How to clean mildew off Chanel lambskin?

Hi Roger,
I was inspecting some of my mother's Chanel bags the other day and to my horror, a couple of them had mildew. Also 2 "box leather" looking Prada ones and a "box" Gucci.

I have to admit I panicked and used Google's recommended tip of using a cloth moistened equal parts water and alcohol. Not sure if it worked or not, as in some it wiped off the mildew, but in others it left an unsightly whitish discoloration that looked similar to the original mildew spot. Gladly, the spotty one was on the inside of a bag!

Did I make a mistake by using water/alcohol?If so, how do I clean & restore them properly, including removing the whitish discolorations?

The Prada bags' surface finish looks cracked where it bends. Is there a temporary fix (like cream wax) and a permanent one (stripping and refinishing the bag again)?

Also, some spots on one of the chains started to turn green. Can I fix that?

Thanks again, Roger!

>>> I was inspecting some of my mother's Chanel bags the other day and to my horror, a couple of them had mildew.

Where is your location?

If you are in Phoenix Arizona, this phenomenal will be unheard off.

In Florida then, ‘mildew’ would be a common problem.

Mildew is a microbial, and just like taking antibiotic for long term preventive growth will need KillMold-3.6 treatment on a 8 month cycle for ‘mildew’ prone geographic areas.

Physical damages will need restoration that matches the leather finishes.

Let see some pictures and I will walk you through both on prevention and restoration.


>>> Did I make a mistake by using water/alcohol?

Water - Leather pH value is between 3 and 5. Average tap water has a pH value of 7. So water does damage pH sensitive leather as water stain or spotting, because these leathers behaves like litmus paper and register the appearance as such.

Alcohol – Well alcohol is a ‘dry solvent’ and will remove most of leather finishes; it will also cause dye bleeding. Alcohol will also dries up the original fatliquor - ionic negative (–ve) charged fat and oil causing the leather to shrink and fibers becoming stick together and when flexed cracks. To correct leather dryness will need Hydrator-3.3 to relax and separates the fiber preconditioning it for Fatliquor-5.0 replenishing to return to its original suppleness. Just like topping our car engine oil so that the pistons work smoothly or a rusty hinge will need the rust first removed and lubricated thereafter to return to the original smooth swing.


>>> The Prada bags' surface finish looks cracked where it bends. Is there a temporary fix (like cream wax) and a permanent one (stripping and refinishing the bag again)?

Repairs may be accomplished with Bond-3D + Stucco-90 + Micro-54 > Refinishing, but it need to be rejuvenated with Hydrator-3.3 > Fatliquor-5.0. Otherwise the repairs may be short live as any stiff leather will continue to crack with poor suppleness.


>>> Also, some spots on one of the chains started to turn green. Can I fix that?

Yes, these are tarnish metallic stains.
It will need a redox (reduction-oxidation) reaction like CleanTarnish-1.3 to do its work.

Thanks, Roger. I will add them to my list!