Ice house stink

[kstruck]

Am finally getting my portable out of storage and unfortunately I must have left a package of sun flower seeds in there after I put it away last spring. Needless to say some mice had a nice summer meal. Not to mention a new home.

Now as I am setting it up there is that definite dead mice/varmint smell. Any tips on how how you get rid of your unwanted smells like my musty mouse.

I might try the coffee or baking soda trick, but was just looking for a couple suggestions.

[LightningBG]

What you're going to want to do is,

-bring it into the kitchen and let it sit for 24 hours

-warm up the whole thing with a hair dryer.

-spread peanut butter over the whole thing

-warm more with hair dryer

-wrap in saran wrap

-let sit overnight

-take tent portion off

-throw in garbage

-go buy new tent

Sorry, I dont have any useful info. I couldn't resist. I'd just let it air out in a warm garage and coat it with fabreeze.

[DaSwede]

Try some coffee beans in a sock or cheese clothe. That might do it.

[tsande00]

Mine stunk when I pulled it out of storage. Somehow, despite being covered, water got into the tub and therefore the fabric began to develop some mildew in different areas. It stunk like mold/mildew

I left it setup in my garage for several weeks and the smell completely went away. Not sure if that would work for you, but it did for me, granted I didn't have a rodent problem.

[bobber_down_1979]

Honestly, and this is just what I would do, never having thought about this before till this moment. I would set it up outside preferably where there is air flow. Just leave it set up for a few days. Maybe get some of that ferbreeze stuff too.

[Steve Foss]

I think you're dealing with mouse urine on top of mildew smell, if they were nesting in there. Mice foul their own nests over and over again, so if the tent is absorbent you're in for a tough exercise.

I had that happen to one of my favorite wool hunting coats, one with a heavy cotton/polyester twill inner lining. They didn't tear it up, it was just in a drawer in a dresser in a shed, and the mice used that drawer for a nest, so the hood/shoulder of the coat got full of mouse urine. I Febrezed the heck out of it and let it sit for a day. Then I put baking soda in the washer with detergent treated with Febreze and let that soak for a couple hours before washing the coat.

It came out smelling fine, and even when wet doesn't smell like mouse urine at all.

You'll definitely want to set it up in a warm place, let it warm completely, clean it up and see if you can locate where the odor is coming from. Then I'd look at Febrezing it, as well as making a paste of water/baking soda and applying that. Should work on both the mildew and the mouse urine.

[eyebjim]

I would wipe it with a rag dowsed in pinesol and then spray with garden hose to clean off the pinesol. It will smell pine forest fresh.

[kstruck]

Thanks for all the tips. Yep the mouse urine smell is exactly what it is. Gotta it set up and airing out. Going to try as many methods as I have laying around the house. Luckily I think a lot of the mice problem was confined to the sled, which will be easier to deodorize than the tarp, however I think the smell transferred to the tarp as well. Going to try the air out method along with a bunch of febreeze, along with storing some coffee and baking soda in the sled while in storage.

[herefish101]

Just take it to a carwash, set the gun to soap, and spray away, inside and out. Then take it home, set it up and put your heater inside it on high to dry it off.

[jeep guy]

What you're going to want to do is,

-bring it into the kitchen and let it sit for 24 hours

-warm up the whole thing with a hair dryer.

-spread peanut butter over the whole thing

-warm more with hair dryer

-wrap in saran wrap

-let sit overnight

-take tent portion off

-throw in garbage

-go buy new tent

Sorry, I dont have any useful info. I couldn't resist. I'd just let it air out in a warm garage and coat it with fabreeze.

hahaha thats great probally one of the funniest things i've heard on this site.

[LightningBG]

I like the carwash idea.

Does the tent come off? Could it be brought to a Laundromat and go into one of those big washers? Or to a drycleaner?

I'm not sure if they have some sort of coating that might come off or not.

[Steve Foss]

Just take it to a carwash, set the gun to soap, and spray away, inside and out. Then take it home, set it up and put your heater inside it on high to dry it off.

That's a great portable shelter cleaning tip in any case.

[jBohmer]

Love the carwash idea, never thought of it. I love baking soda. Does wonders for anything. I say experiment with them both. Those seem to be the best ideas mentioned in my meager opinion.

[Ed Carlson]

Don't wash it at the car wash with the power washer, you will loose a lot of your wind and waterproofing protection from the tarp.

Wipe the tub out with a bleach (1/4 cup per gallon of water) and a Dawn dish soap solution.

Then get a spray bottle of the carbon scent killer from the archery department at your local sporting store. The Coffee trick will help remove residual orders as would a pail of charcoal.

I have seen the spray carbon scent killer take the stink of doe estrus bottle spill out of a carpet, and remove the stink of mouse urine scent from and car, and funky dead night crawlers stink from a refrigerator...it works well.

[olbaidhh]

Just take it to a carwash, set the gun to soap, and spray away, inside and out. Then take it home, set it up and put your heater inside it on high to dry it off.

+1 !!! problem solved.

If your worried about the "coating" just use the scrub brush part and not the pressure spray. Then when its dry ... get some camp dry silicon and spray it on.