Quote Originally Posted by craig View Post
Never seen metal mesh, just plastic mesh, even on humidors with black tassels on the key. Seems awfully dumb to have metal.

Bleach (diluted) works. I don't think alcohol will do it.
And yeah, good luck, you'll need it.
If you have any mold spores in those humidors, you will keep having issues - and it's very hard to prevent mold spores in your humidors from happening (mold spores are literally everywhere). And be careful assuming it came from any place in particular - even though it seems to be related to a "new" circumstance (e.g. purchase of a new humidor).

Bleach solution will definitely kill anything in that box and/or the foam elements. You don't need much bleach to effectively kill whatever's in there (just a half a cup or so per gallon of clean water) - and you will definitely need to air it out afterwards for about 24 hours. The good news about Chlorine is that is is very volatile. It will disburse fairly quickly after it's used and should not affect your cigars if you properly air the humidors out after using the solution.

I would soak the foam elements in the bleach solution and dispose of them afterwards, just to prevent the mold from spreading more spores. And carefully handle anything with the mold on it, as any "fanning" of the items will send mold spores everywhere. Afterwards - go to beads as there much less chance the mold will find a good place to "feed".