It is raining in many parts of India right now, and during this humid weather, sometimes you might have noticed a strange white or green dusty layer develop on your shoes, handbags, wallets etc. During my childhood, I have seen it a few times on my school shoes.
When you try to remove that dust, you find dirty white patches with discoloration. It is caused by the development of molds on the surface of leather goods, especially items lying unused in a dark and humid place in your house. Molds may also develop on a leather item, which might have gotten wet in the rain and you did not air it properly to let it dry, for example the wallet in your back pocket.
The first step is precaution. During rainy season, show some air and sunlight to all your clothes/ shoes for atleast 30 minutes, whenever the Sun is out. Place some Charcoal in your house, Rice grains in your cupboard or silica gel sachets inside your shoes to absorb the moisture. Charcoal is the best dehumidifier and it also cleans up the air. Put some charcoal in empty old tin boxes and place in certain areas of your home to absorb excess humidity in the air. You can also put a piece of charcoal inside each of your shoe boxes.
To clean up the mold from your leather jacket, shoes or purses, simply dip a cotton ball in some body lotion and wipe it clean. Any body lotion would do. Make sure to cover your mouth while cleaning or don't bring the item too close to your mouth where you might inhale the spores from that fungus.
Most kids body lotions have antimicrobials added in the form of parabens or phenoxyethanol. So if you have kids, you can use the left over lotion in an old baby lotion bottle. Add a few drops of water to dilute, if required and that is enough to restore your leather item back to a clean shiny surface.
For suede or velvet shoes, you might need to gently brush off the spores/dusty fungus with a dry old toothbrush. Make sure to do that out in the Sun and not inside the house to prevent the mold from spreading to other household items. Then dip the brush into lemon juice and gently rub the affected area. Wipe with a wet rag and let it air dry in the sun for a couple of hours. Sprinkle anti-fungal medicated foot powder inside the shoe.
The limonene in lemon juice is a powerful natural antifungal agent. Also, cleaning with lemon juice reduces the chances of discoloration or fading in the moldy patches.
The limonene in lemon juice is a powerful natural antifungal agent. Also, cleaning with lemon juice reduces the chances of discoloration or fading in the moldy patches.
I have been doing this for many years whenever I have chanced upon such fungus, and it really works. Body lotion can also be used once in a while, to simply clean grime from your handbags, shoes or leather jackets.
wow..very informative post dear..i really didn't knw abt charcoal or lotion.I am bookmarking this post as u know in UK all the time raining n raining but nw a days its quite nice weather 30 degree..n loving it..but this post is v helpful...thanks for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteWow, I didn't know UK can also get temperatures up to 30 degrees, I am sure it must be a relief. Charcoal and rice grains are both very helpful as they absorb moisture. I throw a few rice grains in the biscuit tin/ box and that prevents the crispiness even in rains. And charcoal sucks the moisture from the air, keeping it healthy. Thanks for liking Tej :)
DeleteI have leather boots and bag. It will be really helpful for me. thanks for sharing this Gagan:)
ReplyDeleteThanks Niesha. I use left over diluted cleansing milk even for regular cleaning of all shoes be it leather or some other material. It effectively cleans the grime without hurting the footwear. Glad you found it helpful!
Deletei never knew about the cleansing with lotion part.. very helpful gagan... mumbai these days is all the time wet.. no matter how hard i try to keep footwear or other leather items free from mold, it shows up some time or the other..
ReplyDeleteand gagan, applying lemon juice will not fade the color??
For leather, most times lotions are enough to clean. For suede and velvette, lemon juice is helpful. As we will be wiping it with a wet cloth, we are not leaving behind the lemon juice. You can rub in the juice with an old toothbrush and once it feels clean, rub in water in circular motions with the brush and leave to air/sun dry. In fact, I have always used lemon to remove stains which no other method can remove, like stains of green grass or plants on clothes come off only with lemon. And I just heard from someone else too that it's still raining a lot in mumbai. Must be really difficult to manage so much in the humid weather and commuting to the office.
Deleteits raining cats and dogs!!... hahaha
Deletecontinuous cleaning is on but the major part will be done once the monsoon is over.. :)
awww I am sure that's too much of extra work. Same happens here after winters :)
DeleteThis is so helpful :D well written :D
ReplyDeletexoxo <3
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Glad you found it helpful Shanaya. Thanks for reading :)
Deletehi Gagan,
ReplyDeleteIts really a blessing to have a knowledgeable person sharing all his/her practical suggestion with us. I'm damn sure everyone needs these solutions when they face similar issues. Atleast i wasn't aware of these tips..n now after knowing them, feeling quite happy n confident that my leather stuff can be managed well by me in all seasons.
Thnx a lot
Awww thanks a lot Shilpa, that's a HUGE compliment to be called a 'blessing' <3 And sharing does help. You know, even I learn a lot when readers interact and share their experiences, so the blessing is both ways :) I am glad you found this helpful.
DeleteWe are not getting much rain yet but it's still very humid and cloudy all the time, so I do need to be at a watch as molds appear on some things. Even food rots so quick these days.
Really helpful tips! Thanks a lot
ReplyDelete"Knowledge bhandaar"mein se phir kuchh precious nikla, which enlightened me to the core. i love to read your articles, so well done they are .... HATS OFF ! ... and not to forget, this is one more superb piece of info ....
ReplyDelete