Mold!

[Hauptmann]

Hi all,

Okay, I'd just posted pics of my WWI German helmets and included my pickelhaube:

[attachmentid=52447]

[attachmentid=52448]

As you can see... there's mold in them thar hills! I had had this problem our first summer here on several leather items... holsters, belts, etc. and had gone to great lengths to clean it all off and try to kill the little buggers off.

This season I kept the windows open in the bunker and it was dry and cool down there. But seems some of the little guys decided to move back in.

Chip pointed out the mold in the other post and it got me to thinking it would be a good subject for this forum.

Does anyone have any good ways of killing off this stuff without hurting or adversely affecting the leather? Turns out some of my holsters and such have the problem again. I'd really love to get it taken care of for once and for all and sadly my bunker is the only place I have to store or display my collection. The house is not huge and there's just no where else to put such things.

We're in a very dry climate here. Never had much of a problem with mold down in Florida which of course is extremely humid.

I know I have to get this under control so any helpful hints would be most welcome.

Thanks!

Dan

Edited September 1, 2006 by Hauptman

[Ralph A]

Get some dessicant packs.

Seal the room off.

Buy a de-humifier.

Move back to Florida.

[Hauptmann]

Get some dessicant packs.

Seal the room off.

Buy a de-humifier.

Move back to Florida.

Wouldn't mind the first one... but they'd have to be pretty big.

Would have to be sealed in with the goodies as far as the second one goes.

Working on the third one.

Never in a million years! Spent a total of 36 years there... too hot, too humid, too buggy, too many hurricanes and tornadoes... too many people... just too!

Would not trade where we are for all the money in the world or anything else.

Dan

[Ralph A]

#2:

If practical?

Remove everything from the room, including the trim on the walls. Seal every crack you can find with caulk, putty and/or Great Stuff. Don?t forget to pay close attention to the areas around the electrical outlets and lighting switches, and where floors meet ceiling and walls. Paint the walls, ceiling and floor with a good marine paint/sealant; reinstall the trim. Move the door casing back ?? and attach rubber seals. Use a low-nap indoor/outdoor carpet for the floor; no foam padding ? that will only absorb moisture. Get a good ventilation fan that vents to the outside of the house, if possible. Make sure to install the fan on the outside of the house, to draw the air from the room as opposed to "pushing" it out. If you can swing it, build a ?vestibule? outside the entry door, to form a sort of ?airlock.? That way, at least one door is always closed.

Install plenty of lighting, and all around - lots of low-watt bulbs to shine on your collection... keep several on at all times. The heat seepage will dry the air.

Pay particular attention to any windows. Seal them up tight.*

Worked for me. Four years later and no dust, no humidity, no mold. Like walking around inside a display case. It gets fairly humid here in VA at times; I was afraid I would also need a dehumidifier, but to date that has not been necessary.

*my room has no windows, so this might present a problem for you. You might have to seal that sucker up.

[Hauptmann]

#2:

If practical…

Remove everything from the room, including the trim on the walls. Seal every crack you can find with caulk, putty and/or Great Stuff. Don’t forget to pay close attention to the areas around the electrical outlets and lighting switches, and where floors meet ceiling and walls. Paint the walls, ceiling and floor with a good marine paint/sealant; reinstall the trim. Move the door casing back ?” and attach rubber seals. Use a low-nap indoor/outdoor carpet for the floor; no foam padding – that will only absorb moisture. Get a good ventilation fan that vents to the outside of the house, if possible. Make sure to install the fan on the outside of the house, to draw the air from the room as opposed to "pushing" it out. If you can swing it, build a “vestibule” outside the entry door, to form a sort of “airlock.” That way, at least one door is always closed.

Install plenty of lighting, and all around - lots of low-watt bulbs to shine on your collection... keep several on at all times. The heat seepage will dry the air.

Pay particular attention to any windows. Seal them up tight.*

Worked for me. Four years later and no dust, no humidity, no mold. Like walking around inside a display case. It gets fairly humid here in VA at times; I was afraid I would also need a dehumidifier, but to date that has not been necessary.

*my room has no windows, so this might present a problem for you. You might have to seal that sucker up.

Hi Ralph,

Actually, within the next year or two I hope to have the basement totally redone and expanded in the back as we're also going to add more all the way up, as well as having the roof raised over the second story and I'll probably institute all of these precautions and more. Once I'm done I hope to have a decent display room, a small office/den and a home theater down there as well as a bathroom and small bedroom for those times when we have really bad storms as we then could go stay down there and not worry if the house gets blown away!

But for now it looks like a constant struggle to stay ahead of it all.

Thanks again.

Dan

[Les]

#2:

If practical?

Remove everything from the room, including the trim on the walls. Seal every crack you can find with caulk, putty and/or Great Stuff. Don?t forget to pay close attention to the areas around the electrical outlets and ............

What? Not --one-- mention of duct tape????? Any fan of the Red Green Show and general handyman type would have found at least one place or use for the stuff on that job...

Les

Edited September 11, 2006 by Les

[Hauptmann]

What? Not --one-- mention of duct tape????? Any fan of the Red Green Show and general handyman type would have found at least one place or use for the stuff on that job...

Les

Hi Les,

I'm ROFL! Trust me when I say... if there's a way to put some duct tape to use... I'll find it. Great to see there's at least one more fan of RG among our members.

Many thanks!

Dan