Mold!
OK, by popular demand, this is what your leather items look like if you keep them in the closet without moisture-absorbing crystals. I bought a hydrometer a few weeks ago and can tell you that the ambient humidity tends to range from 86-94%. Today is exceptionally dry – it’s only 78%! So what happens in a nice warm climate in a still dark closet when there’s plenty of moisture for molds to eat? Behold the results at the right!
This belt started to go moldy a few weeks ago, and I thought I’d just leave it on the patio to let it develop into a real science project. I wiped the mold off the darker part of the belt – that’s its original color. Note the interesting mottled effect – the patina green of the Roquefort-type mold blending ever so lovingly with the white of the penicillin/Brie mold, with perhaps a few disparate types of brownish and orange molds for good measure. Now that you’ve seen it, I might just wipe the mold off and let my husband hold his pants up again.