Leather Knife Sheath

[Hedgehog]

This is not really Jeep related and it is sort of tool related.

I'm a predator hunter and I have several knives that have become my absolute GO TO skinning tools. Oddly enough they are folding knives that live in a belt sheath much like the ever famous Buck knife.

So, the last time I used them was to satisfy a craving for rabbit stew. After skinning the knives were washed up using a tub I always bring and placed in their sheaths, then I washed myself and toweled off. There must have been some water left in the tub along with the wet towels. Usually no big deal because it's dry here and the knives are always put away. ..... well usually put away.

Last week I went fishing and to my horror I found my knives covered in BLACK mold. Luckily the knives themselves are Stainless Steel, but the nice leather cases were absolutely covered in ugly blackness.

I washed them in strong bleach and have dried them as much as possible, stuffing them with paper to hold their shape and left to dry.

Now for you leather guys, what do I do next? The leather will need some sort of oil and possibly some brown leather die. Any advice would be appreciated, these have been such excellent cases, I don't want to lose them.

Thanks
Michael

 

[cj7inthetwigs]

I can speak on mold itself. Last year we spent half our summer away . Upon returning to our cabin tucked away deep in the woods I found mold from the floor up to nearly 9' . Clothes, furniture everything was covered and the smell of funky mold spores! While no black mold was present , even in the basement I did learn I had a few options. First bleach is great for killing off mold spores. Bleach is not so good on anything you dont want ,well bleached. So I read about vinegar and found it more useful than just a jellyfish treatment along with baking soda . Vinegar kills mold because it is acidic. You may think its time to can pickles but will not wind up in the ER from breathing bleach fumes. I have always used saddle soap on my leather goods. Check your local shoe repair shop as to leather die.? Sorry for the long post but perhaps someone can use this information and gain from it.

 

[oldjeeplady]

I do saddle and tack repair and some custom leatherwork. My latest project is restoration and repair of an original leather scabbard for a M1 carbine for a fellow jeeper's 1941 MB project. (He is a friend from the CJ2a page). I also belong to several leather guilds.

I can give you some suggestions based on the the thought that your leather is veg tan. One of the best things to kill mildew/mold on leather is vinegar in a spray bottle. To remove the black stains something call oxalic acid is suggested. This will also remove the dye. Once it's clean and washed it must be conditioned as soon as possible to prevent drying and cracking of the leather. Since you have already used bleach () on your leather I would suggest several light applications of PURE neatsfoot oil - (not neatsfoot oil compound). If you have access to some clean wool fleece scraps - that works the best, there are also leather wool "daubers" which come in a few sizes that are less messy. Otherwise, a clean old white sock will work. Because leather is from live animals it needs to "live" and sort of breath. A number of light applications of the pure neatsfoot oil will in time bring your leather back, but only use as much as the leather will absorb and not excess ( as in don't soak the leather in a tub of this stuff). I usually leave the leather on some clean paper (not news print the ink will transfer) like packing paper to help absorb the excess or additonal white rags. Your do want to avoid excess lint in this process if possible. Once you get your leather flexible again you can consider what kind of stains/ dye you might want, but you may find the neatsfoot oil has darkened your leather and you will only need a top finish. I actually prefer a matt finish or satin rarther than gloss, but that is up to you. I like Fiebing's Tan kote instead of an acrylic finish. If you have access to a Tandy leather store, they have some nice water based stains and finishes in their "pro" line of finishes. But they are not cheap.... I got some Dr Jacksons leather product for restoration from them that works well as long as you just use a little at a time, again let it absorb, and then this product has some waxes built in which will buff out to a nice finish.

Another line of products I really like for mold/mildew on leather is the "Bee Natural" line of saddle soap, pure neatsfoot oil with added mildew protection, and a product they call Rudy's.

And most pro's use a colored edge coat (black or brown) to finish the edges once they are burnished/rubbed smooth.

If you have problems finding these things PM me as I buy these products in quantity and could probably set you up. I actally really enjoy bringing old leather products back to life....

 

[Hedgehog]

Yes, I know ...BLEACH... I thought long and hard before using it, but the mold spores were coming out of the insie of the sheaths in great coal like piles and I didn't know about vinegar being good for mold. I do now and will use it if faced with this in the future. I used the bleach for a few minutes, scrubbed everything quickly then rinsed them several times. Much to my surprise it seems to have worked. the leather has kept iut's shape nicely and dried with some flexibility. Now to work some oils and things back in to replace what was washed out. This must have been more than great leather in apperance, it held up well with some oil still in the leather. Like I said, now it is my job to restore the leather with the proper products.

When I ws very young my grandfather, a New York State Forester and farmer, used a mixture of bear grease, racoon and goodness knows what else to condition his leather. when the boots got wet the can of grease went on the heater, then we brushed it on and rubbed it in. By todays standards this might not be considered correct, but his Bean boots were old and smooth and supple. The tops out lived several gum rubber bottoms.

But times change almost before your eyes. Later we all used neats foot oilon our leather. Boots, belts, gloves, baseball gloves. Then the practice went out of style, neats foot oil was BAD, the sylicon oil is bad, mink oil has seen it's day in the sun. Now I'm at a loss as to what to use. oldjeeplady - you say to use Neatsfoot oil, but evidently not what I'm used to, PURE Neatsfoot Oil. I'll have to search a little bit for that.

A few years ago I got to know an old local leather guy (Tandy is gone around here these days), the type of old grouchy guy I enjoy because he knew leather and if you listened o him therewas always something to learn. Since then he's moved and quite possibly gone out of business. I hope not, I'll have to search for him as well.