Freezerdor project begins today.

Hi everyone. I live in a very old farmhouse with an unfinished cellar. In the back corner of this cellar are two 1960s era freezers. They are too large to remove (I have no idea how they got in here, to be honest), and I have no idea whether they work (I think the home inspector said that they do, but they're so old and inefficient it would be silly to use them).

Anyway, I have been eyeballing them ever since I got into cigars not too long ago. I think you know where this is going.

They are both relatively clean, but have been closed a long time. The air in them is very stale. There is mold on all the rubber seals. Today I chose one of them and began the project. I made up a bleach solution and wiped/scrubbed down the entire interior surface with it to kill the mold. Then I set a fan on it to air-dry.

Next step will be a repeat of the above, but with dish liquid.

Then I plan to install a bunch of Spanish cedar panels on the interior walls with velcro, and lay more on each shelf. Then I plan to put in a Cigar Oasis XL to maintain humidity, and a remote sensor so I can monitor the RH and temp without opening it too often.

Any thoughts? Pics to come soon.

Sounds like a great project. As long as the seal is good and there is no remaining odor I can't see why it wouldn't work. Looking forward to seeing some pictures.

I was wondering about the seal.... with an active humidification system such as the Cigar Oasis XL, would it matter very much if the seal was less than perfect?

I got the impression from how stale the air was when I first opened it that the seal is pretty good or completely good. But it may not be perfect.

It already seems to have no residual odor. I will of course, when its finally completed, run it for a week or so with no cigars in it to see if it remains stable or has any odor.

Ditto Drew, the seal and the smell. If the seal isn't perfect, you'll be burning through distilled water in that c.oasis like crazy. I would recommend no matter what getting a couple pounds of humidity beads though and keeping them in there along with the cigar oasis, that way, if your oasis runs out while you're away, the humidity likely won't change from that perfect 65% RH.

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Originally Posted by BigMacFU

Ditto Drew, the seal and the smell. If the seal isn't perfect, you'll be burning through distilled water in that c.oasis like crazy. I would recommend no matter what getting a couple pounds of humidity beads though and keeping them in there along with the cigar oasis, that way, if your oasis runs out while you're away, the humidity likely won't change from that perfect 65% RH.

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Agree. You might want to put some baking soda in it during your monitoring phase to completely remove any odors. Are they chest style freezers or uprights? If they are chests, you can compensate for some damage to the seals with some simple foam weather stripping....the weight of the lid will assist in assuring the seal.

Sounds like a great project.

How many cigars do you intend to store?:smiley41:

Thanks for the replies.

If the seal turns out to be imperfect, I guess I can attempt to replace it. If that cannot work, no huge loss; I'll try the other fridge. :)

They are upright freezers. I am just doing one right now... I would like to keep ~300 cigars in it, eventually. There's room for a bit more, I would guess.

The baking soda and the beads are a great idea, thank you!

Pics to come soon; sorry, I've been super busy. :smiley1:

This thread is useless without pics! :smiley4:

Sorry, I will try to get a pic up soon. :)

I have come upon a stumbling block.

AFter bleaching out the interior of the freezer, then rinsing it, and leaving it open for a week with a fan on it, I shut it for a few days with a big tray of baking soda in it.

Upon opening it, there is a moderately strong, plasticy smell. GOing on the assumption that the freezer is useless as a humidor unless it is totally odorless, I was wondering if anyone had any ideas about a next step.

I have considered vinegar, some new-age "natural" cleaners from the local Fresh Fields... dishwashing liquid... Will any of these work?

BTW, my daughter has claimed my backup laptop to play Webkinz, and until I can get it back I cannot download my pics.

Are there any drawers or shelves or anything else plastic that you can remove? If not, maybe refresh the baking soda and let it set for a few more days and re-check. I don't know of any special type of cleaner......

The shelves are fixed in place, and made of galvanised metal tubing, so no help there. I will continue with the baking soda, certainly.

I think the baking soda absorbs oders from the air within but would not actually get to the source. As a kid we had an old freezer that smelled exactly like that. Maybe the older plastics or something?

I got some good "natural" cleaner from the local hippie organic foods supermarket. I will try that. If that does not work, I may consider the second freezer (There is another one down there right next to it, with less plastic).

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Originally Posted by DeeDubya

I think the baking soda absorbs oders from the air within but would not actually get to the source. As a kid we had an old freezer that smelled exactly like that. Maybe the older plastics or something?

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This may be a completely stupid question, but this smell (presumably) of old plastic will certainly ruin cigars placed in this freezerdor, yes? Or am I being overcareful? I plan to line it with cedar before beginning to use it. Does this make a difference?

I have an old freezer that I still use as a freezer and it has that plastic smell as well. I wonder if there is something you can coat it with to cover the smell. Or how about removing the plastic all together and replacing with wood/cedar and reinstall the metal shelving? Sounds like a PITA but might be worth it. I can only imagine how many sticks and boxes I could cram in my freezer if I ever converted it in to a freezerdor.

I'm not sure removing the plastic is a viable option. The entire inside of the door is plastic, and the trim around the area where the door makes contact with the body is plastic as well. The rest is metal.

Although you have a good idea there. I wonder if I could paint over all the plastic (or the entire inside) before lining it with cedar.

This thing would have to be COMPLETELY odor-free for WEEKS before I would be able to sleep at night. Imagine the value of cigars in a box with that capacity, then imagine them slowly aging into beautiful, yellow-cello plastic tire-fire cat-turds:smiley7::smiley11::smiley7:

This definately has the makings for a wonderful project, but any risk to my smokes would be hard to justify. You can get an absolutely IMMENSE 100 quart cooler for the price of a box of midrange sticks.

This One Here is going to be my next one.

Baking soda, SHOULD eventually absorb all odors, provided whatever is emitting them is removed. if that happens to be the plastic inner shell, maybe you could replace it with wood panels. That would definately be a fun project :smiley2:

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Originally Posted by King Catfish

This may be a completely stupid question, but this smell (presumably) of old plastic will certainly ruin cigars placed in this freezerdor, yes? Or am I being overcareful? I plan to line it with cedar before beginning to use it. Does this make a difference?

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Put some cat pee in there. That should take care of the plastic odor.






Now to take care of that cat pee...

Pull everything out you can, wash it with bleach and soap again and take the door off. Take the seal off the door and/or freezer and replace it. Get some fish tank sealant and plug every hole, crack etc. Let the whole thing remain open w/o the door for a couple of weeks. Reassemble, go to the local wood store and get some scrap cedar, doesn't have to be Spanish, and just toss it in with a bowl of water. Now get a couple cheap cigars and put them in Tupperware without the lid, place that in the freezer. Wait a week. (Don't worry about actual RH).

Now open the freezer and smell. If it smells like plastic only, that is a problem. If it smells more like cedar with only a little plastic you should be fine.

Now try the cigar. If it tastes like plastic, your done, if not build away.

Once you line the thing with Spanish cedar you should be all set presuming you had little or no plastic smell/taste from the test.

Also, if both freezers have the plastic problem after the test go to Home depot and buy some vapor barrier, put that in, then a layer of really thin, 1/4 inch or less, cabinet grade plywood, then the Spanish cedar and you should be all set. Or just do this from the start after you have disassembled, cleaned, sealed, aired out and reassembled.

If both freezers are the same I would be very tempted to bust one up to see if the plastic removal is an option. I would think that it could be successfully replaced with wood. If not I think the cat pee idea is definitely a viable option.

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Originally Posted by nhcigarfan

Pull everything out you can, wash it with bleach and soap again and take the door off. Take the seal off the door and/or freezer and replace it. Get some fish tank sealant and plug every hole, crack etc. Let the whole thing remain open w/o the door for a couple of weeks. Reassemble, go to the local wood store and get some scrap cedar, doesn't have to be Spanish, and just toss it in with a bowl of water. Now get a couple cheap cigars and put them in Tupperware without the lid, place that in the freezer. Wait a week. (Don't worry about actual RH).

Now open the freezer and smell. If it smells like plastic only, that is a problem. If it smells more like cedar with only a little plastic you should be fine.

Now try the cigar. If it tastes like plastic, your done, if not build away.

Once you line the thing with Spanish cedar you should be all set presuming you had little or no plastic smell/taste from the test.

Also, if both freezers have the plastic problem after the test go to Home depot and buy some vapor barrier, put that in, then a layer of really thin, 1/4 inch or less, cabinet grade plywood, then the Spanish cedar and you should be all set. Or just do this from the start after you have disassembled, cleaned, sealed, aired out and reassembled.

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That sounds like an excellent plan. However, I am beginning to think a cooler is easier all around. :) Perhaps I'll pick up a cooler and let the freezer a longer-term project.

No doubt a cooler is easier.

Thanks to everyone for all the helpful replies (except the cat pee idea, about which I remain dubious).

I think I may go with the cooler for the near future, and the freezer will be a longer-term project. :)

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Originally Posted by King Catfish

That sounds like an excellent plan. However, I am beginning to think a cooler is easier all around. :) Perhaps I'll pick up a cooler and let the freezer a longer-term project.

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long live the cooler!!

btw welcome to the board

What you're smelling are phalates or something like that. The odor will certainly get into your cigars, as fats (the oils in a cigar) absorb odor. With a cooler you're going to have to de-plastic too. The sun really helps in breaking down these compounds, so leave it out to dry in the bright sun for as many days as possible, freezer or cooler.

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Originally Posted by BigMacFU

What you're smelling are phalates or something like that. The odor will certainly get into your cigars, as fats (the oils in a cigar) absorb odor. With a cooler you're going to have to de-plastic too. The sun really helps in breaking down these compounds, so leave it out to dry in the bright sun for as many days as possible, freezer or cooler.

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I see. Thanks for the excellent tip.

So now that I've decided to buy a large cooler (or use one of the ones I have in my garage, I cannot decide), I should leave it outside in a sunny spot for a week or so (?), and that should remove the plasitcy smell. Cool.

ALthough I would love to put the freezer out in the sun for a week or so and use that (my neighbors would love that), I don't think I can get it out of the house. I think the (basement) doorframe probably had to be removed to bring it in.

how big is the cooler you have?

I have two nice coolers that I think are 48 qt, but I was thinking of buying a larger one.

Well, the freezer continues to be smelly, and I cannot put it out into the sun, so that project will be more long-term. There is a second freezer down there I might work on.

In the meantime, I was starting to get some catastrophic wrapper cracking on three cigars in a row over three days (not the same brand or vitola), so I did some searching on this site, and got the info I needed. Apparently my humidor and cigar jars were a bit dry.

My hydrometer indicated 67%, so I tried the salt test last night. TEN degrees off. My humidor and jars were at 57%. So I have taken all of my cigars (around 60 or 70, I guess, perhaps a bit more) and put them into a nice clean 20-qt lunch cooler with a brick of floral sponge. There they will sit for a week or so until they become stable. Looks like I got into a coolerdor sooner than I had anticipated.

I have the larger cooler awaiting the gear I ordered to outfit it as my larger, more permanent coolerdor.

Thanks to all the knowledgable people on this site for the info I searched for and needed.

Well, I finally got the pics of my (temporarily abandoned) freezerdor project off my camera.
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...kb/frzrdr1.jpg
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...kb/frzrdr3.jpg
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...kb/frzrdr2.jpg

is it still smelly?

Yes, still a plasticy smell. I'm going to abandon the first one (on the left) try the other freezer this summer.