MOULD ON TACK!!!!

Reacher said:
Thankyou @cremedemonthe for your guide - didn’t know about vinegar.
If mouldy tack has already been kept in the house, if I follow your cleaning instructions how long do you think it will be to eliminate the spores?
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How long is a piece of string?
I can't really answer that one, spores are ever present in the air unfortunately and very hard to eliminate, the best we can achieve is a regular cleaning program and use the vinegar then condition as and when needed.
 
@cremedemonthe can you recommend anything for restoring colour to a brown saddle with some lighter spots caused by mould? You leather conditioner has helped a bit but I could do with something more.

Thanks
 
Kat said:
@cremedemonthe can you recommend anything for restoring colour to a brown saddle with some lighter spots caused by mould? You leather conditioner has helped a bit but I could do with something more.

Thanks
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It can be hard to match it and get it even, old school dyes we had as trainee saddlers were awful, aniline dyes which were thought to be carcinogenic and why I would never use them or recommend them, However, there are acrylic dyes and stain out now, water based and safer. I use edge stain for when I am making saddlery to colour the edges down but it probably wouldn't be good enough for larger patches on the bearing surface of saddles for instance and would wear off. We used to use very strong black tea on lighter leathers and that worked well. The main problem with any stain or dye, is trying to get it in the leather in the first place, if you have used my leather conditioner which is full of fats, then the stain , whatever it is, will have a hard job staying in there and you could end up with a blotchy saddle.
You should have used a stain or dye before conditioning really. Sorry to not be of much help but I know from experience how hard it can be to get the stuff in to the leather and match it all up.
Try looking in shoe shops, they often have the fiebings range and may have something that would suffice BUT if it's aniline based, don't use it.
 
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cremedemonthe said:
BUT if it's aniline based, don't use it.
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I think you might be overstating the risk CdM. It was workers in dye factories that got cancer, and the primary cause was another chemical altogether. Aniline shoe and leather dyes are widely sold to the general public. I've used them often to turn dark brown saddlery black and reduced the lightening effect of mould with dark brown dye on a dark brown saddle.

Amateur dye application can leach a bit, I wouldn't want to ride on it in white breeches.
.
 
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cremedemonthe said:
It can be hard to match it and get it even, old school dyes we had as trainee saddlers were awful, aniline dyes which were thought to be carcinogenic and why I would never use them or recommend them, However, there are acrylic dyes and stain out now, water based and safer. I use edge stain for when I am making saddlery to colour the edges down but it probably wouldn't be good enough for larger patches on the bearing surface of saddles for instance and would wear off. We used to use very strong black tea on lighter leathers and that worked well. The main problem with any stain or dye, is trying to get it in the leather in the first place, if you have used my leather conditioner which is full of fats, then the stain , whatever it is, will have a hard job staying in there and you could end up with a blotchy saddle.
You should have used a stain or dye before conditioning really. Sorry to not be of much help but I know from experience how hard it can be to get the stuff in to the leather and match it all up.
Try looking in shoe shops, they often have the fiebings range and may have something that would suffice BUT if it's aniline based, don't use it.
Click to expand...
Thanks Oz, I will probably put up with it for now then
 
In our old house my tack room didn't have enough ventilation so I used a dehumidifier in winter. No more mould. In our new house, the tack/feed room has a gate style door so is very open for ventilation but rain can't get in. No mould.

When I've ended up with mouldy tack in the past I've just cleaned it using plain old Cleanse and Condition (which I don't normally use) and then Effax as usual. It hasn't come back. I did find a fairly cheapo bridle in the bottom of a box and it was solid white so I scrubbed it with Fairy first beforehand! I might not do that with my decent stuff, but it was fine after and hasn't been mouldy since.

I keep unused tack/harness in big plastic tubs with tight fitting lids. Not gold standard treatment by any means but it works for me.
 
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