Baking Powder for Smells

[smellycat 0]

I was wondering if anyone has used small perferated bags(fine mesh or fabric?) with baking powder inside of them to keep capes/skins from smelling of grease when stored. I already washed my skins and pieces of capes but still dont like the smell of them. Is there anything else i could use?

[Piker20 0]

My stuff all smells like grannies wardrobe I use so many moth balls in everything.

[smellycat 0]

i dont think i would like "grannies wardrobe either" I dont use moth balls because I havent really experienced many bugs in Arizona and I am still niave and havent experienced my first lost of maaterials due to them.

[Piker20 0]

Do you only smell it when tying or is it permeating the room? Fabreeze might work as its safe in household fabric

[smellycat 0]

Its when im tying but also when I open the container i have them stored in (little pieces from whiting grab bag).I did just finish washing them and noticed some meat on the skin so I scraped as much as i could of and i will wash them again tomorrow. I guess what i need is something just to keep in the container. I do have febreeze and it does help when im done tying. Sorry for being so damn picky about this XD

[shoebop 0]

I have never experienced this problem myself. I've only been tying for a little over a year but all of my fur patches and even some furs and feathers I "rescued" from the road-side are all fine. I do not keep them in tightly sealed containers but rather in open plastic bin drawers. I think humidity is your greatest enemy when it comes to preserving things so I let them "air" and keep the humidity in the house as low as is comfortable for me.

If you have an odor problem already then I would suggest activated charcoal placed with the offending furs in a sealed bag over any other odor control/cover product. (Especially moth balls). You don't want to introduce any new scent to your flies. Once they are scent free, store them as I do in open air bins, that is, if your home environment is relatively scent free as well.. I was and am an archery hunter and have been consumed with scent control for many years now so this would be my advice. If it doesn't work...throw them away.

[netabrookie 0]

I don't know what to say about the baking soda except that it works fairly feel in a cat litter box and that is a vile smell to try and control. Shoebop may be on to something because I have smelled the greasy smell on a couple capes and a saddle that I relieved the roosters of. When I first get one out of a bag it has a nasty greasy smell like a deep frier that needs cleaned. If I am in a tying frenzy and it stays out for a couple days then you can hardly smell it at all. I have bought a couple things that smelled like that but I guess I am lazy or just used to it because I just deal with it. There is a few hides hanging on my walls so the smell of critters is something that I have gotten used to smelling I guess. I hope that I don't go into town swelling like a gray fox or a mink or something..??.. Take Care, Tony

[lykos33 0]

I'd say Mr Shoebop has the best ideas for scent elimination and avoidance....remember , an archery hunter has to get a lot closer to his quarry than a rifle hunter ...so he better not stink...LOL!

Murray

[Jimr1961 0]

What about just throwing a dryer sheet of your preferred scent into a perforated bag and stick it in the container? Leave the zip loc bags that the capes come in open. Or, crazy glue a small strip of dryer sheet to the back of the skin? Just thinking out loud. Mine smell like chemicals and I kinda like it.

[shoebop 0]

"What about just throwing a dryer sheet of your preferred scent into a perforated bag and stick it in the container? "

 

No offense Jimr1961 but that is a really bad idea. One that a lot of people seem to have. Dryer sheets contain a lot of nasty chemicals not to mention odors that get infused into the skins. The idea here is to eliminate odors not add to them. Dryer sheets might seem make them smell better to us but they smell all the same. "Cover scents" or "scent masking products" are ridiculous in theory and practicality. (Did glade ever "cover-up" the smell in the bathroom?) Think about it, one scent cannot possibly eliminate another or "cover" another scent any more than adding more pepper to your food would make it less salty. Now your food is too salty and to peppery.

I have an interesting aside to this quandary. I had a travel trailer that I kept parked on my vacation property. As you might guess, I had little "guests" that made themselves at home. After a while, it began to smell of rodent feces etc. My wife heard that dryer sheets scattered around would "eliminate" the odors and provide a deterrent to the pesky little critters. Well it didn't work to say the least and it was pretty sickening to be in the trailer with the two odors swirling around. I could hardly go in there at all until it had a chance to air out. If "covering scents" worked, why not just spray everything with Glade or Channel #5 and call it a day? Activated charcoal my friends. It actually absorbs odor causing agents and enzymes. And it is reusable and can be re energized. If your dryer hasn't been too compromised with dryer sheets and such, throw your hair and fur in there in a sealed cloth bag on delicate setting with the charcoal also sealed in a cloth bag that won't break open. Voila! Odor free!

 

[shoebop 0]

Here's some info on activated carbon/charcoal and some products

 

http://www.amazon.com/Moso-Natural-Purifying-200gm-Charcoal/dp/B004BOH6BM/ref=pd_sim_k_4

 

http://www.amazon.com/Fridge-It-Naturally-Activated-Charcoal-Absorber/dp/B000I1UXPS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357348299&sr=8-1&keywords=activated+charcoal+odor

 

http://www.charcoalremedies.com/bad_odors

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Activated_carbon

 

It's amazing stuff!

[Jimr1961 0]

No offense taken Shoebop. Nothing asked, nothing learned.

[stevedavis 0]

Shoebop, would you recommend charcoal for musty smells as well? I grabbed a boatload of supplies at an estate sale recently and it was obviously stored in a damp basement for years and has that musty, mildewy odor. My best estimates is that the materials would be worth over $700 at todays prices. There are no bugs and no other odors other than the musty one. Would love to save this stuff but my whole tying area smells like a wet basement (and it's not my basement).

[shoebop 0]

As long as the offending skin or pelt is not the source of the mold. In that case, you might have to use a fungicide of some sort if you can find one that doesn't have an odor itself. I don't know of any myself. You might just have to throw it away. No harm in trying the charcoal anyway but if they're moldy they won't stay odor free for long. If it has just picked up a musty odor from the environment then the charcoal will work just fine. Place them in a sealed bin with an adequate amount of charcoal (one cup should be plenty) and let then sit. Check them every so often until all the odor has been absorbed.

[Guest]

I talked to Denny Conrad one time and he recommended that any time you wash a cape or find one that has any flesh on it and you trim it off and wash, put them feather down and cover them with borax until totally dry!! You can use a hair dryer with no heat to fluff the feathers out and it will also blow the borax out.

 

To keep any moisture in check you can put Desiccant Packs in your bags. I know some you put a small piece of cedar in their bags also.