Restored work from severe mildew

[Jim]

What's the first thing I tell folks when they ask the best way to store thier leather wares? "DON'T leave it in dark and possibly damp areas for any length of time." What did I do? I left a bunch of my stuff in storage in Dahlonega Georgia for about seven years. (In my own defense, I got back as soon as I could.)

Well, last month I was finally able to make the trip, and when I opened the door my initial response came out something like "Holy dust bunnies Batman!" As I made my way through and was boxing stuff up, I came across two Cartridge Boxes I made back in 98. There were covered with mildew and I figured they were ruined for sure. (My response was not quite so mild as Holy Dust Bunnies.)

Today I finally got around to letting them sit in the sun for a couple of hours to kill the mildew, got out the Lexol, and a sponge to see what I could do. As I whipped the 1812 Box with the damp sponge it came clean a whistle. "Stop!" I said "I want photos!!" So I took some before and after shots of the two to show what they looked like then and now. (Note: no Lexol was used - just warm water!)

These Cartridge Boxes were dyed with Fiebing's Oil Dye and then sealed with Fiebing's Resolene eight years ago and have been in storage for seven of those. After they were cleaned off, the finish looks as good as when they were first made.

A tribute to a fine product from Fiebing.

[abn]

That's amazing, Jim. Thanks for posting this story, and I'm glad your stuff cleaned up nice.