whipmakers nightmare......

[Mola Ram]

I recently retrieved a box of my first whips from my parents house that had been away for storage. I opened it up and discovered that all of them had developed mold.....Is there any way to solve this issue other than completely unbraiding the strand sets and re-greasing everything?

This is something I've never had to grapple with before. The first whip I built about 10 years ago is looking pretty sad right now, its covered in mold. Any help at all would be greatly appreciated.

[kwad]

If you are lucky, it may not be mold at all, but, something called "spew".
Basically, what happens is over time, the plaiting soap used when the whip is made will leach to the surface and dry out. This leaves a white powdery film on the surface of the leather.

Wiping it down with a damp cloth and giving it some fresh leather dressing will help.

If it is in fact green fuzzy mold, my condolences.

[Blake Bruning]

Heh heh...he sqid spew.

[bernie47]

Sounds like your whips have been stored somewhere warm and humid.Mold needs moisture to grow so storing in a humid environment will help that along. Try putting it out in the sun after you wipe it down and if that helps then give it a good coat of leather dressing

[Zuiun]

Random, semi-related thought...

For us guys who own several (or in some cases MANY) leather whips, might there be some value in installing a UV / black light in the room where the whips are stored?

[Indiana Croft]

This thread: resurrected from the past.

I store my whip on the wall in my den/man cave. One window, but whip isn't in any direct sun.
I recently took it down for the spring, need to get crackin, well there was white stuff on the whip on the side that faces the wall. Is this the white powdery stuff some ones calling spew?

Before I try the above, want to be sure, it's not green or fuzzy.
Any help would appreciated.

Croft