Removing mildew from leather sheath & blade

M

Maverick212

Joined
Jul 20, 2009
Messages
2
I'm new to the forum and looking for advice on removing mildew from the leather sheath of a newly-acquired Gerber Mark 1, as well as the blade and guard.
I don't know if others of you on here have experienced this, but it seems an awful lot of knives for sale on eBay arrive in this aggravating state.
This is just such the case with this knife - as well as a bit of dry rot on the sheath strap.
I was thinking I'd wipe down the blade/guard with an alchohol swab and the sheath as well, and air it out in the sun -- any other tips?
The mildew is primarly on the inside of the sheath strap (there's visible corrosion on the sheath strap snaps) and along the edge of the sheath.
I was glad to win this knife, but I sure wish it hadn't been stored in someone's dank disgusting basement...
 
The alcohol/sun would probably help. I had a real bad one that I used anti-bacterial dish-soap, warm water and a toothbrush on. Once the sheath is clean and dry, recondition the leather with neetsfoot oil, mink oil, sno-seal or something like that. Have fun!
 
No problem, bud. Unless the leather is really rotten, you should be able to clean it up pretty decent. :)
 
That's the first time I've heard that, orthogonal1. Could you elaborate please? What do you mean when you say the leather comes "loose"?
 
Unless applied very sparingly, neetsfoot oil will allow leather to stretch, and the leather remains soft and flexible after treatment. Alcohol will also allow leather to stretch, but the leather will harden up again once the alcohol evaporates out of it.
 
Mahoney's right, a little neetsfoot goes a long way. You may have just used too much. Like almost anything else, it's best to apply a thin light coat, let it soak in and see what you've got.
 
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