Leather Care?

When I was a tour guide in Alaska, I got this really groovy leather cowboy hat. I don't wear it as much here in Buckeye land because people don't seem to understand hats here, but I will wear it for yard work and such.

Anywho, I have treated it with pine tar and beeswax in the past to waterproof it, but it has been awhile. I wore it out in the rain a couple of months ago and then came in and hung it on its hook in the mudroom. The mudroom is attached to the house, but not heated.

The other day, I glanced at the hat and noticed a little bit of mold growing on the hat. I brought it in and hung it over a heater vent, but how do I kill the mold and get rid of it? Is my hat ruined?

Heat was a bad idea. You didn't get it hot enough to kill the mold, only help it grow - and risked ruining the leather if it was dry heat. To wash it you'd use soapy water and a soft bristle brush, then use a conditioner on it. Let it dry somewhere inside and keep it hung up inside.

You might want to check around for more mold in the mudroom.

Wipe down the hat with vinegar water, then wash with Murphy's Oil Soap and very little water, and wipe down again with vinegar - that kills the mould. Let it dry, then repeat the Murphy's, and condition with Mink Oil. After the conditioner is absorbed, you can again treat with beeswax, however there is a product that makes leather water repellant, made specifically for leather.....and it's been a long time since I fixed leather harness, so have forgotten the name of the stuff.

I use Murphy's Oil Soap on my wood floors. While it smells ok on them after the residue is rinsed off, the smell isn't that pleasant in your face, it can be outright irritating. Would the leather not absorb it?

Murphy's Oil Soap was the harness soap of choice for years until we got synthetic harness - since that harness was cleaned (read washed and conditioned) once a week, some thinking person tried Murphy's. Used like saddle soap - little water with the paste type and even less with the liquid - it saved the step of messing witn Neatsfoot oil. The smell (which I love, BTW) doesn't linger too long after rinsing. Other than that, best for leather is either saddle soap or castile soap, anything else has other stuff in it that eats stiching or discolours the leather or actually rots it. Regardless what is used, if leather is very dry, it should be conditioned after cleaning, but there is a fine line between just enough and too much.

Yeah, but that's on a harness. This is a hat so she'd be breathing in any strong smells until it eventually faded. No idea if the OP is bothered by strong scents, lots of people are.

I am well aware that this is a hat but the hat also has mould. I stand by the vinegar and water wipe down regardless of what soap is used, be it Murphy's or saddle soap, and another wipedown with vinegar, re-soaping then conditioning. Was trying to save the OP a step with messing around with leather conditioner. There used to be a product that DID remove mould from leather but it is no longer made the same way since Farnam bought that company out, so I cannot recommend that product any longer.

I have a leather coat and when Fatman had his UTI he peed on it. My fault for not putting it away but still. I needed to get it cleaned but cant afford to have it dry cleaned so I googled home rememdies for cleaning leather coats and found a site where a lady washed it in her washer on delicates cycle with shampoo and then rubbed conditioner into it. I did this to my coat and its still as good as new and I just hung it up to dry by the wood stove and my coat was fine. After it dried I rubbed it down with regular conditioner and it was just as soft and pretty as when I got it.

I dont know if this will work for your hat but you can try googling home cleaning remedies for it and see if there is something in there that will work.