Question RE: Cleaning mold from shoes

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ehappy

Registered Guest
No piccies yet, as I just picked these shoes up.

I found some 40's platform peeptoe shoes that are olive green w/ivory piping - size 5 1/2.

I didn't really inspect them when I got them - just kind of picked them up and went on my merry way.

Got out to the car and started looking at them. I see little mold spots all over the vamp and soles and my little heart dropped. The leather on the heel was curling up and I could see mold spores under there...obviously someone stored them in a dark, dirty, moldy basement or something and they're now only a shadow of the beautiful shoes they were in the past. :(

Anyway, is there any hope for them? Should I take them to a professional to see if they can remove the mold or should I just take pictures of them, and then pitch them?

I'm sad!
 
Well...a lot of times mold embeds itself in fabric. I had a bag of vintage in my basement, and a washing machine leak got them wet without my knowledge. I never did get the molds spots out of most of the clothes, even after repeated washings.

I have removed mold from leather shoes before. Are your shoes leather or fabric?

Laura
 
Thanks, Laura. The upper is leather, not fabric. The soles are leather as well.

Is there a special product I should use to attempt to remove it?
 
Well, I'm not sure. On my leather shoes, I just brushed it off with a rag, then wiped them down with a wet rag. Worked for me.

I once bought some old, moldy leather horse halters at an auction. I wiped those down with a wet rag to remove the surface mold, then used a leather conditioner to soften them up.

Neither of those methods will kill mold, but (in my experience) it won't regrow as long as they're stored in a dry place.

I would hesitate to use bleach, which is said to kill mold, as it might damage the leather or alter the shoes' color.

Laura
 
I have had mold and mildew on MANY of the shoes from the old store. On the leather ones I just sprayed them with a little windex and wiped them off and then wiped them after than with a plain damp cloth to remove any windex.

On fabric shoes, like all the canvas summerrette I had/have I have used "bleach free" mildew remover for the bathroom, I believe the brand may have been lysol like Jonathan mentioned.
 
Would a 10% bleach solution on a rag do any harm to these? Bleach is the only thing that really kills mold, although household cleaners will do a lot to remove it. You would probably do well to have the insert replaced, if possible.
Are they nice shoes, other than the mold, that is?
 
Well, I put Lysol on them, then a bleach solution...the one shoe is so much worse than the other...so, here they are in their sad little glory. What do you say? Toss 'em or try to get find someone that loves them?
They're going to be a hard sell because of the size...and likely the color...the black stuff on the soles is mold stains...
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