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Question about mold

Capn_Jackson

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Hello all.

This is my first post on BOTL besides my introductory post, and just know I welcome any and all suggestions. I ask a lot of questions so you’ll see my name pop up here and there pretty soon.

Just bought a new humidor for my NC cigars, which I’ll keep around 65%. It’s the traditional “landmark” 300-count (yeah, right) humi. Gonna use my current 50-100 count box for Habanos only, at 62%. Once or twice in the past, my RH in this box has gotten out of hand due to improper humidifying practices, and I’ve thrown away a handful of cigars over the years due to mold. It was only ever on one or two sticks, was only a couple of small spots, and I always checked every cigar afterward to ensure there wasn’t any more. Here’s the point: I’ve never rubbed the walls of the humi with alcohol, or done anything at all to the box itself after those sticks got a little moldy. I don’t see any sign of it on the cedar, and I’ve never given it a second thought. Now, though, since I’m going to use this humi for Bolivars and Montecristos, I’m having a bit of a moral struggle. Y’all think I should do anything to treat it first, or just say if it ain’t broke don’t fix it? I now use Boveda because I think it does the best job maintaining a consistent Rh. Last time I saw mold on a cigar it was months ago, and it was only a couple of spots. It could have even been plume, but don’t think so because I know the RH was high. The time before that was likely a year ago.

Thanks, and cheers!
Jackson
 
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If your buying Cubans you’re going to experience mold. Cigars are an organic product, it happen, wipe it off and you’re good Unless it’s on the foot, even then you can cut it back until you don’t see any more. as for the box itself the one time I had mold on the cedar itself I set it outside in the sunlight (uv rays) for a day, hasn’t been a problem since.
 

Capn_Jackson

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If your buying Cubans you’re going to experience mold. Cigars are an organic product, it happen, wipe it off and you’re good Unless it’s on the foot, even then you can cut it back until you don’t see any more. as for the box itself the one time I had mold on the cedar itself I set it outside in the sunlight (uv rays) for a day, hasn’t been a problem since.
Thanks for the input. The last cigar I found mold on was a Padron Family Reserve. I thought real hard about smoking it anyway, but didn’t do it. Never found any on the box itself.
 

Capn_Jackson

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As long as it’s just the white mold it’s no big deal, if it’s black, blue or green I’d go Ahead and toss it.
It was really hard to tell. If it had been white plume I’d smoke that thing with a glass of delicious bourbon and turn off the cell phone for two hours. It was potentially very light green, though. Didn’t want to chance it.
 

Rupe

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A couple of things I have learned over the years

- It’s ALWAYS mold (see link in previous post from @Thebutcher)
- “Plume” is just a term used by retailers to convince you that you should buy their moldy cigars.
- Green, White, black, red or whatever, color does not matter. Mold is mold.
- If there are just some spots on the wrapper you can generally wipe it off and smoke it. If it’s in the foot you should throw the cigar away.
- Mold shows up because of an excess of moisture and can happen over a wide range of temperatures. I have seen mold on basement walls at temperatures as low as 40*.
 

Capn_Jackson

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Thanks for all this info. However, the main concern I have is regarding my humidor. A few cigars have ended up with mold in the past. Few and far between, and only ever a few spots on a cigar. I’ve never done anything to “clean” the lining of my humidor, and am wondering if I need to do so or if it’s probably okay? After throwing away the one cigar that gets mold, I’ve always carefully checked the rest. Same cigars have been in there for two years or more, and the cases have been several months in between. So the mold never seems to spread in my environment. Nothing apparent on the lining or the tray.
 
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Only thing you can do is stay on top of a mold problem, maybe never eliminate it. I suggest you get into the habit of inspecting and cleaning your cigars and humidor.

The white filaments you see is mold in the "fruiting" stage. Spores are forming and being released.. If you can remove this visible stage of the lifecycle I'm pretty sure you can interrupt the reproductive cycle of the mold and will reduce the problem.
 

Rupe

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Thanks for all this info. However, the main concern I have is regarding my humidor. A few cigars have ended up with mold in the past. Few and far between, and only ever a few spots on a cigar. I’ve never done anything to “clean” the lining of my humidor, and am wondering if I need to do so or if it’s probably okay? After throwing away the one cigar that gets mold, I’ve always carefully checked the rest. Same cigars have been in there for two years or more, and the cases have been several months in between. So the mold never seems to spread in my environment. Nothing apparent on the lining or the tray.
I had mold show up a couple of times when I used to keep my cigars at 70/70 and both times I removed everything and did a quick wipe of the insides of the humidor with rubbing alcohol. Since alcohol evaporates pretty quickly, it does not leave any lingering smell and I figured there was a pretty good chance it killed any stray mold spores that were hanging around. I have been keeping them at 65/65 for several years now and have not had any recurring issues.

I'm not sure if the alcohol wipe was the reason for the mold issues going away (guessing it's probably the lower humidity I keep them at now) but figured it certainly didn't hurt.
 
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I'm not sure if the alcohol wipe was the reason for the mold issues going away (guessing it's probably the lower humidity I keep them at now) but figured it certainly didn't hurt.
I always used alcohol when I came across a bit of mold. Then I read an article (don't remember where) that said mold is not affected by alcohol and it gave the scientific reason, something about not being water-based. So the conclusion was that wiping with water or alcohol will wipe it away but alcohol will not kill spores.
 
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Water and alcohol are both solvents so what you may be doing is cleaning the area the mold is growing on. What I like about a light sanding is that it removes any mold residue (spores) and what the mold is feeding on. Proper humidity and temperature is the best long term solution IMHO.
 
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