Bought a dirty case help

[Adampreav]

I bought a king 6b that comes with the original case in good overall shape the only issues is the smell of the original carpet and the outside of the case is filthy.
How do I clean the case
Thanks

[BGuttman]

The smell inside is mildew and will be really tough to get rid of. Problem is that the mildew is under the plush lining and maybe even in the wood shell. You can try putting dryer sheets inside the case to mask the smell, but that's not a solution. Best I've heard is to fumigate the case with ozone, but you'll have a challenge finding someone to do it.

The outside of the case can be cleaned with a spray cleaner like 409 and followed up with a treatment of saddle soap.

[Adampreav]

Should I just buy a new case

[BGuttman]

Should I just buy a new case

You may find that the best option.

[DougHulme]

You can get a spray they sell at camping/outdoor pursuit shops (when they re-open!) that is designed for removing mildew from tent canvas. I gave my case a good soaking (but sprayed on so not that much) and it worked a treat, After it had dried out I also sprayed it with a proprity sparay we call 'Fabreze' but its an odour killing spray for fabric. I dont think I actually had to do that though because the mildew spray seemed to have done its job. It's effectiveness might depend on how badly the case is infected though I suppose... Doug

[davebb]

I always thought that re-lining a case with new padding and fabric would be really tricky - until I bought a hot glue gun. It makes lots of things possible.
I re-lined a king coffin case. The smell was deeply in the plywood. I used some timber conditioner on the plywood to get rid of the smell. Contains trimethyl benzene, xylene and various other organispcs. Got rid of the smell though.

[Geordie]

I think I read on here, or our previous abode, that leaving it outdoors in the sun fir a day it two can help - perhaps as a supplement to the other suggestions. Not tried it personally.

[Adampreav]

It not the worse it’s like a 4/10
I can keep the original carpet.
I don’t like how the instrument moves, there a lot of play.
What if I ripped out everything inside got some foam and some carpet and redo the inside, what kinda job would I expect.

[whitbey]

This is good for trombone cases, cars and smelly houses.
A bowl of vinegar with a rag floating in it. leave it sit for a day or few and the vinegar will absorb the smell.
This will remove pizza and chili dog odors from my truck. I am a real estate guy and put a couple dozen dishes out in a condo that had smoke stink bad. (lady dies of lung cancer) 5 days later there was only a little vinegar smell.

[Gary]

Bruce and Adam hit the nail on the head. If it's an iconic, vintage case like, for instance a Martin case for its Committee trumpet, it's just not worth the trouble. I've been there a number of times. Easier just to buy another case.

BTW, sunlight exposure for several days in a row may help, in addition to above treatments. But to me, just shelling out for a brand new case takes all the worry (and smell) out of it.

[baileyman]

I keep thinking about getting a pool water ionizing sanitizer for this kind of thing. Left on "soaking" in a big bag I would expect the odors to be killed. But since I have not yet done this, I cannot yet report...

[BGuttman]

We had a guy on TTF who had a friend with an auto body shop. The shop had a large ozone generator which they used to treat the interiors of cars, He had his mildewed case stowed inside one of the cars for an overnight treatment. Took care of the odor. Not easy to do at home.

[Matt K]

Yeah I'd just get a new case. There are so many super nice cases you can get now, some of which are really not all that expensive.