Remove mold from surplus leather ammo/magazine bag?

Rule3

Rule3

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I picked up a surplus rifle that came with 4 mags in a surplus leather bag. It is in good shape but has some mold spores and dirt on it.

I want to clean it but not going to spend any money on some special cleaner. I can just brush it and put out in the Sun maybe?

I was thinking spray with Lysol or wipe with a mild bleach and water solution??

We have some leather cleaner and conditioner for the furniture but I need to get the mold/dirt off first.

Any suggestions? It's just an old bag so I am not concerned with water on it.

Thanks
 
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I would use a spray of bleach solution which will kill all the existing mold. Inside and out!
Next - if there are blemishes/spots from the old mold you may want to use shoe polish closest to the color of the bags to blend the color all together.
Then- rub in mink oil (which is actually a paste)to #1-soften the leather and #2-keep any new mold from growing #3- and water proof it.

It's good to apply the mink oil paste generously, then set it someplace very warm to melt the mink oil paste. Don't get carried away! As it melts it will become greasy to the touch which will penetrate the leather better. Then wipe/buff it off to your liking.

That's how I did all my leather when I was a biker.
 
Looks like what we call mildew. One of the consumer products companies sold the jugs that you pull out one wipe at a time. We bought a 3 pack for some other use so I confiscated one and used it to wipe off the fungus. Kilt it dead for a long while. :) I think it was Lysol brand.

The problem seems to be that after you've gotten the problem one time, if it does come back, you don't want to store the leather item with others. The last thing you want is to infect (probably the wrong word) your other leather. Bad enough to bring home an orphaned bag, worse to spread the mold or mildew to your other, non moldy stuff.
 
I think infect is the right word.
I have used a mixture of 50/50 isopropyl alcohol and distilled water but the wipes work just as well and are easy to use.
Regards,
turnerriver
 
If you just wipe it off and then use mink oil it will come back even worse. Wiping breaks it down then spreads the "seeds", the the mink oil feeds it. You need to kill it somehow then treat the leather. Ed
 
Yes, I said mold but it would be more of a Mildew,. Thanks for the suggestions. I will kill the "spores" with some disinfectant and let it bake in the hot Sun!
 
Treat the leather with Ballistol.

The Germans started using it around 1904.
 
brush the heck out of it with plenty of alcohol, rinse (with alcohol) and repeat . Then you can go after the dirt if needed.
 
I would start with a damp cloth and one of the commercial products for mold removal, available for less than ten bucks at a Home depot or similar. Then saddle soap followed by Lexol. For waterproofing, Sno Seal (beeswax).
 
rburg said:
Looks like what we call mildew. One of the consumer products companies sold the jugs that you pull out one wipe at a time. We bought a 3 pack for some other use so I confiscated one and used it to wipe off the fungus. Kilt it dead for a long while. :) I think it was Lysol brand.

The problem seems to be that after you've gotten the problem one time, if it does come back, you don't want to store the leather item with others. The last thing you want is to infect (probably the wrong word) your other leather. Bad enough to bring home an orphaned bag, worse to spread the mold or mildew to your other, non moldy stuff.
Click to expand...

Diiick Dick Dick Dick Dick...it isn't called mildew any more it's called
TOXIC MOLD and you must wear full hazmat regalia when within a block of it.
 
I had a nice Kramer horsehide belt that spent a few days wet while on a backcountry adventure a few years back. Ended up moldy smelling. Leather cleaner didnt help. A fair bit of Lysol cleaner concentrate, hanging it in a sunny window for a few months, it was good as new.
 
Are those spores small enough critters that #9 birdshot can take 'em out?
 
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