea what caused this to happen and why only these sticks.... maybe the wrapper? on a side note, the GOF"s were in the same coolerdor as the carilto GOF's and they were both tubo's, however the carlito's are just fine.
But heavy,
Laker is right on taking everything out of the humi, wipe it down and let is sit open for like a month to completely air out and dry. Then you re-season it. I had my 30 count do this way back when I used a sponge. I had mold growing in many places. I wiped it out, let is sit for over a month open and then I re-seasoned it. Now I put all my infused gurkha's in there and it's been fine now for over 3 years.

BTW this experience is why if I ever get the means to stock up on my favorite smokes I will always open the box to have the accessible to inspect. Even in perfect RH levels and moderate temps some sticks have got mold on them. I have no idea but two of them happen to be cigars that I would like to stock up on.

I heard from somebody here that the Liberties had a lot of oil, which contributed to the mold issues (can't remember the exact explanation but it was something to that effect). I heard a lot of people have experienced mold issues with the liberties...mine was also in a sealed coffin and when I called to complain the company didn't believe me and took 3 days to investigate their warehouse. They came back and told me they didn't find any mold on the other liberties, but sent me a replacement anyways.

Heavy

Thanks for all of the replys guys. I've been too busy lately to really deal with this much less post about it. Anyway, I pulled all my sticks and NONE of them have any visible mold on them. Like I said there was just a tiny bit on the bottom of my upper tray - it's white and fluffy, no green or black stuff. So I think I caught this early and i don't think this is going to be disasterous (at least i hope). I'm going to just wipe down all my sticks and keep them in a tuppadore while i deal with the humi. I think they'll be OK i just want to make sure there are no invisible spores that may cause this to happen again.

I know I've seen people suggest either a vinegar solution or a mild bleach solution. I think I'm going with the vinegar. Thoughts on either?

Also, I have a picture that I'll post if I can ever figure out how to post it from shutterfly.

Thanks again for all the replys. You guys really are cool as $hit!

phobicsquirrel

Nick2021:

phobicsquirrel:

laker1963:

Heavy:

Do you think i could just wipe down the celo on each stick? I know the celo is porous, but don't know if it's porous enough that the mold spores could take hold.

Yeah, that I don't know. I guess you could do a sniff test of them, BUT... if they are contaminated, and being (like you said, porous) how long before the sticks take on that taste and are ruined? It's a gamble, you will ultimately have to decide bro'.

I'm no expert but I've had a couple of sticks that had mold on them while being stored (liberty 08's, GOF don carlos, ashton vsg). Now with the liberty's they were all sealed in their coffins, and the one's that weren't part of the box and that were in my humi also had a few small spots on them. I have no idea why this was or how it happened and why only them. I wiped them all down, tossed their coffins and put them in baggies in my coolerdor.
After a few months not one spot. I did the same with my don carlos GOF, I took them out of their boxs and tubes then put them in baggies. The VSG's I removed all from the box they were in, put most of them in cello (hard to find cello to fit the wizards) and put them back in the box and the extras I couldn't fit back in I put in baggies. All of the sticks are find now. I have no idea what caused this to happen and why only these sticks.... maybe the wrapper? on a side note, the GOF"s were in the same coolerdor as the carilto GOF's and they were both tubo's, however the carlito's are just fine.
But heavy,
Laker is right on taking everything out of the humi, wipe it down and let is sit open for like a month to completely air out and dry. Then you re-season it. I had my 30 count do this way back when I used a sponge. I had mold growing in many places. I wiped it out, let is sit for over a month open and then I re-seasoned it. Now I put all my infused gurkha's in there and it's been fine now for over 3 years.

BTW this experience is why if I ever get the means to stock up on my favorite smokes I will always open the box to have the accessible to inspect. Even in perfect RH levels and moderate temps some sticks have got mold on them. I have no idea but two of them happen to be cigars that I would like to stock up on.

I heard from somebody here that the Liberties had a lot of oil, which contributed to the mold issues (can't remember the exact explanation but it was something to that effect). I heard a lot of people have experienced mold issues with the liberties...mine was also in a sealed coffin and when I called to complain the company didn't believe me and took 3 days to investigate their warehouse. They came back and told me they didn't find any mold on the other liberties, but sent me a replacement anyways.

cool, thanks for the inside info.

phobicsquirrel

Lasabar:

Also... Mold sucks, and can get out of control, but most people say whether they were exposed to Mold or HAD it on them you can just brush it off and smoke it...

I wouldn't age them anymore or let them sit for months at a time, but after your humi is cleaned and dried and re-seasoned, maybe keep the affected cigars (which actually had mold on them) and keep them in a separate baggie, but don't throw them out, just SMOKE!

yeah, I've had a few of the smokes I cleaned off and they were just fine. However I've heard that if it gets on the filler and stuff might want to throw it out.

Lasabar

phobicsquirrel:

Lasabar:

Also... Mold sucks, and can get out of control, but most people say whether they were exposed to Mold or HAD it on them you can just brush it off and smoke it...

I wouldn't age them anymore or let them sit for months at a time, but after your humi is cleaned and dried and re-seasoned, maybe keep the affected cigars (which actually had mold on them) and keep them in a separate baggie, but don't throw them out, just SMOKE!

yeah, I've had a few of the smokes I cleaned off and they were just fine. However I've heard that if it gets on the filler and stuff might want to throw it out.

1. I don't think anyone can discern when this happens unless they open up the cigar
2. If you don't keep an eye on your Humi enough to catch Mold Early, well then, you deserve it! HA!

rwheelwright

So, how do you guys clean it? My dome has mold on the lid and one of the trays. All the cigars are in cello, at least the ones in that tray. I have a LOT of cigars in there. I'll have to find a place to put all of them. And no, I will not be sending them to anybody to "Hold On To" for me. :-)

Krieg

rwheelwright:

So, how do you guys clean it? My dome has mold on the lid and one of the trays. All the cigars are in cello, at least the ones in that tray. I have a LOT of cigars in there. I'll have to find a place to put all of them. And no, I will not be sending them to anybody to "Hold On To" for me. :-)

I'd wipe it down it vinegar/water solution and let it air out completely. then reseason, just hope u didn't get any on your sticks.

rwheelwright

Thanks for the info. I wiped it down twice including both pull out trays. It's weird because one tray had mold and the other didn't. It seems that it was only on the right side of the humidor. When I was wiping it with my finger it looked more like wipin gup a spider web by the way it spread and not mold but either way I wiped it down. Now, my new question is: does freezing have anythig to do with mold prevention? I froze a lot of my sticks that were in that tray and a few that were below it. I did have 3 cigars not in Cello and they had mold previously but I just wiped it off. Maybe this is where my mold problem started. Because of these three sticks. I'm gonna smoke them soon but I wanted to see if freezing would make a difference.