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Moldy tack help

Horse Care
#1

Hi all,

So I have several bridles I’m fighting mildew/mold on. I lost my horse February 2018 and since then my bridles have been in storage. Had some issues with mold in our tack locker at the last barn where they were stored in 2018. Since then they’ve been in a closet in our house (north carolina) and then stored in a tack trunk on an enclosed porch for a while in Florida. Then moved to a closet in our house in Florida where they got pretty moldy as the closets were damp and didn’t get opened much. I cleaned everything non glycerin tack wash and made a new bridle rack in our laundry room. Area is open to the house but not as efficiently heated/cooled as the rest of the house. It is a decently large room and they are across the room from the washer and dryer.

Problem is they already have new mildew starting up 2 weeks after cleaning.

Anybody have a good product to use? Can I spritz with dilute bleach spray with drying the leather out? Bridles are older edgewood (4 of them) so want to keep them because I wouldn’t be able to afford to replace them when I start riding again.

#2

I clean moldy tack with vinegar to kill the funk. Follow with oil to keep the leather happy. If that doesn’t resolve the problem, your storage location may still be too humid.

2 Likes
#3

A good wash then vinegar and then maybe Oakwood conditioner with tea tree oil. But you need to store in a low humidity place or the mold will return.

My shoes went moldy over night in my bedroom in Hong Kong when the rainy season started. I had to get a sealed tote and dessicant.

#4

Leather Therapy wash and restorer/conditioner.

1 Like
#5

I use these products. Bought a farm and tack got chucked into a non climate controlled out building and No Mold. Some items I stashed in my stock combo trailer that’s parked under a carport and it took months to develop any mold. In FL. I didn’t do any cleaning or conditioning during the storage period. The tack in the out building is still mold free but I’ll likely try to clean condition it soon to keep it that way.

#6

Put them in a bridle bag with a hanging Damp Rid bag. You’re just going to keep fighting it in Florida.

I have one of these in my LQ closet in Alabama. Makes a huge difference.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/DampRid-14-oz-Fragrance-Free-Hanging-Moisture-Absorber-FG80FFE/315004328

2 Likes
#7

This.

Wipe down with vinegar, oil, and store with a dehumidifier or the damp rid packets.

Florida is rough to maintain leather, as it’s just so humid.

#9

Lysol to kill the mold and mildew. No joke. Recommend by several pro grooms and lifelong horsemen.

I got this advice after picking up a saddle that had been sitting in a horse trailer in humid central Maryland for 6 years. The thing was basically a gray-green lump, and driving 45 minute with it in the back of my SUV made me break out in hives bad enough that I had to go to the doctor for a steroid shot.

I put on gloves and a mask and sprayed the snot out of that thing and left it in direct sunlight, then cleaned it with Dawn. It killed the mold, for sure! Fair warning, you have to follow with LOTS of Hydrophane (I wound up using a whole can), but this tough love treatment brought it back to life.

After all that, it wound up not fitting my horse. But I learned how to resurrect moldy tack!

#10

Sunlight helps too. I had hung some bridles in a new bridle bag in my trailer in Virginia. Checked them about a month later and a solid wad of grey fuzz.

After much swearing and gnashing of teeth, I wiped it off with paper towels, sprayed everything down with a 50/50 diluted vinegar and water and laid it out in the summer sun while I did the barn. Then I took more diluted vinegar, a toothbrush and toothpicks, and scrubbed every hole, keeper, and foldover on that tack. Then a good cleaning with the Effax Leder-Combi with anti-mildew, let it dry further in the sun, then finished with Leather Therapy Conditioner. It was not a short process, as I’d had something like two whole bridles, some nosebands, and a breastplate in there.

Anything not in immediate use then moved into a Rubbermaid bin in my bedroom closet, where it has lived without a speck of mildew for about five years.

#11

We hired a mold remediation company to get rid of mold in my father’s house. Based on their expertise, we bought a sprayer like they had and also a case of Onslaught and routinely spray our basement (which has a gray-water system). A swipe with a cloth over leather or wood keeps mold off for months. First i vacuum really well, then swipe with Onslaught. Highly recommend! it’s what the professionals use. Safe for animals and people.

#12

Is there some other product called Onslaught? When I search for Onslaught I find an insecticide.

#13

the company does make an insecticide too. Keep looking. I had the mold guy buy it for me from his supplier. And the backpak sprayer too. But i think they might even carry it (already premade mix) at TS? I think i saw it there once…

#14

Pretty sure it’s this stuff. I had to order it when we had some water damage in a previous home.

2 Likes
#15

Thank you @luvmyhackney.

#16

Yes thats the stuff. Works like a charm, no odor, and even in our horrible graywater drain basement and you can use it on Persian rugs and saddles and old wooden hutches … no damage to any of the nice thingz

edit, well there IS an odor, but just a slightly astringent sort of smell. Not like Lysol or alcohol or pinesol

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