Humidor Calamity

Greetings,

I was setting up my humidor, and spilled a shot glass worth of distilled water in the bottom. It pooled and I paniced. I grabed some tissues that were handy to mop it up as I yelled for paper towels. I got it all up quickly but to my horror I found out that tissues were the "puffs plus" brand (not the ones with vicks vapor rub though). Among the most worrisome ingredients were mineral oil and aloe. How screwed am I? This was not an expensive humidor but I don't want my cigars smelling funky as I plan to ages some in it. Any help or thoughts would be appreciated.

You'll be fine. Just wipe up again with (regular) towel moistened with water. Can you smell anything?

baldheadracing said:

You'll be fine. Just wipe up again with (regular) towel moistened with water. Can you smell anything?

Click to expand...

No, only the cedar smell.

tiki09 said:

baldheadracing said:

You'll be fine. Just wipe up again with (regular) towel moistened with water. Can you smell anything?

Click to expand...

No, only the cedar smell.

Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure that you're good to go :thumbs:. The micro-capsules (for lack of a better term) of lotion in the tissue break open with pressure. As you were mopping up water, it is unlikely that you were smooshing (another technical term :blush: ) and grinding the tissue into the veneer and releasing a lot of the lotion.

So, no calamity!

baldheadracing said:

tiki09 said:

baldheadracing said:

You'll be fine. Just wipe up again with (regular) towel moistened with water. Can you smell anything?

Click to expand...

No, only the cedar smell.

Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure that you're good to go :thumbs:. The micro-capsules (for lack of a better term) of lotion in the tissue break open with pressure. As you were mopping up water, it is unlikely that you were smooshing (another technical term :blush: ) and grinding the tissue into the veneer and releasing a lot of the lotion.

So, no calamity!

Click to expand...

After some unscientific tests and some gentle wiping I'm pronouncing this humidor saved. Thank you so much!

Just to give you some advice from personal experience. I did the same thing about a month ago with an old humidor that I was reseasoning. When I realized the water had spilt I put a dry rag inside the humidor and closed the lid to the humi. I let the rag soak up the water overnight without opening the humidor. Once the "pooled" water was dried up I put some dry cedar wood in the humi to soak up some of the extra humidity (you could also use dry beads if you have them.) I wanted to avoid quickly taking out excess humidity as I was afraid that would increase the potential for the wood to warp. I left the cedar in there without my humidification device for about 3 days, took them out, and continued on with the seasoning process. The spilt water happened on day 3 (I believe) of seasoning, and all together it took about 16 days to get to a comfortable RH. The biggest piece of advice I can give is to NOT dry out your humidor quickly because the wood will shrink and then expand quickly which could possibly cause the wood to warp. This is a link to the original thread I posted on this topic with some great advice from fellow BOTL's.