[lugerholsterrepair]

Gerben, Oven preheated to 212f / 100 Celcius.
With the door open, placed holster on the rack.


Killing mold on vintage leather has been an interest of mine for some time. I have used as high as 350 F in a closed oven and let the heat reduce to nothing. My thought is..a lesser temperature melts the flowers but I have always wanted to kill what makes the flowers, the spores. 350 F does no damage. It is 100 degrees F away from burning. 350 F SUSTAINED WILL damage leather however. What you are after is enough heat penetrating into leather to do the job of completely making the holster incapable of regenerating mold that is left behind.

Saying this, we all must realize mold is everywhere in our environment. When the mold cured holster is cooled, it has the possibility of attracting mold floating by. It is really only by ideal storage conditions that we can keep it in check.

I use a solar powered heat box to treat clients holsters I get that have mold prior to repair. No risk at all at 225 F. Even sustained temperature. At that temp the holster is HOT to the touch coming out of the box.
So this method works..until moisture, heat and mold spores all gather together again.