Cat smell in a mandolin case

[Nick Royal]

Fellow mandolin players,
Maybe you've had this problem. One of our cats spent time in my mandolin case, and now the case smells of "cat." We've tried to get the smell to go away, but so far no luck.

Any suggestions?

[DHopkins]

Baking soda? It'll vacuum out.

[MikeEdgerton]

You are not going to get it out without some sort of cleaner. The local PetSmart (assuming you have one) will have products designed to remove the smell of urine from carpets and upholstery. You could try that. If it was me though I'd simply buy a new case and send that one to the landfill.

I'll note that I used a product named Nature's Miracle to clean up after my son's dog had an unfortunate incident on our living room carpet. Not only is the stain gone but neither he nor any other dog that has come into the house has given that spot a second look.

Plan on leaving that case someplace that it can air out for an extended period of time after you clean it.

[LadysSolo]

+1 on the Nature's Miracle. We have multiple cats and dogs in the house, and one of our dogs developed "issues" as she got really old. Takes the odor right out. Also worked on cat urine on the cement floor in the basement (one of my cats had the habit of sitting on the edge of the litter box to go - sometimes it went in, sometimes it missed.) Good stuff! (NFI)

[MikeZito]

. . . in addition to the recommendations above, there is also a product called OdoBan (I got mine at Home Depot) that is exceptionally good.

[HonketyHank]

Another vote for Nature's miracle. There are several formulations, so read the label as what problem it is aimed at. I have used one of them to get a strong mildew smell out of an old mandolin and its case.

[Bob Clark]

OdorLogic Clean Away Pet Stain and Odor Remover from the online pet product supplier Doctors Foster and Smith. Works remarkably well. This is one of a number of enzymatic products on the market specifically for this purpose and they work great. No need to throw your case away; this should quickly and easily solve your problem.

[TC-in-NC]

Definitely give the Nature's Miracle a try. I've used it for years and have not found anything on the market that works quite as well on critter (and people) accidents.

Regarding the baking soda, you can purchase the A & H brand that comes in a plastic housing that's designed to stick onto places like the inside of the fridge, inside a waste bin, etc. The plastic housing can be pried apart reasonably easily, leaving you with backing soda inside of a sealed pouch. The pouch is designed to allow air / odors through but not let the baking soda out (gas permeable). You can try putting that pouch (or two) inside the case and then closing the case for several days. I would try that after using the Nature's Miracle.

The baking soda pouch worked wonders for one of my mandolins and its case...its previous owner had been a heavy smoker. Wiping down the mandolin solved that problem but the case still was stinky so I put one of the baking soda packs inside and left it closed for a week...worked like a charm.

[Ryk Loske]

All 10-thumbs up for Nature's Miracle. Mike's suggestion of leaving it open is spot on ... out in the sunshine if at all possible. That combination saved a vintage guitar case for me.
Good luck,
Ryk

[DHopkins]

I am definitely not a cat person so I suggest that you....... Never mind.

[Ivan Kelsall]

''Cat smell'' ? - We have 2 cats,neither of which have any body odour at all. One of our cats,does have the usual cat 'urine' odour - ammonia,but only in it's urine,the other one doesn't even have that. 2 different breeds of cat,2 different types of odour. The one with the odour,my ''constant companion'',Russell,has very often camped out in my TKL case when i play my Lebeda mandolin & forget to close the lid,but there's never any odour.

Baking soda is very good for removing smells from most things. In pouches for things like a case for example,& if you have something like a pickle jar that you want to use for some other purpose,put a teaspoon full of baking soda in the jar,fill it with water & let it rest for an hour or so & the jar will smell of 'nothing',
Ivan

[MikeEdgerton]

Ivan, over here the cats have terrible body odor. Some people attribute it to what we feed them. I'm pretty sure the OP wasn't even remotely speaking about that though.

[geoffa]

If it was me though I'd simply buy a new case and send that one to the landfill.

This is what worked for me when I couldn't get the cat smell, and likely cat urine, out of a used guitar case. I tried several commercial pet odor and stain removal products. Even tried scented dryer sheets. At the end of the many hours of failed attempts at odor removal, it was just better to replace the case entirely.

[TheMandoKit]

Ivan, over here the cats have terrible body odor. Some people attribute it to what we feed them. I'm pretty sure the OP wasn't even remotely speaking about that though.

Wow, really? I have had a lot of cats over the years, and other than right after a trip to the litter box or right after a thorough cleaning (when they smell a bit like saliva until they dry), none of my cats had "body odor."

I will say that Nature's Miracle is the ticket for urine. Just be sure to follow the directions, & make sure you use enough to get the enzymes into the affected area. May take more than one or two applications.

[Paul Busman]

I'd never heard of or experienced cat body odor. Interesting.
If it's really urine you'll have a tough time. I've tried most of the commercial products out there, and while some of them got rid
of most of the urine odor, they left their own odor behind.
You might try spraying the heck out of the case with unscented Febreeze,leaving the case closed for a few days, then put it out in the sun open.
If it's a really pricey case, maybe the manufacturer will re-line it for you. If it's a modest case you might consider taking out the lining and replacing it yourself.Or just ditch the case.
I'm sure this has already occurred to you, but don't let the cat into any case once the odor is gone! Our two cats love instrument cases and while they leave hair behind, smell hasn't been a problem.

[MikeEdgerton]

Wow, really?

I'd never heard of or experienced cat body odor.

OK people, my tongue was planted firmly in the cheek when I made that comment. Cats don't have body odor or odour unless they have been rolling around in something that smells bad and the fact that it even came up when it was obvious what the cat odor was is fairly amazing. Carry on. I'd still probably buy a new case but if for some reason the OP needs to keep that thing then try one of many cleaners and take my word for it, baking soda and fabreeze will not kill that smell.

By the way, my first experience with a cat doing this inside something that wasn't meant to be used for a litter box was the day my cat calmly got into the removable dust cover of my brand new turntable (back before they hinged them) and did the dirty deed in the middle of a party in my living room. I have to admit it was easier to get the smell out of that than it was to get it out of a case.

[bradlaird]

This happened to me in high school with my french horn case. Unfortunately it was a young male cat doing his territorial marking which is about as bad a skunk. I can tell you that no amount of hosing it down with Lysol did anything but make it worse. Ultimately, a new case and thorough bath for the horn cured it.

That said, I have remedied smoke odors and other such funk by using a cloth sack full of cheap ground coffee. As a piano tuner/technician I can report that it does a pretty good job of soaking up (and perhaps overpowering) the dreaded MOUSE smell from instruments where rodents have taken up residence. A few pounds of Maxwell House in a cloth bag might help. With pianos I'd fill a couple of socks and close them up in the piano and remove them on the next visit.

If it was me I'd probably ditch the case if it was really bad--something beyond a "fixed" cat sleeping in there and leaving dandruff and hair--I mean if a young Tom Cat backed up and sprayed it full bore--in that case I would get rid of the case and evict the cat.

[mreidsma]

Noting the irony of this thread coming up just a short bit after the ever popular Post a pic of a cat sleeping in your case thread.

Good tips in here for me, though, and my years-long quest to rid an original Washburn Tango banjo case of its musty smell. Really intrigued by the coffee trick...

[MikeEdgerton]

I spent years in the trucking industry. We used to sprinkle coffee inside trailers to mask bad smells before a pickup. I don't think it killed the smell, I think it masked it. In some cases it might mask it long for the bad odor to go away. If you cleaned out the mouse nest and removed the obvious residue I would think the wood might absorb enough of the coffee smell to replace it for a while. In the case of the cat and your horn case, you chose wisely.

For the musty banjo case smell I'd be tempted to find an ozone treatment for the case.

[OldSausage]

I like the way cats smell.

[MediumMando5722]

Meguiar’s makes an excellent product called, quite aptly, Odor Eliminator. It’s made for automobile interiors, but works for anything. Go to the local auto parts store and tell them what’s going on. They’ve had people with way stinkier stuff than your case come in, so you should be alright.

[pops1]

Years ago I had a freezer shut off by an unsuspecting guest. After a week I noticed a smell, it was not good. Since it was a fairly new freezer I wanted to get rid of the smell. I put lots and lots of newspaper and a bag of charcoal inside and left it for a week, changed both and left it for another week. Smell completely gone. Both newspaper and charcoal are known to absorb odors and it worked for this and saved my freezer. I don't know about cat urine with this cure, but it definitely worked for spoiled meat.

[Nick Royal]

Thanks for all the suggestions...now to get back to practicing my mandolin!
Nick

[DHopkins]

I spent years in the trucking industry. We used to sprinkle coffee inside trailers to mask bad smells before a pickup. I don't think it killed the smell, I think it masked it.

Some drug dealers still try to use the coffee trick thinking it will keep the dogs from smelling the weed. It doesn't stop the dogs but, most of the time, humans are fooled by it. It took about 2 incidents before the humans realized why everyone carried so much coffee around,

[Ryk Loske]

There are gallons of things that say they will remove odor ... and a lot of them work for a lot of odors. I have tried them all to remove cat odor or that musty smell that cases can get. The ONLY thing that worked was Nature's Miracle. Bin there ... done that ... washed all the color (and odor) out of the tee shirt.
Ryk