Some leather surfaces get a whitish coating, blackish spots or take an unpleasant odour due to improper storage. In most cases it's mold.
LEATHER CLOTHING
Mold spores are not completely removed by a superficial cleaning. The majority of the mold is not visible. Therefore just cleaning the surface is not sufficient. We recommend to wash the leather garments with COLOURLOCK Leather & Fur Wash Concentrate and to treat before with COLOURLOCK Leather Fixative. Please pay attention to our washing instructions for leather clothing. The Fixative kills the mildew and the detergent washes the smell out. On extremely strong smelling objects, the smell can't be completely eliminated. Important: After washing and treating do not store the clothing again in a bag or in a humid environment without air circulation. This will cause the mold to re-appear.
CAR UPHOLSTERY AND LEATHER FURNITURE
The following instruction is for pigmented leather (colour finish on the surface). In case of other types of leather, always contact a specialist first. In particular porous leather (suede, nubuck and aniline leather) must be treated cautiously!
Leather should be stored at room temperature with humidity level of 40 to 60 percent. An adequate air circulation must be ensured. Air humidity of more than 70 percent, high temperature and lack of air circulation support the growth of fungi and bacteria.
We cannot answer comprehensively if mold can be removed with cleaning and care products alone. It largely depends on the duration the leather was exposed to adverse environmental conditions and every case has to be looked at differently. Little bit of mold that appears on vintage car seats after a few months, usually can be removed by simple means. Upholstery parts, where the mold has spread over several years, are rarely removable. The reason is not only the visible soiling on the leather. Mostly the entire inner core of the upholstery is infected with mold and the smell remains despite thorough cleaning. The mold spores are blown out together leaving an unpleasant odour.
Spraying air fresheners or other perfume to mask the smell does not solve the problem either. It only results in a mixture of perfume and mildew smell. Such severe cases can only be solved by replacing upholstery and leather by a saddler.