Removing Mold Smell?

[LittleMan]

My brother got a pair of leather shoes really wet and left them wet in a closet...
They now reek of mold smell...

any ideas on how to get rid of this mold smell??
we haven't tried leather cleaner yet, but I was just wondering if anyone has any tricks they know of for getting rid of mold smell.

thanks in advance! :thumbup:

 

[The_Traveler]

get rid of the shoes.

(nothing else will work if the mold is between layers)

 

[Big Mike]

Dry them out...put them out in the sun or maybe in your dryer.

 

[JohnMF]

traveler might be right. i had a leather jacket which got wet and left in the wardrobe and the same thing happened. Had to throw it out

 

[Christie Photo]

Well... along the same line...

Anyone have thoughts about getting the smell of smoke out of a car?

Thanks!

 

[ferny]

You sure it's not bacteria from his feet you can smell? Give them a good squirt of stuff to kill them.

 

[Big Mike]

Anyone have thoughts about getting the smell of smoke out of a car?

I worked at a large car wash while going though Tech School...I've had plenty of experience in this.

The first thing is to clean and shampoo the carpets and seats (if they are fabric). If you don't have a steam cleaner with hand held attachment, you can use cleaner and a shop vac. Watch for other bits of fabric that may need to be cleaned as well...door panels, head liner etc. We also had a 'fogger'. I'm not sure exactly what the chemical was, but we had a device that made a thick fog from a liquid chemical which we sprayed into the vehicle and left to settle into the fabric. I'm sure you could use something like Fabreeze to get the same effect. We would also used compressed air to blow out the air vents (probably best to do this before you clean everything else). There is a product that is made specifically for cleaning vents...it's an expanding foam that you spray into there...but I've never used it. I think it's more for getting rid of mold that may have formed from the condensation caused by using AC.

That should pretty well help with the smoke smell. You might as well clean the rest of it while you are at it. Especially on older (more used) cars...surfaces like the steering wheel and door handle can become grimy. Use a good cleaner and a brush to get that off.

Make sure the inside of the vehicle is allowed to dry and use something like Fabreeze on the fabric (if you want).

 

[The_Traveler]

The problem with killing mold is that mold spores are impervious to damn near anything that won't ruin the shoes. When dried, the mold smell might diminish close to zero, but when the shoes get wet or moist, the mold spores will burst forth again with even more pungent smells.