# Oh gross... how to get cat ---- smell out of leather..



## jill.costello (Aug 18, 2004)

OK, I know I'm supposed to know ALL about leather and ALL about restoring it and making it awesome & Jill-ified, etc.

BUT.....

I just got a saddle in that I got a really great deal on ($45.00!) HOWEVER, they must have kept it in the same room with the cat box or it got sprayed out in the barn tack room because it REEKS of cat pee :grit:

I want to just dunk the whole dern thing in a tub full of hot water & Oxy-Clean, but you can't really do that with english saddles because of the wool flocking.....

Anyone have a home remedy that I can spray on or dust on or whatever that will draw out the ammonia smell? It's a super saddle otherwise.... (major _otherwise_...)


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## jennigrey (Jan 27, 2005)

I use Nature's Miracle to get cat pee smell out of things but I confess I've never used it on leather. I've used it on fabric upholstry, carpeting, wool and a bunch of other stuff. You have to make sure that the Nature's Miracle comes into contact with all of the cat pee and then allow it to air dry completely. It doesn't contain any alcohol. It's enzyme-based. I'd try it on a piece of scrap leather or on the back of a panel or something, let it dry completely and scope it out. Probably was marked by a barn tom. I left a winter turnout in a friend's barn, draped over a tie stall hip bar. Got marked by probably every feral tom for five miles around. It's been draped over a board in my barn for the last five months and it still smells violently of cat pee. 'Course, I haven't tried cleaning it yet. Best of luck to you.


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## jill.costello (Aug 18, 2004)

OK, the seller is being a donkey; claiming she doesn't HAVE a cat and it didn't smell like that when she mailed it! Whatever. I'm sending it back, can't deal with it, even to clean it!


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## wr (Aug 10, 2003)

I think you'll save yourself a lot of time and grief if you can send it back.


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## CaliannG (Apr 29, 2005)

For the future, and ONLY if you can manage to re-do the dye and finish on the saddle:

Bleach combats cat urine.

Cat urine is high in ammonia. Bleach and ammonia react to one another, forming a gas, which out-gasses the smell from whatever.

Therefore, do any treatments of this sort either outside or in a well ventilated room. Clean as per normal afterwards. SOME leather dyes hold up well under this treatment...and some have to be re-dyed and re-sealed afterwards.

Put bleach in a spray bottle. Spray the affected area liberally. Wait for foam to start dropping off and returning to liquid state. Wipe off.

I haven't used this on a saddle, but I have used it on wood and leather furniture. It's the only thing I know of that can get the smell out of wood that has, for a long period of time, been used as a marking area for a cat.

Don't use this on fabric unless you plan to re-dye the fabric. For fabric not attached to bulky items like saddles, I have another formula which works.

~~ Queen of cleaning.


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## Stonybrook (Sep 22, 2007)

Jill, that is just way gross. I guess maybe that is why it was so cheap and why she wanted it gone and is being a jerk.


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