Will my cigars be affected?

ndhaon91

I've been having issues keeping the humidity up in my glass top humidor, and I suspected it was because of a poor seal between the glass and the wood in the lid.

I picked up some clear caulking and lined the inside of lid, creating a seal between glass and wood. This was definitely the issue, as the humidity immediately returned to normal after a few minutes with the lid closed.

The problem now is that the caulking is giving off some potent fumes. I'm worried about it affecting the cigars. For now, I've taken all the cigars out and I'm hoping the fumes dissipate as the caulking dries a little more. In retrospect, I should have just sealed the outside of the lid, but I was trying to preserve appearance.

Once this dries, if there is still a little residual odor, do you think it will affect the cigars?

kuzi16

for your sake, i hope not.
it may.
the general rule of thumb is if you can smell it, your cigaras can smell it.

kaspera79

I would not keep my cigars in the humidor with any chemical smells in it. The cigars will pick up the fragrance of the container which will most likely translate into a negative taste.

ndhaon91

Kind of what I figured. Well, I'll hope the smell disappears as it dries. If not, it looks like it's time to upgrade.

ScottU

I will third the opinion of yes. The first humidor I bought had a seal issue, so I used scotch tape around the top lip. Just the slightest smell of the tape affected my cigars, especially the ones that had the feet touching the tape.

The Sniper

If you still have odors in the humi after the caulking sets up, you can try this - loosely crumple up some newspaper & fill the humi up with it. Newspapers are EXCELLENT odor absorbers, and if you leave the newspaper in there for two or three days, it may neutralize the stank.

You may have to do this two or three times. It may not work at all. But its worth a shot IMHO - better than trashing the humidor, right? :-)

letsgowithbob

Until the sealant dries, I would put saran wrap between the two. So the top would be in its own compartment, and the cigars would be in their own compartment. Thats just what I would do. Good luck. And for future reference always use aquarium caulk, it's odorless, and the chemicals are edible

jlmarta

You can also place an open box of baking soda inside and leave it for as long as it takes. I had to do this when I mistakenly used epoxy-based paint on shelves I made for my coolidor. After trying all the other suggestions without success, this worked. And I left my sticks in there without doing them any harm.

Marty

ndhaon91

Thanks for all the awesome suggestions, guys. I feel much better now. I'll start with the newspaper and baking soda to get as much smell out as possible, and then just plan to keep a saran wrap layer between the lid and the cigars. Perfect.