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This question started as a result of having some not-so-high-quality leather, that has some soft dirt marks, but now I’m curious about general prep practices before cleaning the leather. I was considering using denatured alcohol to wipe the leather with a sponge, before doing any cleaning. I understand this is effective, but also that it may dry the leather out. So, is it better to water down the leather first? Will that help to prevent the drying/hardening provided by the alcohol? I was then curious about the wetness of just water, since that tends to be used to help mold/form leather. Wouldn’t the water also cause hardening? Should the process be to: 1. sponge water and remove most dirt that can 2. use a light amount of denatured 3. add water 4. mold to final state 5. dye I’m considering something like making 3-piece gussets, where the molding may be important, yet hard to dye after molded (without dipping). I know it’s not ideal (or as affective) but can the leather be re-watered and molded after being dyed for those pieces? I also use denatured alcohol for cutting my Pro dyes, so there’s a lot of potential for drying out. I’m not sure what the best process should be to clean and dye. I would like to add a cleaning process, regardless if the vegtan leather seems to need it or not, just for consistency between final products.

So my wife has stored her horse tack in the shed outside that is getting more moisture than we thought. A lot of her gear has this white mildew that I want to clean off before it gets worse. What would you guys use to fix this and other than move the gear inside the house, are there any products that could help prevent this in the future? The leather was in good shape, conditioned, and relatively new. Thanks in advance. -Mike

Hi all, I've been using some cotton cloths I had around the house to apply neatsfoot oil and Aussie Finish and generally buff my work. I haven't gotten there yet, but I know you can also use cloths to apply dye. So... I was wondering, what do you guys do when these cloths get dirty? Ditch them and start anew or does anybody toss them in the washer and if so, what are you using to clean them? Seems like kind of a waste to toss them, but I don't want to contaminate one project with something leftover from another. Also, I'm assuming you have different cloths for different products/types of products. How do you split them up? One per product or one per type of product (e.g., alcohol based dyes vs. finishes vs. oils)? Thanks!

Ok so Im working on a suit of leather armor and I have an old hide that is thin enough to use for a certain part of it. Only problem is this hide is old has a bit of mold and is a little stiff (it doesnt roll up really it sorta folds) but its not rock hard and still has give and pliability to it. What (if any) steps should i take to clean up the hide, get rid of the mold and get it a bit more flexible again? Thank you all for the info in advance!

I need advice cleaning and restoring an old veg-tanned leather wall hanging with lettering and floral carving. It is large - 5.5' x 3.5'. It seems to be thick skirting leather. It has been hanging on a office wall for about 40 years. The leather condition is dry but not stiff or cracked. It has general dirt, probably cigarette smoke, some small stains, and places where people tried to clean it (see photos - don't mind the shadows or glare). In places it looks like it was color stained and streaked, or maybe they tried to clean it and caused the streaks, or maybe they wanted it to look "antiqued". On tack and such, I use Feibings 4 Way Care cleaner, or saddle soap and neatsfoot oil, but I am not sure how to treat this thing. Probably would use just a cleaner/conditioner and not neatsfoot oil as I don't want to darken it much. Maybe first a light wash with a weak oxalic acid solution to get out the spots and generally clean it, then use the conditioner/cleaner? Thanks for the advice. --John

Hi I have recently brought back from Zambia an African Drum. The drum was made using traditional methods by a villager using untreated wood for the drum itself (i helped cut down the tree) and rawhide for the drumskin. The wood didn't have time to properly dry before i needed to fly back to Australia, thus it was still green with heaps of moisture. during both the flight home and the Australian customs required 4week quarantine period, a considerable amount of mold has grown on both the wood and the rawhide. The wood is of course not the topic for this forum but rather the rawhide skin. Mold is on both the outside and the inside (this the most difficult to get at by hand). I have cleaned the rawhide mold off the outside surface and attempted to get at the inside surface. i used water and a dishwashing scrubber to clean the rawhide. i have left the drum in the sun for days to attempt to dry it out. My problem and question is how can i better clean the skin and is there a way to prominently stop mold from growing. i thought about pouring a bleach solution into the inside of the drum to kill the mold on the wood. however, i do not know how that will affect the rawhide skin (as well as the wood for that matter). i will upload some pictures so you all can get a better feel for the matter.