elizwlsn Report post Posted January 3, 2014 Hi all... This is my first winter doing anything with leather and I find myself in a mess. I am having a huge problem with mold or mildew, I don't even know which it is. It's green and spreading mostly to veg tanned undyed but not exclusively. I make leather journals and after making them was wrapping the strap around the books....bad idea. Anyway, it's on a lot of my leather now. I got rid of a bunch of it and have been spraying the pieces I'm keeping with denatured alcohol, letting it dry and brushing and then repeating. I bought a huge box of silica gel and am now separating everything, putting it in plastic boxes with paper towels and packets of anti dessicant to try and prevent it from cross contaminating and thinking there must be too much moisture in the air (this is my home) so that will help keep it dryer. If I tossed everything out that has some on it I would have to start over almost. Just spots here and there. Any scraps or pieces that aren't already made into something that had any has been tossed. I'm going through everything once a day. Is this something I can recover from with diligence or am I done? Any thing else I can do that I haven't? Yikes...is this as bad as it feels? Thanks in advance! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
camano ridge Report post Posted January 3, 2014 Get lemon juice spread it on the mold let sit and then rub off. Should take care of most of it. May leave a little discoloration but can be dyed over. Most important thing is to killl the mold. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
electrathon Report post Posted January 3, 2014 This is not your answer, but it may help in the future. When I case anything I use Pro-Carve (Bee Natural) additve in the water. There is somethng in it that works as an anti-fungal. I have so far never had mold grow on my carvings. Aaron Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elizwlsn Report post Posted January 3, 2014 Thanks...I"ll use the lemon juice. I'll look for some of the Bee Natural too. So am I making this into more of a crisis than I need to ...if I keep up on it killing any that I see pop up? Does this get better in the spring/summer? I would've though it would be worse then. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
electrathon Report post Posted January 3, 2014 It is a spore problem and you are going to deal with it for a long time. You definatly need to stay in front of it and keep it under control. The spores are all over and looking for a host. Imagine if it was lice, what would you have to do to rid the house of them. Mold is less grose, but can also be a huge health issue. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bruce johnson Report post Posted January 3, 2014 Ditto on what Aaron has told you. I took apart a repair saddle in my old shop, green dust flew when I opened it up, and had a problem after that. I was using ProCarve after a while and it really stopped it. I have switched now to a different casing mix that has thymol in it (Listerine) which is an antifungal. It works for me. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Northmount Report post Posted January 3, 2014 You may have a mold problem in your house that is spreading spores. Wet cold walls, bathroom tub/shower area, basement, etc. get it checked out. Some molds are a serious health hazard. Your relative humidity at 72 F should be 50% or less. High humidity contributes to mold growth. You can use oxalic acid in place of lemon juice. Available at lumber, hardware, paint stores, or can be ordered through your pharmacy. There are other threads about mold and about oxalic acid here. Check them out. Tom Thanks...I"ll use the lemon juice. I'll look for some of the Bee Natural too. So am I making this into more of a crisis than I need to ...if I keep up on it killing any that I see pop up? Does this get better in the spring/summer? I would've though it would be worse then. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elizwlsn Report post Posted January 5, 2014 I got to wondering about the house itself too. In the meantime I do seem to have a bit better handle on the leather situation. I bought a bunch of plastic containers which feels contrary to what you would normally do...air things out...but if it's the air then putting it in containers with silica gel packets I made up is actually keeping it much drier. I hung up all my uncut hides which don't seem to be getting affected as much as the cut pieces or books. That way it's not trapping moisture in the rolled up form. I'm small enough still I can check things out daily to see if it's working and it does seem it's drier. It feels like if I am protecting it from moisture I'm also protecting it from spores and buying more time to rid the area of spores. If I am really diligent about vacuuming up and cleaning up after myself and also getting rid of any leather showing signs of mold or treating promptly it I will eventually get this in check. I appreciate all the info. I had searched he archives but it seemed mostly they were dealing with one piece rather than a shop issue which is what I'm dealing with. I sure learned why so many have said if you get one piece in with mold or mildew segregate it immediately until it's killed or don't bring it in. I think mine started from my over oiling a bunch of stuff. Heavy handed with it because I liked the effect after dying and the mentality of if a little is good more is better and I really screwed myself. So much to learn. Thanks everyone! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BondoBobCustomSaddles Report post Posted January 5, 2014 Like Bruce said, I too use Listerine in my mixture that I case with. It does a real good job of keeping down the mold and since some of my tooling can be spread over several days to a week for one panel, the possibility for mold is pretty good. Between the Listerine and lemon juice I really don't have a problem. Oh yea, I also use some dishwashing liquid soap in my case mixture Bob Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elizwlsn Report post Posted January 5, 2014 I know he mentioned thymol...I believe that's how it's spelled, was in listerine. I wasn't sure I could actually use the listerine so that's good to know. Easily purchased. I will make a note for the bulletin board of your mix and do that as well. I realized after my last post that it can't really be the house and it's probably my mismanagement of the leather coupled with poor storage practices....I had it too cramped together and should have cleaned up better after handling a piece with mold on it. I say that because I have about a 100 straps hanging on the wall together, some dyed, some not and none of that has any. Also my big rolls of veg tanned, undyed which should have it from being rolled up if it was a moisture issue in the house, doesn't have so much as a tiny spot on any of it. As I said in my first post I make journals most with a long leather tie around them as a closure and the ties on a number were getting bad were they met. I had them standing up side by side on a bookshelf so it probably spread from being in such close proximity. So I wonder, how do you guys store your finished products while they are waiting to be sold. I sell online so I may have books a few months. Some go fast, others sit a while. 30 books or so books lined up touching each other, leather wrap covers and more leather wrapped as closures seems like a breeding ground for this kind of problem. Wonder I did't have a worse problem than I did. Do I plastic bag each one first with a silica packet or two in the bag? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BondoBobCustomSaddles Report post Posted January 5, 2014 Just plain old Listerine, works well. As for the lemon juice, I have to be careful, 'cause every time I go to the fridge to get it, my wife chases me out of the kitchen with a rolling pin!!!!. Bob Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Northmount Report post Posted January 5, 2014 (edited) I'd watch how dry the books are that you are storing with silica gel. You don't want to pull all the moisture out of the leather. The silica gel shouldn't have any effect on the oils in the leather, but will have on its moisture content. The alternative might be to spread them out so air can circulate around them. That will take more space! Check the relative humidity in your house. If your house is well sealed, it could be high. Hot water and electric heating systems tend to reduce the natural air exchange, increasing the humidity. All the things we have been doing lately to seal up cracks, direct vented furnaces, etc. lead to higher humidity. Then we have to add increased ventilation! How much do the windows sweat on cold days? If there is a lot of condensation, humidity is too high. Was the shelf you were storing your books in on an outside wall? If there is not enough insulation in the exterior wall, stuff laying against the wall and in closets on outside walls collects moisture due to being colder, and gets moldy or mildew. Hope you get it all sorted out soon. It is very upsetting when our work gets damaged! Tom Edited January 5, 2014 by northmount Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
