Help please .leather questions.

[Toddy]

Two queries really.

Firstly, any good advice on how to get a damp musty smell out of leather ? I have a sheath that stinks of mildew and I'd really like to be able to use it without thinking I wish I had bleach to hand.

Secondly, I have been repairing a pair of my mocassin slippers by attaching a new sole. Lazily I just cut out a new sole and stuck it on with contact adhesive. The damned stuff ran though and now I have two 'snotters' of glue runs on the side. I've removed the surface stuff, but what will take the glue 'out' of suede leather ?

cheers,
Toddy

 

[mountainm]

1. Tea tree oil
2. Not much I'm afraid. You could try various solvents but could ruin the suede.

[Edit] chewing gum remover may be worth a try.

 

[Angst]

cant help here sorry toddy....dreadys done a bit of footwear....maybe he'll know,

s

 

[Toddy]

Thanks Mike, I'll give the teatree a go. It sounds a very good idea.

Cheers Angst it's not dreadful, but I can see the marks. It's a pair of Clark's slippers that I took apart and re-lined with wool, and thought to thicken up the sole a bit since I'd unstitched the hard plastic one that I loathed. The new suede sole works brilliantly and they're very comfortable, but it'd be nice not to have the mess at all on them.

M

 

[mountainm]

No problem. It's also a fungicide so should prevent it coming back too...

 

[mrcharly]

tee tree and eucalyptus mixed in some water + alcohol in a small spray bottle (like old perfume), give it a really good shake and spray.

 

[stuart f]

Hi Mary, I've not been on in a while, but the first post i spied was this one, while i can help with your predicament, you had me ending my self with your description of the "Snotters" glue runs, priceless.

I hope alls well with you and yours.

Atb chortling Stuart.

 

[Toddy]

Evening Stuart
Long time no see; I hope life's treating you kindly and the family are all well.

Sorry about that comment in the OP but I couldn't think of any other way to describe the wee slitters.

The tea tree oil has worked a treat so far

Apparantly the volatile chemical stuff in the glue is toluene, and that's what will dissolve it, but it might alter the colour of the suede too.

atb,
M

 

[mountainm]

Good to hear it's worked Mary.

 

[WoodGnome]

Can you put up a picture of the stains? Maybe there are alternatives to chemicals depending on how bad it is...

 

[stuart f]

Evening Stuart
Long time no see; I hope life's treating you kindly and the family are all well.

Sorry about that comment in the OP but I couldn't think of any other way to describe the wee slitters.

The tea tree oil has worked a treat so far

Apparantly the volatile chemical stuff in the glue is toluene, and that's what will dissolve it, but it might alter the colour of the suede too.

atb,
M

Evening to you too, yeah we are all fine thanks for asking. No need to apologize about the OP, it just reminded me of my mother saying when i was but a bairn, that she was sick of the sight of my silver sleeves, i hated hankies .

Cheers Stuart.

Oops sorry for the thread hijack.

 

[Ch@rlie]

Dont know if this will work regards smell removal from leather but worth a try.
Put Bicarbonate soda in and leave for a day or few.

I had milk flood a rucksack once, where a mate borrowed it and stood it in the top of my open rucksack thinking it wouldnt fall. It did..
he hadnt put the lid on properly.. this was while we were away during a very hot weekend. Milk has the worst smell known when it goes off. I got it washed out asap but the smell would not go. I remembered the use of bicarbonate sode for removing smells in fridges and plastic pots.
Emptied a tub into my rucksack and shook it about rubbed it in ect. Few days later the smell was gone. I used a hoover to remove it.

 

[Hibrion]

This won't be much good to you now, but if any oily stuff gets on suede in future you can sometimes 'suck' it out while still wet by applying baby powder. I'm afraid I've yet to find a good way to clean nasty stuff like this out of suede when dried in though.

 

[Toddy]

It has darkened to streakiness and isn't quite so noticeable. I can see it, and know I wish I had paid more attention, but it's not making them unwearable, just kind of scruffy.

M

 

[WoodGnome]

Well, although I haven't seen it you could try the following:

1. Wet leather a little with water.
2. Put a damp tissue or towel on the stains.
3. CAREFULLY press an iron on the towel/tissue (where the spots are of course).

Ideally the glue you used is not water-soluble. It will heat up and get fluid, the water in the leather will vaporize and take the glue out into the tissue. However, you'd have to be really careful to not burn the thing.

 

[NoName]

Swedish Pine Tar

 

[Toddy]

I've been doing some reading about the glue I used. The three known solvents that will actually remove the glue are toluene, xylene and acetone.
All will 'leach' the dye colour from the suede too though.

I have two small dark runs, that's it. It's just that I'm fussy, and it's annoying me that I wasn't more careful. I admit I didn't expect the glue to run though. I have removed the glue from the surface, but the stuff that soaked into the leather isn't going to soften or be absorbed into anything unless re-diluted with one of the aforementioned chemicals.

At this stage I'm just going to leave it alone and just mind to be a lot more careful next time….and keep the talcum powder handy

Thanks for all the suggestions folks

M

 

[mountainm]

I've use nail varnish remover (acetone) successfully on leather to remove permanent marker without affecting the dye.

 

[Toddy]

That's good to know…I might give it a wee shot and see if it's taking it out. Maybe just use cotton buds and kind of 'target' the runs.

cheers,
M