Removing mold or mildew from a project in progress

[terirae]

Does anyone know of a way to remove mold and mildew from a piece of tooling leather?

I kept my project damp in a bag in the refrigerator and when I took it out to work on it again I noticed spots of mold and mildew. It was only in there a week! It's a bible cover and I am almost finished with it. I'm so upset.

[bruce johnson]

Teri,

You might try a dilute vinegar (white vinegar) solution. I used to have a similar problem in my old shop. I would get spotting in as little as overnight sometimes. I must have had some nasty spores in there. I have also heard of using dilute lysol, lemon juice, and oxalic acid solution.

To prevent this, case with BeeNatural Procarve. This solution has a fungicide in it. I have not had a mold problem since using it. Most of the suppliers carry it, or you can order direct. Throw out your casing bags, too. I would also not let leather sit cased in the fridge for a week. It might work for some, but I won't go much longer than 24-48 hrs. I dry it if going to be very long, and then rewet, although I sure don't like too!

Bruce Johnson

[Tom Katzke]

I agree with what Bruce says. I have been able to leave a project for a few days but for some reason it is important to not let the plastic rest on the top of the leather. I use zipper bags and blow air into them before sealing. I do this on every project as I like to case the old way.

Tom Katzke

Central Oregon

Does anyone know of a way to remove mold and mildew from a piece of tooling leather?

I kept my project damp in a bag in the refrigerator and when I took it out to work on it again I noticed spots of mold and mildew. It was only in there a week! It's a bible cover and I am almost finished with it. I'm so upset.

[Gregory B. Moody]

"for some reason it is important to not let the plastic rest on the top of the leather."--Tom K

That is the reason we used brown paper around the leather inside the plastic bag... most of the time we just cut open old fashioned brown paper bags from the supermarket... we also used those for making patterns... Greg

[Johanna]

On a "good" hide, you should be able to rewet the leather as many times as you need to as long as you haven't dyed or finished it. This is the easiest way to prevent mold and mildew. A very good (and experienced) carver told me that leaving the leather wet for extended periods of time breaks down the leather fibers. I have no scientific evidence to back this up, but we all know how when you over case leather, it gets mushy, and the tool impressions are not as clear. Perhaps that is what my friend was trying to avoid? I have also heard about all the different chemicals you can add to leather for casing, but I've seen quality work done with plain old water, so I would guess that is just a matter of personal preference. I was taught to never use soap-Dawn or saddle soap- because it pulls the oils out of the leather. Again, I am not a tooler, I am only repeating my understanding of the process of casing. That said, every tooler has his own way of doing things, and I'm sure there are a dozen formulas and a hundred different ways to case leather, and the only way each individual tooler finds out what works perfectly for him is to play and experiment. Every hide acts differently, too, so what you might do to one hide, you might not choose to do with another. Hmmm...I think what I'm trying to say is that there is no right or wrong way, unless you mess up the leather.

My leather carving is so bad a cow shouldn't have to die for it.

Johanna

[Gregory B. Moody]

Here are the rules my father followed...

Use only plain water to case the leather...

Otherwise you take a chance your mixture will mess up whatever finish you apply later or react with the chemicals used to tan the leather.

Place the leather under water until the bubbles stop... then case. My father often did pictures on full sides of leather.... for that size object 6 inches of water in the bathtub and the hide slowly pulled through it from one end to the other worked just fine...smaller items would be held under running water in the sink.

Only wet the leather once.

Otherwise the leather will swell again and mess up the crispness of your carving and stamping. To keep from rewetting a large project like a picture spritz it from the backside on a regular basis.... 10 to 20 minutes normally depending on the drying rate in your shop... If you accidentally allow any of the front of the article to get dry lightly spritz that and shorten the time between spritzing ... ' dry lines' are usually permanent marks on leather. He often kept leather wet on large pictures for 12 hours straight by spritzing only from the backside after starting to carve. The idea on spritzing from the back is to allow capillary action to bring the water from the back to the front to slow down the RATE of drying... but it is still a one way function.. from carving wetness to background wetness .... at whatever rate you are able to work the front of the leather without ever causing the cells to reswell.

Use brown paper around the leather inside the plastic holder when casing.

Otherwise the leather may get mold spots starting at places water condenses on the plastic and touches the leather. Brown wrapping paper or paper sacks from a supermarket cut open work great.

Allowing the individual cells to get evenly moist inside the leather is extremely important to making clean graceful cuts with the swivel knife. That is the purpose of casing. I consider 8 hours the minimum.... but we almost always just wet and cased the day before. Not properly casing leather is the number one mistake people make in leathercrafting. If your carving and stamping are not what you want them to be this is the easiest , cheapest and first thing to examine in your leatherworking proceedures.

In many great books about carving they say it is best to case for some time.. or overnight... then mention wiping water on the front and back, looking for a certain color, etc...

What people need to know is that is caused by commercial ( the people selling leather and supplies ) pressure to make the process look quick and easy. Planning ahead and committing to doing a project the next day is a real pain. I understand the desire to have a quick and easy method to start your project when you feel the excitement or you have a break in your schedule. But the physics of the situation require something extra if you plan on doing better than average carving and stamping... there is a magical point after the leather is taken out of the plastic at which carving is a real pleasure and then stamping ' takes' instead of mushing the area next to the tool imprint... many people have never experienced that... and look at other's works wondering what magic principles they know and are not sharing...

That is the main secret people don't appreciate. The physics has to be satisfied first... and the books often make it sound like the longer casing is only optional... I would never ever consider carving a project that I had not cased properly..... Greg

[abn]

Here are the rules my father followed...

Lots of good information in your post, Greg. Thanks for sharing your tips.

-Alex