Saddlebag Mildew

[johndee138]

I have a set of original bags for my knuck that are in pretty decent shape for their age but they have mildew so deeply imbedded in them that after cleaning they just start mildewing right back up. Ive tried a rubdown w/ bleach, a good soaking w/ Lysol, mopped them w/ neatsfoot oil. Nothing seems to make the mildew slow down. I thought of soaking them in a strong bleach solution , or maybe a good soak in some sort of solvent but havent tried that yet. I hate to toss them out as they are different than your standard bags and have a great patina. Anyone got an idea for a semi permanent death to mildew trick?

[Robert Luland]

"O" No! Not the heart brake of saddle bag mildew. When will the sufferaaan in this world stop? I had this problem with my second wife. I feel for your plite man!

[Chris Haynes]

"O" No! Not the heart brake of saddle bag mildew. When will the sufferaaan in this world stop? I had this problem with my second wife. I feel for your plite man!

Your wife mildewed?

[surfdude]

johndee - the venerable michael paquette and others have put out a number of posts on leather care - and warned against the neatsfoot oil, too. search the forums for "leather", or just follow this link on how to clean and care for your bags:

http://www.antiquemotorcycle.org/bbo...hlight=leather

[Barry Brown]

NEATSFOOT OIL!!! THAT IS THE PROBLEM! 30 years ago I inherited a beautiful ww2 flyers leather jacket and thought I was doing the correct thing by lathering on the neatsfoot! WRONG> It just about rotted overnight. If i would have consulted with a local saddle bag maker first I would have found out that neatsfoot oil is only used for very thick heavy leather as in horses harnesses etc.

[T. Cotten]

Barry!

Beyond the inherent evils of oils in general, the risk with Neatsfoot is that your leather article may be made of vegetable-tanned horsehide:
Many years ago I turned a set of bag lids hard as coconut shells, while the bottoms remained serviceable.

Now they are on the bike on the roof of my shop.

....Cotten

[Barry Brown]

the jacket was made of sheepskin

[Glenn]

if sheep are out in the rain how come they don't shrink ?

[T. Cotten]

the jacket was made of sheepskin

I guess that's one more species to avoid using Neatsfoot upon.

Modern chemical tanned hides may display a whole different chemistry as well.

....Cotten
PS: Glenn asked:
"if sheep are out in the rain how come they don't shrink ?"

Because they are pre-shrunk, of course!

[Paps]

I've used a dilluted in water bleach solution, applied with a spray bottle, to eliminate mold on leather before. I applied saddlesoap generously after the mold was killed. The dead mold turned white and was very dry. It brushed off in powder form. Paps

[Mark Arnould]

Be careful using saddle soap. It's a good product, if used correctly. It's made to lift dirt out of the pours off the leather. Then needs to be washed off a 100%. It's NOT a conditioner to be rubbed in. One of the main ingrediants in saddle soap is LYE. (which probably helped with the mold problem). But, if it's not washed off completely. It will break down and eat the leather fibers as well as the stiching.