I need urgent help, please! Mould problem!!!

Right guys, I held off posting on here because here isn't a uke involved but I'm not getting a lot of response from the guitar forums. Basically, my spare room (the music room) has come under attack of a real bad mould/mildew problem. My flat isn't the best for humidity in places, but for the four months we've lived here we've been fine and we've had some really wet weather. Now suddenly that we've had a lot of hot weather and now quite a bit of rain then some more hot weather and so on and so forth the room has got really humid.

I went in the other day and noticed my guitar case had mould/mildew on it and suddenly the room was had that dry damp smell if you know what I mean. Well inside the cse is an Epiphone Casino, one of my few prized pocessions, but luckily upon opening the case the guitar was fine, as was the plush lining. Just that sweet, new guitar smell thats always been there so it looks as though the mould didn't penetrate.

I am worried though if the mould could've penetrated the case and slowly be working its way through to the inside? Its an Epiphone hard-shell archtop case if anybody is familiar with them? I want to know how best to clean it as I don't want to compromise the integritity of the skin on the case. I was wondering if ant-bacterial spray, bleach and warm water would be ok or if anything more specialised is needed? Also, I have one of those guitar multi stands, that folds down into a case, like you'd use in a studio, and thats all plush lined and I think the mould may have started getting to that. I also have leather, padded guitar straps in there that are covered and my partners didgeridoo has taken a bad hit too. God knows what else has been hit?

I bought a dehumidifier anyway which should help sort things out. I'll put it in there every so often, as obviously I don't want to keep it in there all the time as it'd go from one extreme to another and be too dry. Please advise me on what action it is best to take and how to go about cleaning the above items if known. I don't know what to do and its making me sick with worry.

THIS IS WHY I DON'T KEEP MY UKES IN THERE ANYWAY! I can post pics if they would help?...

I would clean it with warm water with a small amount of soap in it and a bit of bleach, and once it's all clean spray with Lysol spray. The Lysol is good for killing the mildew and mold spores, but be carefull you don' get the spray on the instrument finish, and let the case dry very well before putting the instrument back in. I hope this helps, good luck.

If you can get the case out in the sunlight (mold doesn't like light). Open it up and be sure you expose the inside and outside of the case to the sun to reduce the amount of moisture in/on the case. Then take a mild water/bleach solution and wipe down the affected areas (go easy on the bleach as it may discolor the inside/outside of the case). After that make sure the case is dry on the inside and at room temperature before returning the guitar to it. While the guitar is outside of the case give it a good look over while you are working on the case. A couple of hours in low humidity shouldn't harm the guitar. Good luck and I hope this helps.

A Mould problem?! When I saw the headline I worried the former Hüsker Dü man had gone wild...

I can't speak to the case, but regarding humidity levels. Dehumidifiers and humidifiers, when used correctly, shouldn't cause swings. They should provide a much more balanced environment for the instrument. So don't be afraid to use them, but make sure you purchase good ones.

Many dehumidifiers, and humidifiers, have digital controls. You can set them to a specific humidity range, for example 45-55, or 55-65. They would turn on when the humidity level reaches the higher number, and turn off when it reaches the lower number. This way you can be sure you have humidity in a range that you want.

Pinebaron said:

If you can get the case out in the sunlight (mold doesn't like light). Open it up and be sure you expose the inside and outside of the case to the sun to reduce the amount of moisture in/on the case. Then take a mild water/bleach solution and wipe down the affected areas (go easy on the bleach as it may discolor the inside/outside of the case). After that make sure the case is dry on the inside and at room temperature before returning the guitar to it. While the guitar is outside of the case give it a good look over while you are working on the case. A couple of hours in low humidity shouldn't harm the guitar. Good luck and I hope this helps.

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So should I clean the inside of the case anyways? It doesn't seem to be affected but do you think it would be worth doing it? Also, what is the best way to clean the plush interiors?