Musty Smell in PH Boxes

[smwinter207]

Anybody have a fix for the musty smells in PH Medal Boxes? For that matter, any WWII medal box.. Bought three of these from a guy and they have a bad moldy/musty smell. Sprayed with lysole, alcohol, etc. And not much has changed.

 

Thanks
S

[stratasfan]

There is a way that book collectors/dealers used for very old (18th Century even). Get some non-clumping cat litter (unscented preferably) and fill a garbage bag with enough to completely bury you open case in the litter. Seal/twist tie the bag closed with as little air as possible, and set somewhere that is not cold, not hot, not in the sun (don't want condensation). After two-three weeks, check it, and you can check it every week or so after that. If you live somewhere dryer, it might be done in a month, if you live in the Ohio Valley . . . it might take three months or more. When you check it, you don't want the litter to be getting clumpy or any moisture on your item. If it starts, change the litter out in a new bag and totally bury your open case again. No guarantee on one of these cases, however, it worked very well with old books, which could really hold in musty, moldy and smoke smells. 

[Blacksmith]

A fix?   I wish they sold cologne that smelled like medal boxes.  

[smwinter207]

1 minute ago, Blacksmith said:

A fix?   I wish they sold cologne that smelled like medal boxes.  

Not these. They are so bad it smelled up my entire safe. 

[268th C.A.]

I assume its a gun safe, try a humidifier. To keep moisture out. I have no problems. But I don't store medal boxes. There about $20. bucks.

also in the car business Febreze hides almost anything.  

[Blacksmith]

38 minutes ago, smwinter207 said:

Not these. They are so bad it smelled up my entire safe. 

Ahh, so not good musty then.  I get it.

 

 

[tdogchristy90]

Have you thought about airing them out, like on a screened in back porch? 

[Trevor Arendall]

37 minutes ago, tdogchristy90 said:

Have you thought about airing them out, like on a screened in back porch? 

I have done this and it tends to work. Just be sure they are safe and cannot be messed with by conditions or animals 

[smwinter207]

2 hours ago, tdogchristy90 said:

Have you thought about airing them out, like on a screened in back porch? 

The next time I'll have an above 32 degree porch will be in 3 months. lol

[LuftStalg1]

3 hours ago, Blacksmith said:

A fix?   I wish they sold cologne that smelled like medal boxes.  

LOL  Right!  Me too, I love that smell!

[BILL THE PATCH]

OMG this is weird, I was just going through some stuff and came across a purple heart box with some bring backs from a 85th div guy to post on another thread. When I noticed the heavy musty smell. I even pulled it closer to my nose to get a better whiff. Reminds me of the old army navy stores smell. Now I have a whole drawer that smells like it. It brings back memories. And I do like it.

Sent from my moto g(7) play using Tapatalk

[USMCR79]

Maybe they can make a car air freshener with that scent!!

 

Bill

[smwinter207]

10 minutes ago, BILL THE PATCH said:

OMG this is weird, I was just going through some stuff and came across a purple heart box with some bring backs from a 85th div guy to post on another thread. When I noticed the heavy musty smell. I even pulled it closer to my nose to get a better whiff. Reminds me of the old army navy stores smell. Now I have a whole drawer that smells like it. It brings back memories. And I do like it.

Sent from my moto g(7) play using Tapatalk
 

My wife is convinced they have mold. Only these three cases I got from the same vendor. Took them apart, and I don't see anything obvious. Soaking them in alcohol and vinegar. Luckily my safe is now smell free with baking soda and coffee grounds sitting in there.  

 

I'd love to bleach these little bastards. But will probably have to toss them.

 

 

[stratasfan]

Oh, try the kitty litter before tossing them! You'll only be out a few dollars for a bag of it. 

 

As to your safe . . . not  a bad idea to get a small container, fill it with some baking soda, punch a few holes in the lid, and leave it in a corner of your safe. Keeps the humidity down in the space and helps with any odor whatsoever. We do this with our doll cabinets and in bathrooms, closets, etc.  Yogurt containers, cottage cheese containers . . . something like that works really well.

[jmd62]

1 hour ago, USMCR79 said:

Maybe they can make a car air freshener with that scent!!

 

Bill

 

Ha! Sign me up for one, I love that old smell too ;D 

[jmar]

Hello all,

 

A problem that most of us who collect older medals have faced at one time or another. I had a WW II Legion of Merit titled case that reeked. Tried airing it out, in a box with baking soda, etc., no change. It was so strong I couldn't keep it in the cabinet where I stored many of my pieces.

 

Did some research and found this stuff ZORBX. Did it work completely, no, but I used it in two applications, and both were left outside in direct sun as directed. It significantly reduced the odor, but not completely. This is NOT an endorsement of this product, but it might help reduce the odor for some of those extremely "stinky" cases.

 

My best wishes to you,

 

Joe

 

 

 

[joeclown]

Try a plastic box you can seal up air tight with a cover and put the boxes in it with some Arm and Hammer baking soda for a few days

[Wharfmaster]

My fix for very moldy/musty medal cases is the trash can. I do not want to introduce stink and mold into my home/collection. It would have to be a very valuable box

for me to attempt to save it. The vast majority of my collection goes into clean dry riker mounts anyway. If a medal case is in good to excellent condition and has that pleasant

smell most medal collectors like, I will keep it. 

 

W

[smwinter207]

As a follow up, here is the successful process I followed.

- Throw out the contaminated cases.

- Lysol the entire safe. (That only kills the bacteria.)

- Next, I burned a yankee candle inside the safe and kept my eye on it for 2hrs. That really helped replace the smells.

- Finally, I put a boxed bar of irish clean soap in there and closed the safe. Worked like a charm.

 

I also took my cotton vn and kr flags(all contaminted with the moldy smell) and put them in a sealed bucket with the irish spring soap and baking soda box. Took two days to completely replace the old smell. Hope that is helpful to someone.

 

S

[doyler]

I have had medal boxes and items with odors from being damp that were in basements,storage lockers etc. Just put them in a sealed bag or small tote with dryer sheets. Check every couple weeks and repeat if still odorous. You can also buy an ozone generator. There are multiple types/cost ranges.  Im sure a small one would have worked well in a safe.

 

[doyler]

Ivation Portable Ozone Generator 600mg/H Air Purifier - Multipurpose Air Sterilizing and Freshening System-IVAOZ85 - The Home Depot

[Airborne-Hunter]

I can't say that I have seen it for medal boxes...yet...but there is a certain type of what I presume is synthetic velvet from the era that gets a mold smell. I don't know that it is mold. In fact I tend to think it has something to do with off gassing. I have seen it on pieces of furniture and some clothing. And in short there is nothing you can do. I have tried everything: weeks of direct sunlight, humid environments, dry environments, direct light on grass, windex, dawn, bleach, goof off, energine, gasoline. Nothing works. Old medal boxes have a faux leather case so be very careful using anything of strength. Best ABN

[Matt-M]

Yes, the old boxes have a "wonderful" smell, and I think it actually was the adhesive used to stick the liners in place inside the outer box. Older steamer trunks also sometimes have the same smell, and again, suspect it was the adhesive to affix the paper liner inside the trunks. As far as a musty smell however, as others have stated, unless it is a rare box, you may want to consider trashing it. Risking stinking up the rest of your stuff to save a box seems un-necessary. There still is a decent amount of surplus WW2 Army / Air Corps boxes, and as others have stated, they like to keep medals / groupings in Rikers mounts, freeing up boxes for collectors who prefer them as issued. Just my .02