We had a really bad mice infestation and they got into these dressers. They are fabric clothing storage dressers. They have those storage cubes which feel like they have cardboard inside. I wiped them down with Clorox wipes and sprayed them with Dreft. Some were used for clothing and some were used for holding snacks and stuff. Can I clean and reuse or should I toss. Thanks
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I would discard these. They are contaminated. Whenever there is urine on items on the Hoarders TV show, the items are discarded.
The CDC advises to discard any cardboard box items:
www.cdc.gov/
We had a mouse infestation in some things in our garage several years back. We used buckets filled with hot water, dawn dish soap...a squirt, tide...a squirt, and a cup of bleach. We wore heavy plastic gloves and hand scrubbed everything and we were able to salvage some of the wood and plastic items. (We made up new buckets every few items...as soon as the water started to get gray.) When they were scrubbed clean, we let them dry in the sun. Almost everything had no odor after the first round. A few were good after a repeat round and anything that had an odor after round two was tossed.
Some of the fabric items came clean with no smell when they were soaked or wiped down (lawn chairs with that webbing stuff were wiped) with the same hot water, Dawn, Tide and bleach solution in buckets of hot water. What we could soaked for an hour in buckets, then everything was rinsed well with hot water in buckets and also left in the sun. Then ran it through the washer for a final cleaning. Someone later said we would have been better to use rented steam cleaner on all the fabric but that was after the fact. I probably would have been easier.
Sadly a few things didn't make it...weren't bleach safe colors and the bleach ruined them, but some shirts, towels, and table linens survived with no issues. Looking back the cost to do this was probably not worth the trouble, but some of the items had sentimental value so we tried. Good luck!
For safety, you may not be able to save these. Because the urine has went through the fabric and cardboard wall, they will never get a thorough cleaning. Then it becomes more of a bacteria issue. Better to be safe and discard.
To clean mouse urine from fabric, you need detergent containing biological enzymes to break down the urine. The detergents with biological enzymes are intended specifically for pet accidents. You can buy such detergents at pet stores and pet grooming supply stores.
Usually, to remove urine stains from a fabric, the fabric should be soaked for up to 45 minutes in a solution of two parts hot/cold water and one part vinegar or in a solution of 1 teaspoon of ammonia and half cup of water. First always test a small, hidden area to make sure that it does not damage the material or change the colorings.
Then the fabric should be rinsed thoroughly.
To disinfect fabric on furniture people suggest using a commercial-grade steam cleaner or shampoo.
But you first need to find out exactly what is inside, because if there is cardboard inside, then the boxes cannot be soaked.
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