Posted by Wade on February 10, 2004 at 18:54:28:
In Reply to: Re: Help! Moldy tuba-case posted by P-J on February 09, 2004 at 18:11:49:
P-J:
One correction to my last post: I stated that most of the stink is in the plush and not the padding. It is the reverse.
And 100% of the smell will never go away. But you can make this into a once-per-year-or-less ordeal if you do this aggressively and more than once. Killing that stink cannot be done without a great amount of work on your part.
I have used this method on my own 1958 musty, stinky old Alexander hard case. It really worked.
HOWEVER . . . as stated beneath my earlier thread by Kenny Jay - if the mold has gotten into the wood then all bets are off. But if it is still only in the liner then you might be able to win this battle. You must be persistent.
When I redid my case five years ago, I had to scrub it out as described over six consecutive weekends! (Number of cold ones consumed? You do the math . . . ) The smell kept coming back each week, but less and less so. After the sixth attempt, the smell has never really returned.
It was very hard to get rid of due to the high humidity in Jackson. Paying a repair tech to do this six times would be silly. Do it yourself and do it until it is done or you feel defeated.
Febreeze first came out in 1999, and I used it at that time. It works okay. There is an allergen-fighting version that I occasionally will spray on my AC filters when I clean them (they are not replaceable and must be washed). It seems to be somewhat effective at fighting mold. I re-Febreeze my case once each year for good measure and plan to use this new version this year.
BTW - case plush and foam padding can be purchased (unmeasured and uncut) at a good fabric store. So you can pull each panel and trace a template, cut new panels, and re-line your case if worse comes to worst. But this is a real pain in the rump.
Ciao!
Wade