had good luck wiping with ballistol, seems to prevent it coming back for a good while,
I'll pull stuff out the safe and rub them down as needed or usually about every 18 months,

slings stored in a zippy bag,

 

Pecards leather dressing i what I use. Maybe you need a dehumidifier.

 

+1 to dehumidifier. I do the basement arsenal storage as well and I have two dehumidifiers running 24/7 during the spring/summer. I empty them daily during that time. No issues with mold.

 

I use what my mold remediation company recommended. That is a 2 % solution by weight of sodium carbonate and water. Spray the affected article and wipe off with paper towels. Cleans and prevents re-growth. Let it dry and apply an appropriate leather dressing. Sodium carbonate can be purchased on-line or at the grocery store as Arm and Hammer Washing Soda. I also use it to clean the blower fan in my PTAC unit. Keeps mold from growing there too. A dehumidifier is a good suggestion.

 

+1 on ballistol for stocks and slings. REG for metal. Every six months or so.

 

white mold on vintage leather..............use lemon juice with some water.

 

Aim for a constant storage temperature, say around 18 Celcius, & suitable humidity level, say 45% - 55 %, then should be no worries.

 

i bought a dehumidifier from amazon installed it on the side of basement where i keep my biggest safe with the good stuff in it. placed it on a plastic work stand from home depo installed a condensate a/c pump ran it to the outside of house my wife catches the water and feeds it to her ferns outdoors. nothing molds on these side of basement also placed a humidity rod inside safe at bottom.

 

This stuff kills mould: spray on and let dry. Will not harm surfaces they say. I bought a mouldy car once which had sat outside, unopened for a couple of years. It was rank and furry inside, but a couple of gallons of that stuff sprayed over everything with a garden sprayer fixed it.

 

 

You have to reduce the humidity. That's the key.

 

You can oven bake some leather things too, Google it and there are all sorts of instructions on how to safely do so. The theory is that you have to kill all the mold spores basically, with the heat.

 

A good wet wiping with Everclear to kill the spores, dry well, then wipe down with Ballistol. Used to live down by the Texas Gulf Coast and battled the "white fuzz" until an Old Phart introduced me to this trick.

 

No! I drink everclear !

 

As some here have said, you need to lower the humidity. A dehumidifier will work wounder in a small room and those moisture traps work well in the safes. I live out on the eastern side of Oregon (the dry side) and still use the moisture traps in my safes. I replace them twice a year, but you might have to do it every month if you live in a humid climate.

(these are the traps:

 

The only way is to reduce the humidity with a dehumidifier. The golden rod works by raising the temperature in the safe relative to the temp in the rest of the area which reduces the "relative humidity" based on temperature increase only in the safe. A 25W bulb would also do the same thing. The packs are useless since they have absorbed about all they will take in a day or two, and even then, what 1/2 pint? If you run a 60 pint a day dehumidifier and empty it every day...do the math on the packs....useless. I shoot for 48% over the summer, and run the A/C almost all summer. Small fans help balance it out as well. Cutting in a return air grill in a basement is also a huge deal if it's not finished living space. If the area is not nice enough to sleep next to the safe, then why would your guns want to sleep there if it's dank and nasty?

 

Can’t offer any additional advice that’s already been given out. But dehumidifiers will work wonders at preventing. And also using the solutions given for cleaning up what’s shown itself.

 

Guys, thanks for all the suggestions on treating/preventing this. I'll try some of the home remedies today.

the rooms in question are the basement of an addition I put on about 17 years ago. The additions are heated but hte basement rooms are not. No a/c or return air possible. I have had a bit of this trouble over the years but this year is the worst by far.

I'm running a dehumidifier in there now. I switched it from a different part of the basement. I'm also ordering one from Amazon.

 

Guys, thanks for all the suggestions on treating/preventing this. I'll try some of the home remedies today.

the rooms in question are the basement of an addition I put on about 17 years ago. The additions are heated but hte basement rooms are not. No a/c or return air possible. I have had a bit of this trouble over the years but this year is the worst by far.

I'm running a dehumidifier in there now. I switched it from a different part of the basement. I'm also ordering one from Amazon.

not sure where you are from, but this has been a very humid year in Central VA, temps not bad or too much above normal, but humidity levels have been horrible,


lost my AC in the shop for about 2 weeks, kept fans going, dehumidifier (large one filled up every day) and still had to give every gun a ballistol bath at least twice before I got the AC fixed

 

We are moving in less than two weeks to a house with a basement. That's where I am keeping my collection. I already keep desiccant in my safe but I will be adding dehumidifiers to the mix.

 

Watch the “bowl” type dehumidifiers. Had one in a safe when lived in Cali. Earthquake, Northridge, IIRC came along and spilled the liquid on several firearms. Very caustic solution!!!

 

I have a golden rod in each of my safes. You can put them on a timer so as not to run 24/7 if you want. No issues in any of the 5 safes. Also have one in my powder/primer cabinet. There's also something I got years ago,(don't recall where) that's something that looks like one of those cardboard dehumidifiers that you recharge by putting it in the oven but it puts out a vapor that is anti rust. Good luck!

 

You could vacuum pak them with roll stock Foodsaver bags and a small desiccant pack.

 

I will wipe the white mold off with dryer sheets o get from my wife. I have the dehumidifiers and Golden rods, but humidity is very low where I live, a d white mold is on something I usually buy at a gun show. Dryer sheet also good for the green verdigree. (Sp)

 

Some leathear treatment like Pecards leather treatment and other types contain active organic hydrocarbons.
This can allow the formation of white mold when conditions like high humidity, low light and cool temperatures are present.

Reducing humidity levels, good air flow and oil treatments that do not contain active organic hydrocarbons like Mineral Oil can resist the formation of white mold.

Diluted Isopropyl Alcohol (aka rubbing alcohol) can elimunate most of the white mold.
Test first that is does not remove any surface color etc.

 

Clean them with G96 regularly, and treat any wood by praying Pledge onto a white tshirt and gently apply. I have mausers and mosins etc. I keep them in an attic in a safe locked and the attic is hotnin summer, never any rusting, or white fuzz etc. It might be you're basement need a dehumidifier and you can get a humidor like for cigars for gun cases.

 

If you're able, you can leave the moldy items outside in the sunshine for a while. The UV rays do a number on the mold spores.

 

We were gone on vacation for about 10 days. Day after we got back, I went down to check the collection and that white fuzzy mold crap was all over some stuff! I had multiple Enfields and Mausers with it. Leather field gear and even some binos.

Does anyone have a way to treat/prevent this crap from happening? This is a basement, no windows but 2 8''x16'' vents. The don't flow enough air but that's what I have.

Thanks for any input.

I have the same problem but it's only only WW1 an