Roommates cat urinated on Military luggage bag?

Question

Good afternoon! I will be PCSing on Tuesday, leaving Sherwood, AR (Little Rock AFB). The movers came in today to move everything. I now only have 5 days worth of clothes, 3 uniforms, and this computer. In the garage, I left my Deployment luggage bag so I can pack my stuff into it. Upon taking it out of the garage, I noticed a HORRIBLE smell. I've come to the conclusion that it is cat urine. The cats are inside cats, but they have ventured into the garage a couple of months ago when my roommate had it open moving things to the attic from the house. We discovered them after searching when they didn't show up when it was dinner time.

My question is if there is any way to clean this out? I cannot put it into the washing machine, because it's a hard bottom. This is the EXACT luggage bag I am talking about...

http://www.amazon.com/Force-Digital-Deployment-Container-Tri-Wheel/dp/B005E0UYNO/ref=sr_1_21?s=apparel&ie=UTF8&qid=1377808673&sr=1-21

Is there a place I can go to, or a method of which to clean this bag? As you can see, it's not exactly the cheapest thing (I got it for free as a deployment issue years back). If there is a method, can you please share with me how to clean it? Is there a place I could drop it off to have them clean it? Thank you so much in advance for your answers. I will provide more details if needed.

Answer 1

Cat urine contains fatty deposits which most ordinary cleaners don't remove. Once those fats begin to decay, that's what causes the rancid smell.



You need to use enzyme pet cleaning products or make your own solution by mixing warm water with a biological (enzymatic) washing detergent. Then rinse the area thoroughly with cold water and let it dry naturally or you can speed things up using a hair dryer. Next spray surgical spirit (rubbing alcohol in the US?) over the bag and use a nail brush to scrub this into the fabric and crevices. Then leave the bag to dry, but make sure it's somewhere the cats can't access as they may be tempted to urinate on it again.



N.B. Surgical spirit can lift the colour from some fabrics, so you may want to patch test it on the underside of the bag first.

Answer 2

You can wash it yourself. Get some Tide original because it has enzymes that break down cat urine. So, first give it really good cold water rinse to remove as much as will come off and then put it in the bath or a plastic storage box or large bowl, with some Tide added to warm water. Enzymes work best at blood temperature (ish), will lose their shape in hot water and won't work in cold so when I say warm water, it's important that it is just warm. I would flush the Tide water all over the bag and leave it for a few minutes, then do it again. Rinse and repeat, as the urine is old now and kinda set. Then see if it still smells. If it does, add some apple cider vinegar to a rinse. There is also a pet odor carpet cleaner by Hoover and a few other products. When you have it as sweet smelling as you want let it dry out of the sun. I recently washed a rucksack with a suede base that bad cat had peed on and another travel bag (same cat) and they both turned out fine. The suede need fabric conditioner, but that's immaterial.

Answer 3

My daughter's in the Army too, so I'm familiar with the material. Go to Walmart or the pet store, and get a gallon of Nature's Miracle or other enzymatic cleaner - there are formulas for cat urine. Soak the bag with the cleanser. Be generous. Put it out in the sun to dry, then soak again. It should take the odor out - we've used it in a similar situation quite successfully :(

Answer 4

Go to PetSmart and ask them where the pet enzyme cleaner is. They have gallon jugs of it. Enzymatic cleaners are really the ONLY thing that will get urine odor out.



Best would be to fill the tub with warm water with laundry detergent as well as the cleaner and just let it soak for the day. Then rinse it off and then put it outdoors in the sun to dry.



I would also have the roommate pay for the cleaner. I think it's about $20 a jug. Here's one of them http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3399935&f=PAD%2FpsNotAvailInUS%2FNo



Nasty cats!!!

Answer 5

I'm not sure, I would buy some carpet cleaner and fabreeze, soak the **** out of it and let it dry. It seems like if you can't submerge it though, the smell might never come out. So if you can't machine wash maybe you can put it in the bath tub with some laundry detergent.

Answer 6

Get a brush or scrubby sponge and rinse ,rinse the fabric part well, soap it and use water/vinegar and rinse like crazy, put it out (up off the ground) to dry. Do it right away it should work.



The bottoms' likely is plastic,so it can get kinda wet.