I think I've made it pretty clear that I like old stuff. It makes me happy. It makes me feel relaxed and content. It makes me want to use words like whippersnapper and hooligan while holding a rolling pin in one hand and a television remote the size of a box of cereal in the other.
The only real problem I've ever had regarding my love of old things is this; If it is old ... it will smell. As an example, have you ever met an old cheese, old sock or old person that didn't smell?
Several years ago I bought this luggage set. And when I bought it, it smelled. Poorly. Like a musty, musty, must bucket.
I don't actually keep my luggage on my front hall table, I just thought it was a nice way for you to get a good gander at it.
"Gander" is one of the words I intend to use on more of a regular basis when I get old.
Quite frankly I can't wait to get so old I can say and do whatever I want without anyone looking at me like I'm a lunatic. When you're young and you declare in an exceptionally loud voice that you think the person in front of you in line at the grocery store is a "whack job" you come off as judgemental and mean. When you're old and you do the same thing, you're just "a lively old gal".
In order to get rid of the musty luggage stink I used my old standby. Kitty Litter.
Just open up the offending piece of luggage.
Unless you're feeling poorly. In which case you should probably sucker some other poor sod into opening up the stink box.
That lining right in there is what holds most of the stink.
Just pour a box of kitty litter into the offending piece of luggage. Yup. The whole box. Pour it right in there.
See? Fill it up.
Then close up your piece of luggage (or any other thing you own that's filled with musty smells.
And leave it for a week. You heard me. One week. Just leave it.
When the week is up, just empty the kitty litter and fill your luggage with whatever you choose to. I use my fresh smelling train case as my sewing box and it looks like this!
Cute right?
Only it actually looks like this.
Which isn't nearly as attractive in a photograph. But it's the truth.
You can use this litter trick with almost anything. Musty vintage clothing? Shove it in a plastic bag and cover the piece with kitty litter. Tie the bag up and leave it for a week!
The plastic bag technique works great with just about anything that smells old and musty. Although, I probably wouldn't recommend this exact procedure with old people.
Most of 'em are feisty. If you try and cover them in kitty litter and shove them in a plastic bag chances are they'll knock you right on your keister.
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Patricia
Hi
I'm making notes as this thread progresses. It is very useful!
I am currently clearing a home after the death of a serious hoarder - just imagine opening a box to find the person has kept all the teeth she has pulled out of her mouth in the last twenty years! Her hoard also includes all her mother's hoard therefore some of the rubbish is 100 years old - badly worn shoes and clothes, papers - nothing valuable. Yes there are smells that permeate everything.
Now for my request for advice - not for the faint hearted - her bathroom floor was uncovered - over the years she has "missed" and wee'd into the concrete. Any ideas for sorting the smell of this problem? Eeek?
Pat
Karen
oh dear! Yikes. Concrete is porous so it would soak it all up good. Um, you can get concrete cleaner. You can also get spray for pet urine. i'm not sure if it would be useful on human urine or not but it's worth a try. It's an "Enzyme cleaner". Also, once it's cleaned you could put a concrete sealer over the concrete to trap any ick inside. ~ karen!
Patricia
Thanks Karen
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Carol
So, does the kitty litter need to actually touch the item or can you put it in a box or bowl? I have two large armoires that reek musty inside, (veneer / pressed wood). One has several shelves, the other is more or less a giant box for hanging clothes. If I could just set an open bag in each one for a week that would be perfect. AND as an extra bonus, I have a cat, so the K.L. can be recycled!!
Karen
Hi Carol - Touching is definitely best. Just a few bowls will work a little bit, but not nearly as much as filling an item with litter. Which with an armoire ... might be a bit of an issue! ~ karen
Carol
I can scatter some on the floors and shelves and then I'll leave the whole open bag sitting in the bottom and see what happens. This is a common problem with old armoires that have been in storage for years - these two are probably from the 1930s, so that's definitely a lot of sitting. There are a number of fixes, but most of them are way more complicated than the kitty litter method - sanding, re-sealing, washing, spraying, charcoal... I'll keep you posted on the saga, as these are about unusable without getting the stench out. I will prevail!! Thank you for your prompt reply, take care...
Michealyn Smith
I love the comments, but I have to share my old, tried and true method of getting rid of odors. NEWSPAPERS! Single sheets, wadded up and stuffed into the suitcase; the strength of the odor will dictate the number of times this had to be done. The ink in the newspaper is a cheap ink and absorbs the odors. If the problem is with fabric; wrap with tissue and the put in container with wadded newspaper. I inherited a car that smelled of a smoking habit...wadded newspapers thrown in the car at several intervals, did the trick. (wads in the back seat if I had to drive it. Looked funny, but worked.) Also in the drawers of a piece of furniture that was smoke damaged from a fire! Talk about recycling! Just thought I would pass it along.
Sheila Maclean
Thanks for the laughs about 'old people' though I hate to consider myself one of' em at 67! I bought a lovely old wool coat, guessing it dates from late 50's but I can't get rid of that musty old ladies smell ingrained in it so I'll be wearing it when I visit my daughter in London so I can get first dibs on her cat's litter suppy ...or perhaps I should just buy a bag and re-use it, come to think of it stuff in my drawers that doesn't get used for a while definitely needs de-ponged so maybe I'll try a strong refuse bag and dump all smellies into it for a while...then try the same with the drawer. Can't do any harm, meanwhile I'll try it with old vintage suitacase as per my original plan. Thanks for many witty ideas with humour flung in! Sheila
Sandy
Googled how to get musty smell out of a vintage typewriter case (1934 typewriter) and stumbled upon your blog. I'll have to try the kitty litter. Really enjoyed this post. You have a great sense of humor. I've got you bookmarked so I can back.
Kim
This is great! Can you reuse the cat litter for another de-stink project or must you buy a new container for each project?
Thanks!
Karen
Hi Kim - I'm able to reuse the litter as actual cat litter because I have two cats so I'm not sure how well it work work for reusing. I imagine it would depend on how bad the stink of the object you use it in is. Basically if you remove the litter from the suitcase or whatever, and the litter smells musty, you'd have to get rid of it. Hope that helps. ~ karen!
mindy
I was wondering what would get the smell out of some cabbage patch kids that i bought that have never been removed from their boxes. They all have a musty smell, and I don't want to remove them from the box. Would kitty litter in containers work? Or is there something else that might work better?
Eva J. McWilliams
This site was... how do I say it? Relevant!! Finally I've found something which
helped me. Kudos!
Amanda Gerber
Hi, I wanted to know if the kitty litter will work on an old chest of drawers? I have an solid oak chest that was given to me years ago by a older woman. I story my summer clothes in it during the winter time. I don't want to damage my chest so I'm worried about trying anything. Please let me know at your convenience.
Thank you,
Amanda G
Karen
Hi Amanda - Sure! Use the kitty litter (the unscented kind). Load each of the drawers up with kitty litter and leave it for a week or so. After a week, take a cup of litter out of one of the drawers and smell it. If it smells musty you know the litter is doing it's job. You may need to empty out the litter and load it up with new stuff as it fills with musty smell. (I don't know if this is totally and completely necessary, but it's just what I've done) For some reason I'm afraid that it will only take in so much stink before it won't take in any more, lol. Good luck! ~ karen
maureen
I just bought 2 shocking purple American Tourister vintage suitcases at Goodwill that need this!!! Thanks so much. (And who knew you could buy shocking purple luggage in 1953?)
Karen
Certainly not I! ~ karen
Pam Mischler
The old people in my family must have bathed in mothballs. Any idea if this will work on that smell? I have my grandmothers old trunk that's 110 years old and was full of mothballs as well as the attic it was stored in.
I would love to use but afraid I won' be able to. Any thoughts!,
Pam
Karen
Hey Pam - Mothballs are a tough one. Bleh. But I'd do what I said. Fill it with kitty litter. I have no idea how successful it will be, but you might as well try it. Dump in a box or two of kitty litter. After a week or so I'd rotate the trunk, the instead of the bottom being on the ground, the side is. That way the kitty litter will fall and have contact with the side of the trunk. Keep doing this for a month or so and see what you get. ~ karen!
Jeannie B
Hi Karen. I wish that I'd tried this, before I threw out a small vintage case that held matchbox toy cars. It hadn't been opened in years and the smell was nauseating.I washed all the cars but tried and failed to " de-stink" the case. My daughter introduced me to " Feline Fresh" cat litter, made from pine. I use it half and half with unscented cat litter, for my two cats. I may put some in my hall closet to see if it deodorizes. Thanks for the tip.
Jane O
This post is written so clever, you actually got me to READ it! I am a photo skimmer, so well done! My luggage will likely get this treatment. Found you on Pinterest.
Karen
Thanks for taking the time to comment Jane O. Hope you stick around. ~ karen!
Shelly Gonczar
Thanks for the kitty liter trick. I have tried everything (except kitty liter) to get rid of the musty smell in an old chest I bought.
A lot of blogs I read, I just want to scroll down quickly to get to the point. But, yours was really funny and I thoroughly enjoyed your comments on "old stuff"!!
Karen
Thanks Shelly. That's the goal of this blog. Entertain and inform. There's no excuse for boring. ~ karen!
Cassandra
I am so excited to try this with my old suitcases.
Donna
Hi. Just found your site, and wanted to "add my two cents". (I'm 59, I can say that, lol.)
I have a green metal trunk with leather handles that I am going to strip all of the liner paper out of, and then try the kitty litter!!, so that I can use the trunk for blankets and linens in my studio apt.!
Also: I use Damp-Rid crystals, available at any Home Depot for $2-$3, for mold control in my apartment, and I wondered if trying them would help any of your other readers who've tried everything else? They are child-and-pet safe.
Love the blog; Keep it up!
Karen
Thanks Donna! Welcome to my site. I've never heard of Damp-Rid. Good to know. ~ karen!
Joan DeCook
I LOVE your idea of displaying your old luggage, and a brilliant way to absorb the "odor". Using it as a sewing stuff container and odds and ends is so clever - I'm like you, I ADORE things from the past; character and pride in workmanship-which we sorely lack in our products today.
Karen
Thanks Joan! ~ karen
C. L.
I am clean-a-holic; I like old stuff too but can only manage to bring myself to buy things I clean very well with a disinfectant (bleach, rubbing alcohol, Lysol...). The kitty litter idea interests me but how (if at all) do you disinfect/clean such items?
Marilyn
Ok, I have a double problem. I stored my mothers 100 year old wedding veil in one of my suitcases. after placing it in, I noticed a strong dust mite smell. Chicken me hasn't opened it since. Do you think the kitty litter would act as cleaner or a damager for both veil and suitcase? Sign me, Smelly 75 year old. (not really)
Yohko Kaneda
I think my reply might come in a little late. But just want to share that, for all genuine leather products or other household items (concerning smell or stench), you can place them under the sun eg; 3 hours or so (anything less the smell is still there).
Keep turning your product back and front (for smell to get rid of). After 3 hrs or so, you will find that the smell is no longer there. If the smell persists, keep the products under the sun, until it vanishes.
If your product may become dry under the hot sun, polish it first with some leather ointment and place it under the sun.
Cheers.