What to do With Moldy Tack

What to do with your horse’s moldy tack

Sometimes, we have tack or leather equipment that is stored away in bins or trailers or garages. You stumble upon it or go looking for it, and you find your very own leather Petrie dish of gross. Mold, mildew, that greenish-whitish fuzzy film on your tack can be hard to remove.

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Molds and mildews reproduce with spores – so your cleaning needs to happen far away from other tack – the spores can dislodge from your tack and land on other tack.

In a nutshell – mold and mildew are contagious to other saddles and bridles! But hopefully pretty easy to get rid of.

Gross, but easy to take care of.

Easy solutions here for getting rid of mold on leather.

Set it in the sun for a few hours! Sunlight will kill those spores.

Now you can use plain white vinegar to remove what’s left. Vinegar can be a tad drying, so if the mold is thick, try and remove what you can with a brush, towel, rag, or toothbrush. Then use the vinegar.

It starts small….. and sometimes hidden…

Now you are ready to clean the tack like you normally would.

Start by removing the dust and stuff with a damp rag.

Then use a glycerine soap (or soap of your choice). If your tack is moldy, it probably also needs deep conditioning treatment, so some neatsfoot oil will do the trick.

It’s also a good idea if you live in extremely damp climates to consider a dehumidifier for your tack room.

These handy machines keep your leather goods in the best condition by removing water from the air.

There’s also the option of Damp-Rid, a staple in most basements to cut the damp and musty smells.

You can also use the little desiccant packets from your horse’s supplements in areas where you store infrequently used tack. These packets help keep excess moisture away from your leather goods. You’re going to need a lot of packets.

Any other ideas?

What to do if your leather is DRY and CRACKED

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