Cat Pee and Sleeping Bags :-(

“NM is great...i've used the same technique for a tent and a synthetic bag...could you not use it for the down bag?”

“You should better house train your cats....or tent train them.”

“one word: EWWWW!”

“MeoEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
Bucky 'Katt'

'32oz”

“I am surprised the cat should do this. My cat never peed into the house or on things, unless he was locked in. Maybe it was your neighbour? Do you have an open bill with him?”

“Un-fixed male cats whizz on things, eh?

Maybe they show who eez boss.”

“You should better house train your cats

can a cat actually be trained?...cats spray for different reasons...male cats that haven't been neutered or were so late in their life...mine will pee if his litter box isn't exactly to his liking and if there's an easy target, like a shirt laying on the floor”

“an open bill?...yall furiners sho talk funny”

“If it was your neighbour you should get him fixed.”

“I don't think the neighbor's wife would appreciate that.”

““I don't think the neighbor's wife would appreciate that.”

I beg to differ!

Once fixed, one doesn't have to be concerned with un-planned puppies.”

“...and finaly he will sit down on the loo when peeing.”

“"...and finaly he will sit down on the loo when peeing."



Not me, mon fille.”

“...that can get fixed.”

“sorry, but that pun was tooo tempting
:-)
:-)”

“What? You don't like the smell of cat piss in the morning air?”

“After last summer season one or both of our cats peed on our Sierra Designs tent and my down sleeping bag as they were airing out in our extra bedroom. Did not discover this until we went on a campout in October...not cool!

I read this thread twice and searched the internet several times and found a lot of "recommendations" from people who have never actually cleaned cat pee from down bag. After hours of research and a trip to the cleaners for some advice, here are my results and recommendations:

Cat pee needs to be broken down chemically. Don't trust vinegar or soap alone. Dry cleaning is out for down bags anyway. I soaked my down bag for several hours in a tub with Nature's Miracle for Cats full strength which I bought at the pet store for $29/gallon.
http://www.natures-miracle.com/natures-miracle-just-for-cats-stain-and-odor-remover.html

Then I bought some Nikwax Down Wash at the sporting goods store (Sport Chalet). The down wash also restores some waterproofing. I washed the bag in a commercial front loading machine per instructions on the bottle. Do not use a top loader because the agitator can ruin your bag by tearing the baffles. Zip the bag closed and turn inside out (I think this is to protect the more fragile outer shell or the baffles...just a guess). Wash using the normal setting. The commercial washer I used included two rinses, which is desirable.

To dry use a large tumble dryer on the lowest setting. Note that you must have some heat, so do not use a "no heat" setting if there is one. Take enough quarters to dry for two or three hours. Frequently check the bag and you will find clumps of down that you can try to break up. Keep doing this until the bag is dry and the down is fluffed back up. Note that I thought the bag would never dry and fluff up. It wasn't until dry that the down fluffed up.

Several sites said to put in a couple of tennis balls to help fluff the bag up. Several other sites said NOT to do it because it could damage the bag. I did it and I think think it helped.

My bag is like new, if not better, since I think the down is distributed better. The cat pee smell is totally gone.

Note that I had to go back to the laundramat two times because I twice thought it was completely dry and it was not. You really have to feel each baffle for clumps of damp feathers before you conclude it is fully dry.

Regarding the tent, we soaked it full strength in Nature's Miracle, scrubbed the pee spot with a brush, and then set it up and air-dried. After that we squirted it down with water to wash of dirt and let it air dry again. Smell is gone.
last edited: 6/26/09 1:44:18 PM”

“I can fix the cat problem.”

“How much do you charge?”

“its a free service, provided you ask no questions.”

“Thanks for the write-up. Are you some sort of engineer or something? 8)

I wonder if the new front loader home units would work?

I hope I never need this information, but darn glad it's here.”

“dayhiker - Since you asked, I am an engineering professor. LOL”

“I was teasing with you since I'm one too. That's what the 8) was, a grin.”

“Washing down bags is one thing that does make me nervous and it's nice to have your detail instructions. I was actually expecting some pictures and graphs also. LOL!

Dayhiker I would think the home front loaders would work. It's big enough and there's no agitator.”

“Natures miracle is a regualr item in my house, I have been using it and trusted for years. It really is the one thing that seems to work....

in my case dog pee...lol”

“After reading all of that I may try washing 2 of my down bags. They're starting to get a little funky.”

“My cat pee'd on my tennis balls, all of them. I didn't know what to do because I had no more tennis balls to throw into the washer with them. I bought some more. Sure hope it works; I'm not going to play tennis with smelly balls.”

“If you did, then you'd also have sweaty balls.”

“I read this thread twice and searched the internet several times and found a lot of "recommendations" from people who have never actually________(Fill in the blank)_________



This is why we can't have nice things on TT.

;-)”

“this is why cats should die”

“in a blender”

“Phil, you could have solved the whole damn problem if you had originally thrown the cats in the Dryer with the tennis balls (to keep them company).”

“IIRC, the cats were closed in the room, and the spread out sleeping bag and tent were the two most "litter" like items in there. They are good cats and dont pee on things unless the circumstances are unusual.”