My Leather and Knives stink!

T

thatsaknife

Joined
Mar 27, 2015
Messages
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Hello folks. I have foolishly been storing all my knives in their sheaths in a drawer in my old tool cupboard with no issues for years. I chucked in my daily wear buck 112 in its sheath about a year ago when I started carrying a pocket clip folder. A couple months later when I opened the old drawer it was full of mold and very smelly. I cleaned it all off but the drawer and its contents were still smelly. I recently abandoned the drawer removed all the knives from sheaths wrapped the sheaths in paper and put them in a card box as recommend in my search for answers. Everything still stinks including the knives and my hands after handling the knives. I now have my knives in a hanging rack inside the tool closet to get airflow and have one sheath hanging in garage to see if fresh air will get the smell out. So far no luck. Has any one ever experienced this issue?
Thanks.
 
Yes. I've had some musty smells with leather sheaths back in the day. I don't remember how I dealt with it. That was 20+ years ago. Today, nothing but kydex or plastic for me. I also keep desiccant packs in my knife drawer to help absorb moisture.

Someone who is more up to date on leather care will chime in.

Not much help, sorry and good luck.
 
I think you may be right. I have had mold on my home made natural leather sheaths and the mink oil rubbed it off but the Buck sheath seems to have added an extra foul intensity to the stench.Maybe they use a chemical in the tanning or something that sets it off?
 
Maybe try Murphy's oil soap.
I haven't had that issue but... it can be used on leather.
 
Do the leather sheaths have white particulate on them? What you can do is use Isopropyl alcohol to clean them up. Should work, but I ain't claiming it will work for you but it did for me. stay safe
 
There are some cleaning units that use ozone or UV light to kill mold, bacteria and other biological elements and will deodorize. They are used in cpap cleaning and work in about 30 minutes . This might be a way to save the leather and clean the knives.
 
Vinegar in a spray bottle should do the trick. It kills most kinds of mold and won't harm the leather, spray it on and wipe it off, let a little soak in so it kills the mold that has permeated the leather. Once it dries it's probably wise to condition the leather to help protect it. It will stain your blades so don't let it sit on your blades very long, but you can wipe the knives down with it, just rinse them well, dry, and oil.
 
I was also thinking vinegar and hot sun, but if the mold got in deep you may have some work to get the smell gone
 
Thanks for all the help fellas. I have had some success with spraying alcohol(during these times a spray bottle of alcohol seems always on hand) and hanging the sheath out in the sun. Time in fresh air may help as well as a leather archery bracer that always hangs in garage has zero scent.
 
If you have a lot of knives, I would suggest you put tags on the sheaths that you seldom use so you can link the correct sheath to the specific knife in the future after memory fades. :D I do this with guns as to when I sighted them in and with what ammo.... mostly 22's since I have run a lot of different brands through the guns over time.
 
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