11-17-2013, 08:42 AM
Yesterday I acquired a 40-201 model which has fairly decent exterior finish of the cabinet. There are a couple of spots of delamination of the veneer and one area of the base on the left side has some wood that has been gnawed off or has broken off - will have to check again.
The biggest problem is that mice had gotten into the cabinet and created a nest and really left lots of excrement and pee all over the wood that the chassis mounts to. Right now I have the chassis removed. I used a metal spatula to scrape off the worst of the mouse mess. It was about 3/8" thick in places! I did some research on eliminating mouse odor and some of the most promising comments were:
1) Use a bowl of vinegar and enclose the cabinet in a large plastic bag and leave in the sunlight for several hours.
2) Scrub the interior with a dilute bleach solution.
3) Use baking soda. Possibly use a paste of baking soda and some water.
4) Use peroxide to remove the odor.
5) Use plain charcoal and enclose in a bag in sunlight.
6) Use Nature's Miracle Cage Odor Eliminator (this comment was followed by comments that said this product leaves an odor behind that was as bad as the original problem).
7) After whatever method is used to eliminate odor use some shellac to seal off the area to keep odor from returning.
It appears that the least likely to cause added problems would be to try the vinegar treatment first, as it only produces some fumes. Baking soda is a well known odor eliminator, but I am somewhat reluctant to use a water and baking soda paste due to possible wood warping. The person who mentioned using baking soda said that they used it frequently in working on pianos, so maybe it would not be a problem to use a baking soda paste. Using dilute bleach solution or peroxide may work too, but again it may lead to warped wood.
Have any of you fought this problem and found a solution?
Philco used a medium to dark brown flat finish paint on the inside of their cabinets. Have any of you found a suitable paint to use for repainting the inside of the cabinets?
Joe
The biggest problem is that mice had gotten into the cabinet and created a nest and really left lots of excrement and pee all over the wood that the chassis mounts to. Right now I have the chassis removed. I used a metal spatula to scrape off the worst of the mouse mess. It was about 3/8" thick in places! I did some research on eliminating mouse odor and some of the most promising comments were:
1) Use a bowl of vinegar and enclose the cabinet in a large plastic bag and leave in the sunlight for several hours.
2) Scrub the interior with a dilute bleach solution.
3) Use baking soda. Possibly use a paste of baking soda and some water.
4) Use peroxide to remove the odor.
5) Use plain charcoal and enclose in a bag in sunlight.
6) Use Nature's Miracle Cage Odor Eliminator (this comment was followed by comments that said this product leaves an odor behind that was as bad as the original problem).
7) After whatever method is used to eliminate odor use some shellac to seal off the area to keep odor from returning.
It appears that the least likely to cause added problems would be to try the vinegar treatment first, as it only produces some fumes. Baking soda is a well known odor eliminator, but I am somewhat reluctant to use a water and baking soda paste due to possible wood warping. The person who mentioned using baking soda said that they used it frequently in working on pianos, so maybe it would not be a problem to use a baking soda paste. Using dilute bleach solution or peroxide may work too, but again it may lead to warped wood.
Have any of you fought this problem and found a solution?
Philco used a medium to dark brown flat finish paint on the inside of their cabinets. Have any of you found a suitable paint to use for repainting the inside of the cabinets?
Joe