Dead mouse on leather... Help needed.
 

Here's one for the cleaning experts out there...

I got home from work and sat down on my leather couch to one of the
worst smells ever (and surprisingly it wasn't me). Something
instinctively told me it was a rotting corpse and something else told
me it was right under my ass. Well, I stood up and pulled aside the
blanket covering the couch and revealed a chewed up mouse corpse.
Woohoo!

So it looks like one of our 2 cats or 2 dogs has left us a present.
Well, I cleaned it up as best I could. I sprayed the leather with
Lysol cleaner. Then leather cleaner. Then leather polish. If I put my
nose up to it, it still smells. If I sit at the other end of the
couch, I swear I can smell it. Perhaps the smell is just "in the air"
(or in my NOSE!), and it will dissipate and go away on its own.

Any thoughts as to what other steps I should take?

Thanks all,
Dave.

KD writes:

Any thoughts as to what other steps I should take?

Wrong approach. You need to get the contaminants out, not add more in the
form of "cleaners" (Lysol? Please.).

Rotting flesh contains protein which means nitrogen which in decay means
ammonia which means you need to neutralize high pH and rinse. Mechanically
this may be a challenge in a piece of upholstered furniture. Hope you can
get the leather off the cushions and suds and rinse them.

040819 2208 - KD posted:

Here's one for the cleaning experts out there...

I got home from work and sat down on my leather couch to one of the
worst smells ever (and surprisingly it wasn't me). Something
instinctively told me it was a rotting corpse and something else told
me it was right under my ass. Well, I stood up and pulled aside the
blanket covering the couch and revealed a chewed up mouse corpse.
Woohoo!

So it looks like one of our 2 cats or 2 dogs has left us a present.
Well, I cleaned it up as best I could. I sprayed the leather with
Lysol cleaner. Then leather cleaner. Then leather polish. If I put my
nose up to it, it still smells. If I sit at the other end of the
couch, I swear I can smell it. Perhaps the smell is just "in the air"
(or in my NOSE!), and it will dissipate and go away on its own.

Any thoughts as to what other steps I should take?

Thanks all,
Dave.

It will go away soon...

So it looks like one of our 2 cats or 2 dogs has left us a present.

Sure, blame in on the dogs and cats.

Had a mouse get into my car once and die. Smell went away on
it's own after a time. Get rid of the corpse and clean up any goo
it leaves behind.



Randy
http://members.aol.com/rsmeiner

Thanks for all the advice. After 24 hours, it's still smellin' strong,
or at least when I put my nose up to it. As the first poster said,
I've probably made it worse by keeping it damp with "cleaners."

I'll give it some time and hope I don't need to burn the otherwise
fine couch.

On 20 Aug 2004 21:55:30 GMT, rap (RSMEINER) wrote:

So it looks like one of our 2 cats or 2 dogs has left us a present.

Sure, blame in on the dogs and cats.

Had a mouse get into my car once and die. Smell went away on
it's own after a time. Get rid of the corpse and clean up any goo
it leaves behind.



Randy
http://members.aol.com/rsmeiner

So it looks like one of our 2 cats or 2 dogs has left us a present.
Well, I cleaned it up as best I could. I sprayed the leather with
Lysol cleaner. Then leather cleaner. Then leather polish. If I put my
nose up to it, it still smells. If I sit at the other end of the
couch, I swear I can smell it. Perhaps the smell is just "in the air"
(or in my NOSE!), and it will dissipate and go away on its own.

Make sure there are no other mouse "parts" still in/under the couch. My cats
like to spread their victims around.