I have acquired an older compartmentalized gun case that is lined with a felt like material. From what I can tell it apparentely spent quite some time in a damp basement and has a very strong musty odor. Does anyone on the forum have a recommendation for getting rid of it?
Jim

Natures Miracle ought to work. Or, an open box of baking soda with the door not quite shut tight for awhile.

Frabreeze. Even makes a skunked dog smell sweet. Chops

Two votes for Fabreeze

Thanks for the help guys and I'll let you know how this turns out.
Jim

I think you are going to have to put up with it. I don't know that anything can remove the old musty smell of an old moldy basement. I would say the best chance you have is to open it and put it outside in the open air. Fabreeze doesn't work for me. I have been spraying it in my tennis shoes this summer like the commercial says and it only magnified the smell and turned it into a stinky Fabreezy foot smell that stunk up my bedroom. I just washed them this weekend and they still smell like a stinky Fabeeze smell. I didn't like the Fabreeze smell to begin with. So I'd be willing to bet if you spray them with something, you will just end up with a perfumy-moldy smell. So, good luck.

It might be worth stripping out and re-lining; not as hard as you might think. I obtained a nice leather on oak case and was faced with the same problem. I actually enjoyed doing it and have since done a few more. I have a similar problem with a leather and sheepskin lined gun sleeve at the moment. I picked it up as a second hand bargin but the previous owner smoked. I keep hanging it inside out in the sunshine to try to get rid of the stench. Not enough sunny days in England this year and it is taking some deodourising. If that was the inside of his gun sleeve I hate to think what the inside of his lungs were like. Lagopus......

Buy a can of mild coffee grounds. Sprinkle them all through out the case. Let it sit over night. Coffee soaks up odors like charcoal. Works great in vehicles, as does filling a shallow aluminum pan with ammonia and letting it sit overnight. Not quite sure how you'd be able to use the ammonia trick with the case though. Coffee should do it.

The coffee is the right answer. I put it into small containers and leave it for several days.
Never failed, so far.
Best,
John

Coffee beans disguise cocaine- that's why some much of the "Bolivian Army Foor Powders" come into CONUS cased in coffee beans- the Doberman Druggie Dawgs can't sniff 'em out. I'd strip off the corrupted felt and burn it-pack the case full of coffee, let sit for a week- then re-check. RWTF

Bolivian Marching powder?

I will try that coffee trick with the gun slip. At least the smell of coffee is better than ciggys. Lagopus.....

I have restored quite a few cases and I well know the smell you are describing. Even after the felt is removed the stink is still in the wood. New felt just disguises it. Maybe coffee or chemicals will work. But I always use western red cedar for all blocks and compartment partitions when I rebuild them. When you open the case you get a whiff of gun oil and cedar.... What an aroma!

I have used the following to remove odor and the damp smell from several lined case:

1, Vac any loose stuff .... get in all the corners.
2, Using a mix of liquid laundry detergent and color safe bleach, lightly sponge the interior .... blot dark spots .... then with a well squeezed spunge and clear water ... blot away the cleaner solution ..... it will take a few reps to get the suds out.
3,Set it someplace to dry ..... in the sun is fast and helps the process.
4,When it is bone dry I like to fill it with cedar chips, close it up and leave it for a few days..... or dump a box of baking soda in a shallow container and leave that for few days.

This has worked for me several times.

Note: If mold between the lining and the shell, nothing will get it out ..... relining is the only option.

Hope this helps

Al