Kitchen Garden Forum

I inadvertently left some fish in a very fancy leather briefcase - it stinks! I have tried spraying it with deoderant but that just masks the stink for a few minutes. Any ideas of what I can do to extract the smell for good?

Thanks

armstrom

One thing that might be worth trying is simply leaving it outside, open wide, on a warm dry sunny day perhaps for several times.
My guess is that you might be able to reduce the smell but that it will linger for a long time.

John

Thanks John. I have the offending bag open at teh moment - in a busy office. My colleague keeps complaining about it so maybe I should do the open air thing at home not here. or perhaps a bag of that silicon gel they put in new shoes...

Hello again armstrom
I'm afraid silica gel won't help as this is to absorb moisture.
Just thought that those things they sell to put in smelly shoes might help - odoreaters? Activated charcoal (not your usual charcoal) is also something worth trying but I don't know where you could get this outside a laboratory.

John

Have you tried spraying with febreze, they claim it neutralises smells. Did you bury the offending fish in the garden, it's good fertiliser, 72 trace minerals

Hi Armstrom,
I suggest that you get some Bicarbonate of Soda powder and scatter it very liberally inside your briefcase and I think that it will absorb the smell.
Many years ago one of my daughters was horribly sick in my car and we tried just about everything under the sun to get rid of it. I was told to spread the BoS powder where my daughter had been sick and 'hey presto' the awful smell disappeared almost over night.
JB.

Scholl shoe spray, available from Boots.

JB beat me to it, I was going to suggest bicarb too. it really works! Or coffee grounds, they are good odour removers.

I wish I'd known about the Bicaronate of Soda method many years ago. I bought some fish from a local market on the Friday lunchtime of the hottest August Bank Holiday week-end of the year. Unfortunately I was so anxious to get home that I forgot my fish and left it in the office! I very nearly had to collect my P45 when we all returned to work on the following Tuesday. The stink was unbelievable :