Had one of those mishaps that gives Murphy’s Law a bad name yesterday.
Bought a brand new matress on the way home from work yesterday and was carrying it up the stairs when it slipped. The thing slide down a flight of stairs and picked up some good speed before slamming into a chair on which I had just placed a brand new, unopened can of Penofin deck stain. The can fell to the floor and, you guessed it, popped open.
Stain spilled out on the floor (not so bad – its ceramic tile), but got the matress good. I put the mattress outside to dry but it still reeks today of solvent.
Any idea if I’ll get the smell out completely? Anything I can do to remove the smell? Should I swallow my pride and just go back to the store and buy another mattress?
Replies
If it's solvent, there's probably not much you can do except time, temperature, and fresh air. Put it out in the sun every day.
But, since you will be spending 1/3 of your day on it, it may take months until the concentration of fumes drops to a safe level.
You'll have a much better idea in a week or so.
Yup. I'll wait until Saturday and have another sniff. Wife is pregnant so if there is any hint of a smell I'll toss and buy another. Ugh.
It will likely take at least a week. If on a firm surface like wood, and in a well ventilated warm place where the volatiles can escape into the air, it might be only 4-5 days, but on fabric and cool outside, I would expect that a sensitive pg woman could still notice it after three weeks.Attached is another stain mishap. The cabinet guy hada brain cramp the day he was finalizing his kitchen, touching things up, and since he didn't need a whole can ... well you can see what happened in the picture. It really happened fast! Talk about the bottom falling out!
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
I did that once - DOH!!Kevin Halliburton And with that, the great emporer Oz gently floated away on a curtain of hot air, laughing at the unfortunate ignorance of little people beneath him. But under his breath he cursed that stupid little dog...
The frist time I mixed West Epoxy it was in a styro cup. I didn't knoqw two important facts. one - that curing epoxy is exothermicand two - that styrafoam will melt if heated enoughI was halfway into my little job when I noticed a tendril of smoke or something that looked like it curling up from the cup.Luckily, the window was open right there, so I threw it out.
By the time it hit the grass it was boiling and smoking to beat the band, and the cup no longer existed. In five minutes, it was a ball of hard and the grass was all singed around it.If I hadn't noticed that warning tendril, I'd have ruined a good maple countertop.Then I read the instructions booklet.Dhuh!
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Thanks Piffin.
LOL. Reminds me of my first forray into stripping (furniture).
Early 20's, still dopey. Though a Kraft plastic peanut butter tub would be a good container for the polystrippa. Put a small amount in, didn't notice the tub getting progressively smaller, until I tried to pick it up.
Fortunately it was on the cement floor in the garage. Dad walks in just then, sees what I've done, mutters something of which I only hear "mumble, mumble ... idiot" and walks away.
I'd give a shot at steam cleaning it ...
no idea if it'll work ...
but since I used to steam clean carpets for a living ...
it's my first reaction now.
Good luck
Jeff
Hmmm. Hadn't thought of that. May be worth a try.
I was actually hoping that some paint expert would point me to something that would polymerize the oils in the stain so that they became non-volatile (i.e. harden them). I've never heard of anything like that but was hanging on to the hope!
At the very least, I'll call a steam cleaning company and ask them if they've dealt with this before.
I can still smell the penofin stain on my cedar shingles six months later
Some credit cards have automatic(?) insurance on purchases that would probably cover this situation. Otherwise, I would call a professional cleaner and see what they say.
Aaron
I'll check but I don't think I have the insurance (but good idea!).
In any case, my wife called the store ('cause I couldn't swallow my pride and bring myself to call them myelf to admit my stupidity) and told them the story. Well, the manager felt sorry for her and offered to sell us a replacement mattress (same model) for 50% off. Wow, what good customer service - she didn't have to do that at all! The chain is Mattress Mart in Ontario, Canada. They've just earned a lifetime customer with me!
the insurance is a good suggestion.
I may be wrong ... but I do think my policy may cover me in such a case.
we "over insured" ...
Not sure ... but worth the phone call.
Jeff
odorgone? its this spray HVAC guys use for oil furnaces I think thats what its called it neutralizes the smell. works great. I think thats the name ask the fellas at the counter.
Dan
I ended up getting a new mattress but will keep "Odour Gone" in mind for the future (actually come to think of it, I think I have used Odour Gone for dog pee on a wool wall-to-wall carpet once - worked).