How to remove White Mold from leather safely???Help!!!

[34LaSalleClubSedan]

Any tips on what product to use to remove white mold from leather? One car has black spanish grain leather, the other has smooth black & red leather, and a trunk with a Pantasote (Oil Cloth) covering. Any tips greatly appreciated to safely remove it without staining the leather or cause damage to the leather in any way. Maybe just soap and water???

Thanks, Jim

[Dennis]

Jim, I would not use just plain soap and water.  What I would suggest along that line would be saddle soap, but before using it I would check with a business such as Tandy Leather.  Checking with those auto companies that use Leather in their vehicles.  Good Luck

[Ozstatman]

Check out the posts in this thread from the PackardInfo Website.

 

http://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=16606&start=14

[trimacar]

That's along the lines of what I was thinking...soap and water will remove dirt, but not kill the mold, which is the goal here.....the vinegar is an interesting idea, that I'd not seen before for mold, but vinegar has so many uses (I used to work for an apple processing company, and there was even a small book out about all the things that vinegar could be used for)....

 

The best to kill mold is a bleach (ammonia), but as mentioned, one would have to be very careful with it on leather, very low concentration.....

[sambarn]

The mold is on the leather,not in the leather. wipe it clean with lexol, there'll be no lasting problems.

[Phillip Cole]

And realize that one cleaning with a home remedy or store bought cleaner will probably not work totally long term. Mold spores are resilient.

[MCHinson]

Perhaps this tip from another leather related hobby will help:

 

http://dgsaddlery.com/killing-mold-on-leather/

 

Or another result thanks to Google:

 

http://www.howtocleanstuff.net/how-to-remove-moldmildew-from-leather-shoes/

 

It looks like vinegar is one of the most commonly recommended solutions.

[60FlatTop]

And realize that one cleaning with a home remedy or store bought cleaner will probably not work totally long term. Mold spores are resilient.

Yeah, after cleaning you have to keep sitting on them and rubbing across the seat. Come to think of it, that's a good way to remove them. Just wear old clothes.

Bernie

[Guest AlCapone]

I have used white pickling vinegar for a number of years with outstanding results. If you spill it on your deck it will remove that mold also. Wayne

[34LaSalleClubSedan]

Thanks to everyone for the great advise. Jim

[C Carl]

The mold is on the leather,not in the leather. wipe it clean with lexol, there'll be no lasting problems.

Up front , Jim & all : I am not a Mycologist , couldn't even play one on TV. Been to a few lectures , though. It is possible that what you see of a mold is just a topical manifestation of a systemic condition which totally permeates the substrate. So , my feeling here , since you post that you want a SAFE solution , is that you probably don't have to reinvent the wheel in this case. As per the above quote : Lexol. The gent I use for interior issues has given me enough reasons to trust this product. Go to a shop which uses it , and ask if they have ever talked personally with a rep. If so , download his head. Evidently quite convincing. As I say , I merely got it second hand. Old and diminished as I am , I do however clearly recall that Ph was one significant factor involved. I don't think vinegar (low Ph) , is particularly formulated to mitigate in favor of long term health of leather. Lexol is. I am not , and have never been involved with this or any other product , other than using them. Maybe your next inquiry should be to Lexol for a response to your issue. Let us know what you learn. BTW , Jim are you coming out West to Cad-LaSalle G.N. In 'Vegas next April ? I have talked to you on the phone a couple times , and sent you pics of one of two of my old ('24 & '27) Cads. Be fun to meet you. - Carl

[34LaSalleClubSedan]

Hi Carl, wish I could, but not in the cards to go to L.V next April, Excuse the pun!!! I haven't had the 34 LaS out in a couple years, but hope to next year. The leather issue is on a Packard and Imperial. Take care Carl. Jim

[Peter Zobian]

Bleach will not kill mold. It will appear that it does, but in a short while the mold returns due to water in the bleach. Go on line and look up "Mold Killer". There are several good products listed.

 

Peter Zobian

[Guest]

I probably wouldn't try this on light coloured leather but "Watkins Petro-Carbo salve" will kill mould or fungus.  It works to kill the fungus that you can get on your feet in the tropics and works great on brown or black leather. 

[MarkRussell]

I recommend you to read this helpful article https://leather-toolkits.com/blog/how-to-clean-mold-from-leather/ In turn, this article helped me in past to clean mold from leather sittings of my car. I'm sure it will help you.

[Fossil]

On 8/27/2015 at 5:34 AM, trimacar said:

The best to kill mold is a bleach (ammonia),

Not sure of the authors intent but please don't ever mix ammonia with bleach. The chemical reaction created will probably cause you to never have to worry about mold again. This taken from a Google search.

Mixing bleach and ammonia can be deadly. When combined, these two common household cleaners release toxic chloramine gas. Exposure to chloramine gas can cause irritation to your eyes, nose, throat, and lungs. In high concentrations, it can lead to coma and death.May 5, 2020

[John_Mereness]

As a sidenote:  The mold will etch the leather, so you really will only be able to get it say 80% of what you would hope for (aka never let your leather get mold on it).  When my parents brought the cars back up from 10 years in Florida, we had mold issues to address - inside, outside, underside, and ... - the cars all cleaned up to win major awards in AACA and CCCA, but I could show you the location of near every spot that was on them looking hard enough.