Help! My cat peed on $300 worth of unused veg tan leather!!!

[SlickWilly]

I went away for two days and my cat decided to use my leather storage box as a litter box….I really don’t have the money to replace the leather right now.  Does anyone know of a way it can be salvaged?

[JayEhl]

If it were me....I'd just cut out a piece and do whatever you intend to ---- after washing it off thoroughly, of course.  Then I'd run the sniff test on it to make sure it doesn't maintain the 'odor' after you put your finish on it. 

 

[fredk]

Sponge wash it all with a solution of oxalic acid

[PastorBob]

Veg tan that cat hide, if there's any left.

[toxo]

Just wash it with a mild soap. The water won't hurt it, people wet mould all the time.

[chuck123wapati]

vinegar kills the smell of cat piss somewhat dont know what it does to leather though. on any of the ideas test before committing.

[MikeRock]

[tsunkasapa]

33 minutes ago, MikeRock said:

[Double Daddy]

I second what Mike and tsunkasapa suggest...although...depending upon the size of your cat, you may not be able to get more'n a wallet's worth of leather out of it's hide...and I'm sure it'll fight you at ever'turn in the making of said piece and constantly be a case of "I can't find my wallet anywhere!" if you do get it finished.  There has NEVER been a more contrary, un-Christlike beast-of-the-field than feline-kind.

[JLSleather]

Can't imagine any circumstance where I'd bother.  Pitch the leather.  COULD it have been saved?  Maybe.  But how many hours of time is one piece of cow worth?  I mean, if a guy had no real skills with the leather, then odds arent good that the leather gets saved.  And if a guy DOES have skills with leather, then probably more beneficial to just concentrate the effort on a fresh piece.

WHAT leather is it?  Top of the line Hermann Oak?  

HOW MUCH leather we talking about?  $300 is like a side and a half?

AND, WHAT are you MAKING with this leather?

Might be able to help ease the pain a bit depending on your responses to those questions.  But don't let me persuade you- you do you, as they say

 

[nylonRigging]

2 hours ago, SlickWilly said:

I went away for two days and my cat decided to use my leather storage box as a litter box….I really don’t have the money to replace the leather right now.  Does anyone know of a way it can be salvaged?

 

You can try the Skunk spray wash . Never hurts to try before tossing it, or cutting it up for scrap .
1 Quart of 3% Hydrogen Peroxide  - 1/3 Cup of Baking Soda - 1 Teaspoon of Dishwashing Liquid .
.

[JLSleather]

28 minutes ago, nylonRigging said:

 

You can try the Skunk spray wash . Never hurts to try before tossing it, or cutting it up for scrap .
1 Quart of 3% Hydrogen Peroxide  - 1/3 Cup of Baking Soda - 1 Teaspoon of Dishwashing Liquid .
.

Now THAT is a very clear / concise plan.  I don't know if it will work or not, but it's a clear plan that you can take up or not.

My only add would be... what do you figure your time is worth?  Say you're time is worth $15/hr (which is CHEAP - burger guys get this much).  So, how many hours does a guy put in a $300 piece of leather?  5 hours?  So you put in $75 to save $300.  IF it works.  If it doesn't work, then you're out the leather AND 5 hours of your time ...  So, decision time.

[chuck123wapati]

it would be a biiig cat to piss on a whole hide, cutting off the bad spots might work too. 

[Garyak]

Urine has used in the tanning of leather since the very very start. It was actually used for the heavy metals being pissed out in human urine. I still get sides that smell like piss, although piss is not used anymore, supposedly. Use as usual. Carry on. 

[JLSleather]

53 minutes ago, chuck123wapati said:

it would be a biiig cat to piss on a whole hide

 true, but he did say My cat peed on $300 worth 

[Matt S]

51 minutes ago, Garyak said:

Urine has used in the tanning of leather since the very very start. It was actually used for the heavy metals being pissed out in human urine. I still get sides that smell like piss, although piss is not used anymore, supposedly. Use as usual. Carry on. 

Well yes and no. Piss was used as a weak base in the pre-industrial world, and amongst other things used in the liming of hides (soaking in a basic solution to aid in removal of hair and fat before tanning). Tour any tannery and you'll find some rather pungent scents in the "not yet leather" stage that you wouldn't want in your finished product. I've dealt with bodily fluids from many animals and wouldn't countenance anything that came out of the hind end of a carnivore in my workshop. I certainly wouldn't want to inflict that on my customers.

5 hours ago, SlickWilly said:

I went away for two days and my cat decided to use my leather storage box as a litter box….I really don’t have the money to replace the leather right now.  Does anyone know of a way it can be salvaged?

If it were me I'd cut off any particularly bad sections and bin them, then wash the lot in plain water with some vinegar thrown in, and allow to dry flat. Especially somewhere with a breeze.

[Hags]

Use it for reenactment pieces, mountain man stuff. Call it patina.

[Samalan]

I would cut two circles of  3/4" plywood about 8" then wrap the leather around to create a cylinder nailing only one end to the plywood you can let the long seam lap over and glue with barge cement  then go outside dig a hole about 3' deep go back in the house get the cat place him/her in the cyl then place the other 3/4 " plywood end in the end and nail around the edge take the thing outside and put in the hole cover with the dirt then a stone around8" on top thats it nice use of the leather most of all have fun you can hit the cat with the shovel first if you wand but it's not needed .  

[kgg]

7 hours ago, SlickWilly said:

I went away for two days and my cat decided to use my leather storage box as a litter box….

I think I would try to cut out the piece the cat had a go at and throw it out. I don't think you will get the smell out particularly once it gets wet or is exposed to warmer temperatures with high humidity. Had a friend who had their leather couch sprayed by skunk and had it professional cleaned. It was great in the winter but come those late summer days of hot temperatures with high humidity you would swear that skunk had sneaked back into the house.

kgg

[Hardrada]

4 hours ago, Hags said:

Use it for reenactment pieces, mountain man stuff. Call it patina.

Catina?

 

[Handstitched]

The smell must be incredible 

Could always turn the cat into a nice pyjama bag ? 

5 hours ago, Garyak said:

Urine has used in the tanning of leather since the very very start.

Doggy doo was also used . And those that collected it were called ' pure collectors' or pure finders. Mostly kids or the poor. 

HS

[Frodo]

go hunting.  

I have cats and live in constant fear of that happening.   Go buy a 48'' long plastic tote from ho depo  and keep your leathers in it

[tsunkasapa]

The PROPER way to keep cats out of the leather shop;

[AzShooter]

There is no worse smell then some cowboy holster rig from Mexico that has been tanned with urine.  Just think about it when you are competing in the range.  You can smell that leather from a long distance.

You can always use the side for practice. You can never practice too much.  Cut out as much as possible and you can save some of the leather for better projects.

 

[JLSleather]

8 hours ago, AzShooter said:

You can always use the side for practice. You can never practice too much. 

Yup.  And, DARE I say, I'll be the jerk.  Again.

WHERE did this leather come from?  WHO supplied this "$300 worth" of leather?  Cuz I have REPEATEDLY seen some retailers selling a pile of cat pee and CALLING IT "$300 worth of leather".   It should have been thrown away from the start, or used as floor mats somewhere, and the only reason it wasn't pitched out is  because the "retailer" was able to find somebody who DIDN"T KNOW ANY BETTER to sell it to. 
TIP:  MANY of the retailers you find HERE are here BECAUSE there are so many NEW GUYS ... (you may have heard "fish in a barrel").  

But, of course, NOT ALL of them are hustlers.  Not to detract too far from the subject, but I'll add that -- of those you meet around here, THESE have performed ...
I have never bought ANYTHING from Hermann Oak (St. Louis, MO) that I wasn't pleased with.  Yes, the NECK of the leather is generally not my favorite of any cow, but ALL the other leather I've got there was fantastic leather, less that 1 sq foot on the tip.
Cheryl and Carlos at Goliger Leather (CA) stock and resell Hermann Oak leather, for those who don't buy H.O.'s minimum 10-side order.  The A grade REALLY IS H.O. A grade, service is friendly and quick.
I have had a piece of WIckett-Craig leather I wasn't happy with, by the vast majority of their leather has been STELLAR.

And by way of honorable mention, though it's not leather, 
EVERYTHING I ever bought from Bob Kovar / Toledo Industrial was EXACTLY what I thought I was getting, shipped quickly and at reasonable cost, with the utmost concern for what I was trying to accomplish (thanks AGAIN, Bob).
Oh, and Texas Custom Dies has done pretty well 

EVERYBODY ELSE I have shopped with here has been .... disappointing.  Some even got multiple opportunities to keep a customer and couldn't (or wouldn't) do it.  I haven't mentioned them here, since that isn't this thread, but there are a good many.  In Springfield... In Atlanta...   

Edited January 11, 2022 by JLSleather