How can I prevent/inhibit mould growth on my leather sofa, left in an empty apartment for 6 months at a time?
Written by admin on March 20, 2010 in FAQ
Tags: apartment., empty, growth, Leather, Left, months, mould, prevent/inhibit, Sofa, Time
My sofa is left in a holiday apartment that is shut up for 6-9 months at a time & although the flat is new, there is always a damp smell and a problem with mould growing on shoes and sometimes wood. The mould doesn’t grow on everything but it really seems to like growing on leather. We have to empty the cupboards etc of clothes and wrap & seal them in plastic bags. For obvious reasons we can’t leave windows open or leave a de-humidifier running. Can anyone help?
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cover with plastic
first, use saddle soap to clean it thoroughly. Although I have never seen saddle soap change the color of any leather I’ve used it on, do a test on a part that doesnt show. Then follow the directions. Next, use “mink oil” (brand name not real mink) to protect the couch, again, follow the directions. Then you can cover the couch in plastic or just use a furniture drape. Meantime, try to find the source of that moisture which is allowing the mold to grow in the apartment. There are some dehumidifiers which are made for large gunsafes, and run all the time safely. You might check that. Also, when I owned a large sailboat, that I kept in the water at a marina, I was able to purchase a dehumidifier/dryer that ran off houshold current and was safe to leave on for extended periods.
Good luck
I sounds like there is mold spores through out the house and it gets damp while you are away. I would try and wipe down as much of the place as possible with bleach water and a towel such as counters sinks water closet fridge and the gasket around the frig door. what you can’t bleach, then spray with Lysol. You can try and ball up old newspaper and leave them lying around to absorb the humidity or even a stack or two of cardboard boxes on the couches and chair to help try the air. I hope this helps oh yes leaves balls of newspaper in your fridge this will help allot.
Murphy’s oil soap should take care of the leather problem. The humidity problem does need to be taken care of tho.. and the de-humidifier is the best solution if the power is left on. If it’s a single story.. you could vent the ceiling in two places at either end of your home. If your current roof vent doesn’t allow for a lot of air flow.. install a bigger one. If you can get the air to circulate from the hot roof / attic space and into your living space, it will take the humidity out.
There is a specialist product called Em-Clean from LTT which removes mold frm leather without damaging it (it has been specially formulated for the job) and I think it will be OK on wood as well. You need this product as you need to kill the spores safely without doing damage.
There are only 2 products I know on the market for this job. The other is just called mold killer.
Do not use baby wipes, bleach or any other household remedies that people are likely to suggest as these will damage the leather.
Source(s):
http://www.LTTsolutions.net
Leather care consultants to the furniture and cleaning industries
the reason for the mold growth is there is to much humidity,get a good dehumidifier,also if the place is not heated in the winter you have a big problem, because the dehumidifiers will not work below certain temperatures.the dehumidifier can be left running if you hook up a water hose to the water tank, and let it go down a toilet or shower.
A dehumidifier is called for here, or, failing that, a climate control system.
thats disgustin
idk
You could buy some of those silica packets and see if that helps. They absorb moisture. If you don’t have some type of heat in there you are probably just fighting a losing battle.