DE-SKUNKING OLD MILITARY AMMO CANS

[chief38]

Over the last few weeks I have tried relentlessly to clean the horrible musty odor from an old ammo can that came sealed from the CMP with old Lake City .30 Carbine ammo. The ammo works well, but the can was REALLY BAD! I tried Boraxo, Dawn, Simple Green, Vinegar, Alcohol, Mineral Spirits, Baking Soda, and the smell has gotten no better. This evening I was just about to throw the can in the garbage when I figured I'd try one more thing - Clorox Bleach. Used it mixed with an equal amount of water and scrubbed the can out with a nylon brush. Well, after drying it off the smell in the can itself is all but gone, and the lid gasket is the only part left with any real discernible amount of odor. I can't believe that I didn't think of using the Bleach first but better late than never.

I took all the ammo out of the original brown boxes and bought new cardboard boxes (with Styrofoam inserts) from Midway. I have let them air out over the last few days (in the Styrofoam holders) and they are 95% better too. I had saved the old stinky boxes for a Forum member here that had requested them and was planning on sending them to him, but I found out my Wife had thrown them out Friday because they were stinking up the Garage.

SOOOOO if anybody has old GI Ammo cans that have that smelly musty odor, don't waste your time with all the cleaning agents like I did, just go right to the good old Clorox - it works!

Choef38

 

[Double-O-Dave]

Chief38: my son, when he was much younger, started a fire in the microwave. Thankfully, my daughter called the fire department, and they responded quickly and put out the fire quickly. The whole house stunk of smoky, melted plastic, and one of the firefighters advised us to buy and use Febreeze spray to get rid of the odor. I didn't think it would work, but thought I'd try it once just to see what would happen. Wow! That Febreeze is some good stuff! It did a fantastic job on the house. Maybe next time when you get a stinky ammo can you could spray a paper towel with Febreeze and close it up in the ammo can for a few days to see what happens.

Best of luck,

Dave

 

[jeffsmith]

and if that Doesn't work
Try Activated Charcoal
(the type used in Aquariums)

 

[shouldazagged]

I think a lot of the odor comes from the "out-gassing" of the gaskets. If I don't open my toolbox for a while there's a serious stink from the rubber-handled screwdrivers, pliers and hammer. I've deodorized ammo boxes, closed them and put them away, and months or years later they were pretty rank again.

 

[moe smith]

Anybody try Windex? The stuff works on everything. I've sprayed it on dead birds and they've flown away.

 

[Rastoff]

I gotta say that the Fabreeze is amazing stuff. It's taken out some odors I never thought would leave.

Besides, what do you care what the ammo smells like?

 

[Fishslayer]

I found out my Wife had thrown them out Friday because they were stinking up the Garage.

When she gets back from diggin' 'em out of the landfill I hope she makes you a nice sammich...

 

[Cyrano]

Heere in the Southwest, I'd just put them out in the sun for a day or so. Sunlight is incredibly powerful, and the odor will be gone.

 

[wildenout]

I was going to suggest spilling some Hoppes 9 in it! I spilled some in a metal can MONTHS ago and each time I open it, it comes wafting over me as strong as ever. Glad to know Clorox works though.

 

[Rangerpat]

Another product to try is fabric softener sheets that you put in the laundry dryer. Just put a few sheets in the ammo can and after a few days the dryer sheets will absorb the foul odor.

 

[Shooting Padre]

Anybody try Windex? The stuff works on everything. I've sprayed it on dead birds and they've flown away.

REALLY NOW?

 

[gm272gs]

I have found that a plate of sliced apples works well, to get the stink out of most things. They're great in a used car, believe it or not.

If you stink up the kitchen (cooking fish or deep-frying), you can put sliced apples in a pan and cook them. It works for that, too!

 

[moe smith]

REALLY NOW?

Well ok, maybe they weren't completely dead.

 

[chief38]

Heere in the Southwest, I'd just put them out in the sun for a day or so. Sunlight is incredibly powerful, and the odor will be gone.

Yes, but unfortunately so will the rubber gaskets. The sun destroys them in short order.

The can itself is now 100% odor free and the lid was soaked and scrubbed this morning again with Clorox and it's now 98%. After it dries, I'll spray it with some Fabreeze and call it good.

If I had to guess where the odor came from I would say the breakdown of the cardboard boxes the ammo was in. I doubt it was designed to last 50+ years in a closed environment like it was.

 

[L Pete]

Anybody try Windex? The stuff works on everything. I've sprayed it on dead birds and they've flown away.

Are you Greek?.......

 

[Fishslayer]

Are you Greek?.......

 

[Abbynormal]

I've always had good luck using a PineSol / bleach / water solution.

About a "heavy" ounce of PineSol, a good splash of bleach and fill a 5 gal bucket about 3/4 full of water. After soaking, washing/scrubbing and rinsing with clean water, you'll only get a slight PineSol odor.

That mixture seems to do the trick on ammo cans, GI surplus clothing/belts/canvas etc.

 

[rcnixon]

Pop was a senior NCO, gone feral. I was never in the military but I was in basic training in his house for twenty-five years. He was Medical Corps too, so not only did he have all of the behaviors of "sergeant's disease" but he was sanitary as well. "Clorox is YOUR friend."

I am saddened by the fact that I can no longer buy plain, old Clorox-brand bleach. Clorox only comes in the new-fangled thickened stuff that I can't use in drinking water or to make Dakin's solution. I have to buy the cheapest, house-brand stuff.

Russ