Mold on leather

William F. Wood <goboom [at] bellsouth__net> writes

>Can anyone recommend some method, procedure, or compound that will
>remove mildew from World War II era leather artifacts?
>
>...
>... It has been carefully wiped clean with pH
>neutral cleaning cloths (Latex gloves were worn) and exposed to
>bright sunlight for several days, upon which the mildew disappeared,
>but upon removal from the sunlight, the film redevelops.

The reappearance of the fungus is not due to darkness. However, in
direct sunlight the humid leather surface allowed [the leather] to
dry (partially). Bringing the object back to darkness (possibly the
same environmental condition where the mold developed in the first
place?) the moisture of the material spread back into the surface
area.

You will have to allow the leather to carefully dry as much as
possible for the object and clean off every regrowth of mold, first
with a HEPA vacuum cleaner and after that with further dry cleaning
methods. I have given some fairly detailed comments on cleaning off
mold from leather artefacts in the Cons DistList List on 3 September
2012.

Make sure that you wear appropriate respiratory protection, a
well-fitting particle filter mask. Remember that the spores will not
be held in the filter if there is a gap between your skin and the
mask (masks that fogg your glasses are not a sufficient protection).
Do not clean the objects adjacent to uncontaminated objects or
people who do not wear protective clothing.

Dr. Stefanie Scheerer
Microbiologist, PhD and Objects Conservator
Lecturer at the State Academy of Art and Design


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 26:26
                 Distributed: Sunday, November 18, 2012
                       Message Id: cdl-26-26-001
                                  ***