removing mold smell from leather?

[DBLIII]

I'm sorry if this has been addressed before, I did some searching but could not locate anything.
Last weekend while cleaning off my old motorcycle's saddlebags and digging around in my shop, I found my first motorcycle jacket - from 1974, a Schott Perfecto in cowhide. It had furry mold growing all over it (my shop is damp in the summer). Figuring I had nothing to lose, I completely sprayed it with some liquid saddle soap and began wiping the mold off. An hour later, I ended up with a black leather jacket, flexible, worn at the seams but otherwise looking pretty good.
I took it into my garage (which is air conditioned, so much less humidity) to let it air out. It's been several days and while it looks nice, the mold "smell" is really quite harsh.
Based on some googling around for answers, I am thinking of putting it in my pickup truck cab along with an ionizer - one of the big ones that takes care of cigar smoke. This was suggested a couple of places around the internet.
Since all of you FL people are, in my opinion, the real experts -- would this work or is there something else I need to do in an attempt to kill off the remaining mold spores?
Any suggestions would be very much appreciated and I will sure follow up with my outcome. Again, it's not like I have a big risk here since the jacket is not wearable unless I want to smell like a swamp monster. It just has enough sentimental value that I'm willing to put some time into an attempt to revive it.
Thanks in advance!

 

[Peacoat]

You are right, there is an extensive thread on this topic somewhere in the past. I don't have time now, but this evening I may have an opportunity to go back and look for it.

 

[Peacoat]

OK, try this thread, which is one page back:

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=31062&highlight=odor

 

[DBLIII]

Peacoat - thank you. I should have looked a bit further.
That thread gives me some options to try.
Of course, I can always wrap my coat around a wet dog......

 

[JLStorm]

Ive found that mold smell in clothing is there forever. Ive even tried bleach on a few things and it remained if it was bad enough. You may want to call a mold treating company and see if they have any recommendations?

 

[Peacoat]

Peacoat - thank you. I should have looked a bit further.
That thread gives me some options to try.
Of course, I can always wrap my coat around a wet dog......

No problem; I knew what I was looking for.

I almost agree with JLStorm about the permanency of the smell; however, I have been able to get it out of saddles and other tack with a lot of work. One thing you might try as a last resort is a leather conditioner called TLC. Please let me know how it goes.

 

[James Miller]

Killing the mold First!

I placed a post a year or so on the lounge I just dont know how to paste it to this thread. I 'll keep trying. I have restored a lot of old jackets and mold is a big problem. I'll try to get you the info with out me having to re type the whole process over. But you can get rid of the smell but first you must kill the mold.

 

[James Miller]

I found it!

Here read this one There is a lot of info on what will help. I have worked with a few leathe jackets in my time and it can be removed.

http://thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=25609&highlight=removing+mold

 

[john z]

To rid the smell you have to kill the spores. This might be of interest:

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/three-ways-to-kill-mold-naturally.html

 

[dr greg]

vinegar

I've treated several leather items with vinegar for mold, and it works, a bit of lemon skin rubbed on afterwards as well helps. No smell no mo.

 

[DBLIII]

Here's an update - ordered some of that TLC that Peacoat mentioned. Meanwhile, the jacket had been in my old truck cab with an ionizer running for several days. I took the jacket out and found that the truck cab didn't smell like an ashtray anymore! Instead, it smelled like mold..... same as the jacket. So, I'd say that is a rather limited fix.

I hung the jacket on one of the chain link dog kennels outside and then went after it with the TLC, really soaking the leather. I hadn't noticed but where I was doing this, it exposed the jacket to full and somewhat hot sunlight, so the leather became quite flexible during this process.

I then hung the jacket in our (heated and air conditioned) garage - and got a very, very large dehumidifier running in there as well. After one day, the mold smell is significantly decreased. Still there, enough that I think I'll go over the jacket with the TLC again this coming weekend -- but there was so much difference that it went from smelling the mold from six feet away to having to stick my nose on the leather to notice it.

More to follow as I battle the remnants of the evil green stuff. I was regretting not taking a photo of this jacket before I started, since it looked like a green furry garment with zippers.

 

[Peacoat]

As I said, it does take a lot of work. Hope you get it all out.

I like the vinegar idea proposed by Dr. Gregg. If you don't get it all with TLC, try the vinegar; it should be fairly harmless to the leather. Don't put too much TLC on the leather, or it will soften it beyond what you want. In fact, I would try the vinegar followed by a light rubbing with TLC to repair any damage that might have been caused by the vinegar.

 

[garzo]

Hang it out in the Sun

I would definitely leave it out in the sun for a couple of days -- strong sunlight, dry heat and fresh air can work wonders. Also, anywhere where there is constant air movement as opposed to storing it where air is stagnant, as that could help the mold to grow. Mold doesn't like sunlight and dry heat. The more you can blast it with sunlight, the better. You can always come back to it with leather conditioner if it dries out too much, which I doubt it will. Leather jackets were made to be out in the sun.

 

[bigballsofholly]

Step 1. Get on your bike and ride. Ride to Texas, have some ribs and ride back home.

Step 2. Smell the jacket. If you still smell the mold repeat Step 1, only faster.

 

[Novos]

I've spent a long time trying to combat musty (but not mold) smells in leather jackets I've bought off the bay. It's an obvious condition issue that nearly 90% of sellers miss, but if the stench gives me an instant headache you'd think it'd be worth mentioning.

But the newest jacket takes the cake, I could smell it through the packaging as I picked it up at the post office, and for good reason the lady behind the counter gave me a really interesting look.

Anyways, I've generally had success with hand washing a jacket in the tub with woolite and letting it hang dry. A handful of Pecards afterwards and some sunlight worked wonders, but man even after all the usual treatments, the newest one just stinks. The lining is clean, the jacket is clean, there are no obvious signs of distress, other than an overwhelming stench. I'm lost, should I try the old lemon peel/freezer trick as someone once mentioned here? I'm running out of options.

 

[Ross817]

I dont know if this possible solution has been discussed before, but when I played adult hockey I became aware of the yeti smell that quickly grows on/in hockey equipment when played in 3 or so nights a week. Most Ice Hockey pro shops have a decontaminating box of sorts. They pop your gear in, you come back in an hour, it smells fresh as a daisy. Until you next game.

I have no idea what the technology is but I remember there being no fluid . It may be worth looking into.

Anyway my .02

 

[Cooperson]

The only sure fire way is to kill the mold spores. This enzyme spray really does work.

http://www.lttsolutions.co.uk/furniture/em-clean.html?gclid=CP-hsoiu-LYCFZLKtAodoBMAfQ

 

[Elmonteman]

I've used this product on old leather jackets and it works very well. The only "problem" is that it removes all odor. In other words it won't smell like a leather jacket, but it won't smell like mildew or mold either. It also kills mold spores. "It's a smelly world out there." https://www.nokout.com/home.php

 

[eggleman]

Had a similar experience with a barely used , trainee-made , Aero jacket, picked up off ebay.
Looked practically brand new ,
but the previous owner must have suffered with the worst B.O. in history...
I'm on a second round of washing / treating with Pecards and it's just about bearable !

 

[Sloan1874]

Just goes to prove that good taste doesn't travel hand-in-hand with good personal hygiene.