MOLD

Skip to the end question if you don't want to read all of my ramblings today...

So much humidity! There's no escaping it and with humidity and in addition to creating a comfy environment for Thrush, here comes every tack room's best friend: MOLD, or MOULD if you are so inclined. Even my purty tack box has fallen victim. Max's mom was too quick to tell me there was no mold in there while I was gone. I found it when I got home. It wasn't too bad at first glance but once I dug around... Not only was it on leather, it was on my clipper bag, the entire inside of my LamiCell helmet, my old Aegis helmet, a stray treat, 2 rolls of vetwrap, my earmuffs, and my bit warmer and I was not at all pleased to see it growing ON THE WOOD ITSELF. Dang. AND I opened up my blanket chest to find it on my newest winter blanket. Double Dang.

To war.

The washables went into hot water wash with vinegar and dried in the sun. The clipper bag didn't fare so well in the wash but I can fix it. The helmet is still a bit ripe after vacuuming, dabbing with lemon juice and a generous dousing (or two) of Lysol spray. Might need another approach if it's going to be wearable. I tossed my old Aegis helmet since It won't adjust anymore anyway and that's just not safe. That was actually hard. It was my first approved helmet! The blanket is airing out while I make a plan to take it to the laundromat. More on that later.

After a bit of research I chose a bleach/water solution and wiped out the box. And even though the Lysol can says not to use on polished wood I used that, too, then set a fan in front of it and left it open for a few days. Then I bought a 2-pack of Damp Rid containers and put one in the door closest to the bottom compartments where it was worst, but I think I need to add the other one into the main compartment. The container says "up to 45 days..." we'll see about that. The wood is still clean today... I shouldn't have said that outloud. Blerg! I've removed most of the contents of the compartments for the time being.

It seems to like my English saddle and my western headstall the best, as well as the franken-halter I made out of parts of one leather halter and one nylon halter. You might remember the photos from last year. Not that bad this year, thankfully. I cleaned them with Saddle Soap and used my Bick4. That BTW is the best stuff EVAR, but today the mold was already back so it's not the best at mold prevention. Triple Dang.

So time for more research... It seems there are two leather care products that claim to be anti-fungal. One is Leather Therapy and the other is the Belvoir line from Carr & Day & Martin. Both have a cleaner and a conditioner. The Belvoir also comes in wipes.

The Leather Therapy claims to be the only one, but Belvior says it too. Equusnow carries both of them so I can get them right on my way to the barn.

Adding to my list of things to consider if I ever build my own barn: TACK ROOM WINDOWS that create tons of ventilation and let the mold-killing light shine on in.

So, Dear Readers, have you tried either of those products? Something else? I'm a little worried about the winter blanket because the tag says to wash on cold but I think I need it warmer to kill the mold.... ?? Thoughts??