vntgbrslvr

Be careful with Ozone generators...They can have some harmful side effects on your lungs.

__________________
Pan America Pea Shooter
Conn Connquest
47 King Liberty Trumpet
Bach Stratavarious (everyday horn)
Yamaha TR-639 Rose bell
37 buescher Aristrocrat "custom built" Cornet
Olds Studio (nickel plate)
57 conn 12A Coprion
Holton Collegiate Cornet
Conn Victor Cornet
Conn 1914 Perfected wonder (C, B, A flat)
Conn 1912 perfected wonder (C, B flat)
Buescher 1903 Epoch Cornet
57 Olds Special Cornet
Olds Ambassador Trumpet
1935 Mahillon Flugel
Reynolds marching F

Trumpet1Ohio

I am an estimator for a Fire and Water Restoration Company in my area and have been in the business for pushing 30 years. The process is as follows (much of what has been said already)

Vacuum the case thoroughly

Clean the velvet with an upholstery cleaning product- don't get it too wet or it will look like crap. You can try drying it with a hair dryer and fluffing it with you hands.

I wipe it down, inside and out, with Lysol brand wipes. In a really bad situation you may have to apply a commercial anti-microbial product like Microban.

Allow it to dry in the sun all day.

If it still has an odor use ozone. I have an Alpine Air Purifier with a small ozone generator in it that works great or take it to a local Restoration company and they'll blast it for you. Most restoration companies will throw it in with other stuff for next to nothing.

Good luck.

__________________
Ken
'59 Olds Super
'76 Bach Model 37

Brian H. Smout

Thankyou Ohio1 for the best professional advice yet on managing case stench.

Regards,

Brian

__________________
"Swift Current - where we're neither swift nor current"

ComeBackKid

Let's not discard 'folk remedies' too quickly. I am a Lean/Six Sigma Black Belt (really!) which is a statistical process methodology, in which one of the key tools is RCA (Root Cause Analysis). I am also a Physicist. In order to determine which solution has a basis in science (for this particular situation) we need to know what problem we are trying to solve. I have over 25 trumpet cases in my shop right now ranging from a few years to over 50 years old. Every one of them had an odor of one sort or another when I received it. So far I have identified at least 10 different sources including cigarette/cigar smoke, rancid milk and other food spoilage, various instrument cleaning and other chemicals, urine (believe it or not) and - of course - mold. I have tried every one of the 'folk remedies' previously mentioned and have found them all to be effective in one situation or another. The problem is deciding which one works for you. Trial-and-error is not a terribly expensive method here - with one exception. Mold is, of course, a serious issue but it does not necessarily require professional attention. Good old Lysol is an excellent source of mold remediation (in small areas such as an instrument case) and it is also a good deodorizer. If the mold is under the lining, it may take extensive, repeated applications, or even pulling the lining partially loose to apply behind it.
What is the 'expensive' trial-and-error issue? Bleach is also an excellent mold killer - but it will leave you with a ruined lining due to bleaching the color so don't try that one.
So, keep trying, Something is bound to work if your try enough different things. I only say this because a trip to a professional organization may cost more than a new case.

__________________
Come-Back Kid
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Selmer Invicta London (T)
Olds SuperStar (T)
Olds Super (2T)
Olds Special (2T+C)
Olds Ambassador (9T+7C)
Andreas Eastman (2T)
Conn Director (T+C)
King Cleveland Superior (T+C)
Holton (T602+C605 Shep Crk)
Holton Collegiate (T+C)
Blessing (T+C)
Yamaha (T+C)
Getzen 300
Amati ATR213
(+Revelle, Bundy, Alcazar, & ?)

Brian H. Smout

Meh,
$40.00 is the most I have paid for an absolutely moldy Martin case. Money well spent by the time you have bought Bounce sheets or Febreze, charcoal, eye of newt, bat wings and the pantheon of other well meant but generally useless home remedies. If your case is only mildly affected then maybe they might work......but if the case is really bad then it is a job for the pros. Why do we cheap out when it comes to cleaning cases?
Where's the Bovine Excrement Alert Button round here?

Regards,

Brian

__________________
"Swift Current - where we're neither swift nor current"

ComeBackKid

Let's see: 25 cases x ($40 + 2 hrs round trip for each case @ $30/hr) = $2500 for someone to clean my cases.

To do it myself...
Bounce Sheets + Fabreze....$8.00 (includes setting them in the sun)
Eye of new + bat wings.... free (I caught them on my back patio where I found the charcoal)
Other useless home remedies...still trying to decide what they are
Satisfaction of accomplishment (all smell good now)...Priceless.
Hey - Maybe there's a MasterCard commercial here somewhere.

__________________
Come-Back Kid
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Selmer Invicta London (T)
Olds SuperStar (T)
Olds Super (2T)
Olds Special (2T+C)
Olds Ambassador (9T+7C)
Andreas Eastman (2T)
Conn Director (T+C)
King Cleveland Superior (T+C)
Holton (T602+C605 Shep Crk)
Holton Collegiate (T+C)
Blessing (T+C)
Yamaha (T+C)
Getzen 300
Amati ATR213
(+Revelle, Bundy, Alcazar, & ?)

Bachstul

Where mold grows, the surface it is on, is what the mold literally eats.
Mold eats cardboard, wood, fabrics, etc. So, mold causes physical damage to your case materials like rust on metal.

Say, in a crawl space, Bleach won't kill; paint over it.......you just gave the mold some yummy paint to eat. I had experience with my crawlspaces.

And, too, mold will eat Bovine Excrement.

ComeBackKid

True, but few trumpet cases have crawl spaces so the approach can be less arduous and still be effective. Also, not all cases have mold issues. In fact, in my experience, only a small percentage of them have mold. Most just have residue of one type or another that causes the odor.
But, even when mold is the issue, it seems that the issue of a relatively inexpensive and simple application of Lysol - which comes in a spray can and has odorizing qualities as well - seems to be continually overlooked as a solution. It is certainly worth a try with virtually no downside. Worst case scenario, you can still take it to the professional remediation facility to really blast those pesky little spores into oblivion.

__________________
Come-Back Kid
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Selmer Invicta London (T)
Olds SuperStar (T)
Olds Super (2T)
Olds Special (2T+C)
Olds Ambassador (9T+7C)
Andreas Eastman (2T)
Conn Director (T+C)
King Cleveland Superior (T+C)
Holton (T602+C605 Shep Crk)
Holton Collegiate (T+C)
Blessing (T+C)
Yamaha (T+C)
Getzen 300
Amati ATR213
(+Revelle, Bundy, Alcazar, & ?)

Bachstul

True.... no matter how many trumpets may be kept stored too long in a damp basement, almost equivalent to a crawl space, where mold will grow....

Who has wondered how many trumpets have been stored in cases in just the opposite, where the cold/heat extremes fluctuate to the extreme, year after year, in THE ATTIC

Dorabil

The last one I cleaned out by first blowing all the antique dust out of the velour with an air hose. Make sure you wear a mask and glasses and the old dust is a bit nasty. Then I sprayed it with Fabreze and let it sit in the sun for a couple of hours. If one Fabreze treatment doesn't do it, spray it again. I had to spray it twice but now it is minty fresh!
Dottie