Thread: Mold on synthetics

Friends my workshop is in the basement. I had used my stones and put them away wet to dry. The lights were off down there and it’s pretty cool. Anyways long story short. I came back 3 days later and two had mold on the surface. How would I remove this without damaging the stone and without it being hazardous to human health?

Thank you. I now bring them upstairs to dry. Not a huge water stone guy as you may have noticed by now.

Originally Posted by s0litarys0ldier

Friends my workshop is in the basement. I had used my stones and put them away wet to dry. The lights were off down there and it’s pretty cool. Anyways long story short. I came back 3 days later and two had mold on the surface. How would I remove this without damaging the stone and without it being hazardous to human health?

Thank you. I now bring them upstairs to dry. Not a huge water stone guy as you may have noticed by now.

While I've never had this problem, I would just scrub them with a nylon brush, let them dry and forget about it.

If they are Norton Water Stones, mix a tablespoon of regular plain clorine bleach in a gallon of distilled water and keep those in the bleach water. I've done that for years and it doesn't hurt the stones in the least.

I don't know what you call it. You can take hydrogen peroxide and use it..

I ended up lapping them and leaving them to dry outside. No more mold issues

You might want to do a mild bleach soak, 10%. Once the mold spores leach into the stone they will regrow when the conditions are right.

10% bleach will kill most anything, soak for a couple hours, then soak in plain clean water, let air dry.

I have noted that setting the stones on edge dries them faster, I use a wooden plate rack, two wood slats with wooden dowels, they are inexpensive.

Originally Posted by Euclid440

You might want to do a mild bleach soak, 10%. Once the mold spores leach into the stone they will regrow when the conditions are right.

10% bleach will kill most anything, soak for a couple hours, then soak in plain clean water, let air dry.

I have noted that setting the stones on edge dries them faster, I use a wooden plate rack, two wood slats with wooden dowels, they are inexpensive.

This is EXACTLY what I've done and never had issues again. I also let them dry on edge. Great minds and all that......