OT: Deodorizing camera equipment

[captainslack]

I love cats. I really do.

However, one of mine (not the one in the avatar) saw fit to pee on an old camera bag I had on the floor. Within said camera bag was a Nikon FE, a Vivitar 2X teleconverter, a Focal flash, and a strap. All of which was part of a purchase I had made from shopgoodwill.com.

The strap was a loss and the Focal was already junk, so in the trash they went. However, the Nikon & the Vivtar are usable, but now reeking of cat urine (which has a half life equivalent of Strontium-90). Luckily, the FE's front cap was on, so nothing icky got inside the works. The shutter still fires, all the dials still turn, and the insides smell like old camera.

But, how do I get this damn smell out of the exterior?!? I tried swabbing everything with rubbing alcohol, but that didn't help too much. The Vivitar seemed to have gotten the worst of it, luckily, since I'd rather have the camera body salvagable than not.

Help!!!! :bang:

 

[Fedzilla_Bob]

OK this is scary stuff.. Cat urine is caustic... besides being very stinky. I had a male cat once who marked the hell out of my Specialized Stumpjumper, the rims and spokes coroded. The tires started to crack. He died of old age and not my ire(sp?).

Unfortunately it looks as though some of the cures are potentially caustic-
http://www.stretcher.com/stories/00/000124b.cfm

Also, a skunk remedy-
http://www.ehow.com/how_3017_skunk-smell-pet.html

good luck

 

[RayPA]

OK this is scary stuff.. Cat urine is caustic... besides being very stinky. I had a male cat once who marked the hell out of my Specialized Stumpjumper, the rims and spokes coroded...

I had a skunk get into my garage once and spray stainless steel and aluminum parts I had in there for work. It etched everything.

The smell of cat urine is really annoying, and unique. You might want to try that Orange/citrus-based cleaner. It seems like you'll never really get it completely out of fabric, though.

 

[Fedzilla_Bob]

Skunks up that way too? Sheesh, they are my least favorite part of California.

 

[captainslack]

We've got skunks in the western part of NC, too.

I decided to try the same I think I did to get the leather smell out of my FED case: I wrapped everything Bounce dryer sheets and closed it up in a box (the FED's box, to be precise). Hope that works. If not, I don't know what to do.

 

[Fedzilla_Bob]

A short story-

I won a Canon Powershot Sling pack on *bay a few months back. When it arrived I noticed a faint musky oder. I thought "No... can't be" (rationalization).

Then my big male cat started sniffing all around it. Followed by my burmese female rolling all over it.

I washed it three times and wrote the seller. I explained that I intended to keep the pack but would have appreciated some warning and that I didn'tneed a refund. The seller refunded my money anyway.

The upshot- your equipement may have been sprayed or urinated on by a previous owners pet. Or, have the offending cat checked for FUS (nope he isn't carrying Former Soviet Union contraband 😀), Feline Urinary Syndrome. Sometimes older male cats develop this problem and they start picking wierd places to pee.

Maybe TMI...

Good Luck

Bob H

 

[captainslack]

Bob:

No, the problem is, one of the cats peed on taht spot on the floor where the bag was sitting and now if anything is sat on that spot, they pee on it. I forgot about that and stupidly set the camera bag there. My fault entirely, which is why I'm not more (forgive the pun) pissed off at the cat.

 

[zhemgang]

I learned a good solution, coincidentally, on how to get the skunk smell off of cats and dogs. Not tomato juice, but hydrogen peroxide. The recipe that I found quickly on the web one evening in an emergency was a pretty wicked mix of peroxide and detergent (I used Wisk). Dunked the cat (not its head) like a shampoo and then rinsed. Did an amazing job of making that fresh, close range, skunk smell disappear. I was surprsied and the cat survived. If you've smelled close-range skunk you know what I mean. The smell is one of the most unpleasent experiences one can have. You might try making a small batch and carefully wiping off the equipment with a cloth lightly dampened. Then wipe again with a dampened cloth of fresh water.

 

[captainslack]

I'll try that if the dryer sheets don't work. Thanks!

 

[Fedzilla_Bob]

I learned a good solution, coincidentally, on how to get the skunk smell off of cats and dogs. Not tomato juice, but hydrogen peroxide. The recipe that I found quickly on the web one evening in an emergency was a pretty wicked mix of peroxide and detergent (I used Wisk). Dunked the cat (not its head) like a shampoo and then rinsed. Did an amazing job of making that fresh, close range, skunk smell disappear. I was surprsied and the cat survived. If you've smelled close-range skunk you know what I mean. The smell is one of the most unpleasent experiences one can have. You might try making a small batch and carefully wiping off the equipment with a cloth lightly dampened. Then wipe again with a dampened cloth of fresh water.

Yep... It worked with our family mutt who was skunked 2 weeks ago the recipe is here-
http://www.ehow.com/how_3017_skunk-smell-pet.html

 

[RayPA]

If you've smelled close-range skunk you know what I mean. The smell is one of the most unpleasent experiences one can have...

Without a doubt! Awful! It is NOTHING like the "roadkill" smell, which compared to close-range fresh skunk spray is almost pleasant (if that is imaginable).

 

[RayPA]

Skunks up that way too? Sheesh, they are my least favorite part of California.

Skunks, opposums, racoons, deer and mountain lions. It is the skunk season right now. One meandered past the house last night.

 

[Fedzilla_Bob]

Skunks, opposums, racoons, deer and mountain lions. It is the skunk season right now. One meandered past the house last night.

Yeah, They are in season around here too.

Everything but the skunks are fine with me. The stench was so bad my eyes were irritated to the point they turned red and weeped.

The next morning my eyes were crusty as a result of the irritation. It was not fun. And wasn't even in the yard with the dog. My wife witnessed the skunk's defense. She said he looked like he was jet powered.

 

[Pherdinand]

What's the half-life of the Strontium-90? Might be better to just wait... 😀

 

[Pherdinand]

OK,i checked. It's 28 years🙁 Your grandchildren will have no problem using the gear. Next time you should feed your cat with strontium-94!

 

[captainslack]

OK,i checked. It's 28 years🙁 Your grandchildren will have no problem using the gear. Next time you should feed your cat with strontium-94!

But then he'd grow to monster size and eat Tokyo!!!

 

[captainslack]

Dryer sheets 1
Cat urine 0

😀

 

[titrisol]

so it worked fine?
Ozone is another good choice

 

[JoeFriday]

let us know in two weeks if that score still stands.. I had a cat decide to mark my laundry basket once.. after various methods of washing, including dry cleaning, I eventually threw away everything.. I never tried hydrogen peroxide, but I think that would have ruined the clothes in a completely different way

 

[Fedzilla_Bob]

Hydrogen peroxide is cool because it's instability is so useful- cleaning wounds, cleaning stains, bleaching, rocket fuel, yep- rocket fuel

At the rate of dilution that the average citizen can purchase HP, it usually isn't going to remove much color. When baking soda is added it becomes a little more unstable, and releases the oxygen from solution quicker than without the soda. That release is what does the job of breaking down stains and odor. After about 5 minutes the solution is nearly inert with increased salinity.

Don't try this with table salt. HP releases Idoine from the solution and the stain is nearly permanent.

HP and chlorine is really really unstable. Don't even attempt it. Goddard and Von Braun had fun with the stuff.

So much for high-school chem. Tune in next week when my eyebrows have grown back. 😉
Bob H