New Humidor - Problem

I just bought another humidor (my wife is still shaking her head). It's a large cabinet and I'm excited to have the extra space. The problem is, being that I bought it from someone locally, it smells of smoke inside the humidor. I couldn't detect this when looking at it (before purchasing) because the guy's house smelled of smoke. I'm certainly not going to put any of my cigars in this humi until I get rid of the smoke. Therefore, that gets to my question... what is the best way to get rid of the cigar smell?

Since it's now sitting inside my house, I haven't wanted to try to air it out because if the downstairs of our house starts smelling like cigar smoke my wife will get on my a$$. Therefore, I'm thinking about taking it out to the garage, opening the door and just letting it breathe for a week or so. Any other thoughts?

activated charcoal, baking soda, or airing it out

Charcoal... very interesting. Hadn't thought of that one.

Maybe Febreze unscented? Would KL absorb the odor?

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Originally Posted by Puff

Charcoal... very interesting. Hadn't thought of that one.

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its used in all kinds of filtration and i have heard of people using it to remove the plastic smell for a tupperdor

Charcoal (activate carbon) from a pet supply store with fish works wells.
Old newspapers crinkled up also work as does baking soda.

Since baking soda is so cheap just buy a whole bunch, grab some cookie sheets, spread the baking soda on them and place in the cabinet. If that doesn't do the trick you'll have to air it out for a while.

Remember it's not Smoke it's Idiot repellant! Enjoy

Airing out = drying out. I think I'd open it dust it out and wipe down all interior surfaces w/distilled water. Just a clean damp cloth. Then air it out a couple days. But you'll need to season it again after its been aired out. Enjoy

I'm stilling wondering how the heck the humidor got as smoky as it has. The guy must have curled up inside the humi while smoking his cigars. Why anyone would want their humidor smelling like this is beyond me. I absolutely love the nice smell of Spanish cedar mixed with a collection of fine cigars. At any rate, I appreciate the suggestions. I'm moving it out to the garage in the next day or two to start the process. I'll follow up later to let you know what worked.

Rock Salt draws odors too! Put it in a tray or bowl put it in close the doors and check the next day.

Could be he burnt one or more sticks half way and put them back in the humidor to save for later. You may want consider wiping down with grain alcohol instead of DW to eliminate anything else that my be going on in there.

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Originally Posted by piperdown

Charcoal (activate carbon) from a pet supply store with fish works wells.
Old newspapers crinkled up also work as does baking soda.

Since baking soda is so cheap just buy a whole bunch, grab some cookie sheets, spread the baking soda on them and place in the cabinet. If that doesn't do the trick you'll have to air it out for a while.

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I second the Newspaper. I used it for my coolidor and it worked great and did not cost me anything.

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Originally Posted by Tombstone

I second the Newspaper. I used it for my coolidor and it worked great and did not cost me anything.

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The newspaper is quite an interesting suggestion. Do I just crumple up a bunch and toss it in the humi and then shut the door? Anything more to it than that?

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Originally Posted by Puff

The newspaper is quite an interesting suggestion. Do I just crumple up a bunch and toss it in the humi and then shut the door? Anything more to it than that?

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thats all. bunch it up toss it in and shut the door. Just as a heads up Jimmy did it with his one tupperdor and it lost the plastic smell put gained a news paper print smell.

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Originally Posted by Puff

The newspaper is quite an interesting suggestion. Do I just crumple up a bunch and toss it in the humi and then shut the door? Anything more to it than that?

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Originally Posted by Demuths1770

thats all. bunch it up toss it in and shut the door. Just as a heads up Jimmy did it with his one tupperdor and it lost the plastic smell put gained a news paper print smell.

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Man I washed my tupperdor with baking soda and water, Put a bowl of Vinegar in it, Put News paper in it... Nothing took the smell out. Finally made a paste almost of baking soda and water, wiped it down with that and let it dry to a film. Let that sit over night, then washed it out and it was finally clear of any smell. Unfortunately you can't do that with the wood humi lol. If it's realllllly bad I would go right for the charcoal. I tried news paper in my travel humi that smelled like smoke from the shop I got it at and it did not work.

Yeah, I think newspaper and baking soda will do it for you.

I've used regular bbq charcoal to de-fume after skunks in garages and sheds.Had one customer who when they,the skunks,sprayed in his garage ,he would start the car and close the door and let it run for a cpl hours.But he was kinda slow, ya know.So take it for what it's worth,but I would try the charcoal.

Sounds good, fellas. The smell really isn't that bad and probably wouldn't bother some. However, as I mentioned before, the ONLY thing I want to smell when I open up my humi is the beautiful smell of spanish cedar and fine cigars. Based on all of the recommendations, I think tonight I will try newspaper and baking soda (since I have both of these on hand). If that doesn't work, charcoal.

Let us know how it turns out,,,and pics would be nice...:cool:

Very happy to report the smell is gone. I didn't do much. I figured I would try an easy approach and if that didn't work, then I would get more aggressive. I wiped down EVERYTHING really well with distilled water and then put one bowl of baking soda towards the top of the humi and a bowl on the bottom shelf. A day and a half later, the smell is gone.

I also found out more from the seller, which makes sense based on the ease at which I got rid of the smoky smell. He explained that the day that he sold me the humi, he had the door open for a couple of hours or so while unloading all of his cigars and getting it ready for me to pick up. While doing that, he was puffing away and smoke definitely got inside since the door was open. Sounds logical... but who cares - smell is gone and now I'm good. Thanks for all of the suggestions, fellas.