Removing mold and mildew from vintage and newer purses
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A friend of mine was given several trash bag loads of purses. There is a vintage Gucci( white..of course) some leather and vinyl bags. I just don't want to ruin them. And the smell? I told him I would do my best.
4 answers
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Place the purses in a bag with baking soda,cat litter or activated charcoal,let sit over night and the smell will dissipate.
Janet Pizaro
on Apr 26, 2016
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The vinyl bags will be the easiest to clean first because of the material...It will be a 2 part process...Cleaning the inside of the bags, you will need to get Simple Green using a 1:1 in a quart. Spray down the inside of the bag & then use a soft brush to work the Simple Green into every nook & cranny. Let it sit for a hr. Fill the inside of the bag w/ water...Then repeat the process...When done let let it air dry. Check for smell...If it is still there, then you need distilled white vinegar & baking soda...Make a paste of baking soda & scrub the inside of the bag. Let dry. Add the vinegar & let the bubbling action do it's thing. Let the bag air dry over night. Repeat w/ each vinyl bag. For the leather bags...Mold is harder to get out of leather so be prepared to do this several times. Mold shows on leather as a fine grey/whitish dots over an area usually in the edges & corners. You will need to get saddle soap, & a shaving brush. Apply the saddle soap w/ the shaving brush then use a soft cloth to remove it. Do this 1-2 times. Then allow the bag to air dry. You will repeat this process until you see that mold is gone. You will need to do this every day for as long as it takes. There really isn't a quick way to fix the mold problem faster. When you finally get rid of mold you will want to get Huberd's Leather conditioner to replace the natural oils that were stripped during the cleaning process. Apply Huberd's and allow it to sit on the leather for 1/2 hr. To remove use a soft cloth to remove the excess Huberd's.
Kayo Frazier
on Apr 26, 2016
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Also you can put wadded newspaper in the purses to help get rid of the smell.
Barb
on Apr 27, 2016
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The most important thing you can do is to get them into the open air. Fresh air circulating around the outside is important, but pulling out the lining is vital, as well. Depending on the severity of the mold, sometimes this is actually enough to kill the smell.
Alyssa Burgin
on Apr 27, 2016
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