chickenscratch Posted May 7, 2015 Report Share Posted May 7, 2015 I have an issue, and I don't know the best way to handle it. I have a new customer. She sent me too impeccable quilts to do. They are so nicely pieced, her backing and batting are trimmed to 6" on all 4 sides, her backing is square, her tops are square. She labeled the top of each quilt with a safety pin and a label showing which direction she wanted the quilting. She had premeasured the tops and safety pinned the sizes onto them for me. Everything is perfect, except for one thing. These quilts stink. They aired out for two weeks and I started on one tonight. They still stink. At first we couldn't figure out what the bad smell was, then it came to us. They smell like cat pee. I mounted the backing, laid on the batting, and sprayed some Febreeze in between each layer before I put on the top. I could only stand being in there long enough to do one pass. The smell got to me. Even my hands and clothes seem like they stink now. How should I handle this? Chances are she is totally unaware of the smell, and I don't want to offend her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cagey Posted May 7, 2015 Report Share Posted May 7, 2015 Teresa: If the smell is so strong that you cannot stand there long enough to quilt it, I would have to contact the owner. Tell them when they arrived they had an awful smell. It could have happened in shipping!!!! You aired them out, but the smell is so strong that you cannot quilt them. They may allow you to wash them. Though the batting would have to be replaced. If she will not allow machine washing of the quilt, have the dry cleaned. Both at the owners expense. One final thought, and my biggest concern would be what is the cat urine doing to your rollers and machine. If the smell is that strong, it has to be leaving residual on your rollers and machine foot/top. It can cause them to rust, Do you want this smell to be there for the next few months, or heaven forbid get on another clients quilt? That would not be good for your business. I am surprised you even loaded it on your machine if it was that bad, I am not sure I could have touched it with the smell that strong. Cagey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted May 7, 2015 Report Share Posted May 7, 2015 I would worry about the smell transferring to my leaders and then to other customer quilts. I wouldn't put it on my machine before it was washed. You can soak with vinegar water and baking soda to try to neutralize the cat urine. Maybe her cat sprayed and she didn't realize it? I'd go at it from that angle anyway. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamu Posted May 7, 2015 Report Share Posted May 7, 2015 You really need to tell her. I would start of by letting her know all of the good things about her quilt and how you appreciate her hard work in making sure your job is easier as most do not do that. Then I would let her know about the smell...being tactful. Have you looked very closely at the quilt top and backing? If a cat had sprayed on either one there should be some sort of stain. If she provided the batting, the smell could be coming from that. Also, cat urine is so strong that the box the tops were in could have been sprayed and the tops absorbed the smell from it. At any rate I would take the quilt off the frame and give it a go over to see where the offending smell could be coming from...sniff various areas of the quilt and backing. You might find exactly where the stain is and then you can spot clean it, all with her approval. She may ask that the quilts be returned for her to clean. At any rate, she needs to know and you need to keep the quilts away from your machine and other fabrics/tops Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primitive1 Posted May 7, 2015 Report Share Posted May 7, 2015 Good advice - you could even start out by asking her if she has a cat...and that would open the door for the discussion.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancing bear Posted May 7, 2015 Report Share Posted May 7, 2015 I'm not sure sure being "tactful" is called for ... if the quilt tops have such a bad odor, take it off immediately, call her, and just tell her that you cannot quilt her top because it smells like cat pee. Make arrangements to get them back to her for her to "fix" ... that's not your job. Address this with immediacy... Yeah, I'm tough but I cannot stand schmelly cat stuff ...and it's taken me about 7 years to develop this 'business' tough skin ... life's too short! Need anymore platitudes? LOL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeke Posted May 7, 2015 Report Share Posted May 7, 2015 First of all, call her. If you haven't tried this, kitty litter. Works good, it absorbs a lot of stench. I used to have a gal that smoked & that's how I got rid of a lot of the smoke stench. When you call her be nice. Zeke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffq-lar Posted May 7, 2015 Report Share Posted May 7, 2015 Everyone has given great advice. The smell must be awful-- if she sent it in that condition she has no sense of smell. And if you were some way able to quilt it, she would either use it (ugh!) or even worse, give it to someone. Better that it stops and gets remedied (or returned) by you before it goes further down the line and she ends up with something unusable. Call or email her and let her know the "strong smell" has made you unable to quilt it in this condition. She probably doesn't have a clue... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fastquilts Posted May 7, 2015 Report Share Posted May 7, 2015 I had someone call me wanting me to clean her domestic machine and she told me the cat had peed on it and I told her I wasn't touching that machine. One thing I cant stand as I am allergic to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bliss Quilter Posted May 8, 2015 Report Share Posted May 8, 2015 If you have a web site, post that you reserve the right to reject any quilts with a foul orders. This way you can always redirect them to the web site when you rejecting the quilte. I am allergic to cats and cigeratte smoke and I have turn several quilts away becuase of it. When rejecting I always had referrals which helped easy the news. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zora Posted May 8, 2015 Report Share Posted May 8, 2015 It might not be cat pee. If she had the things stored in polyurethane bags or boxes, the plastic may have begun to degrade. It produces a pee smell as it does that. Call her. There is a product sold on Amazon that removes cat urine without washing. You spray it on and let it dry. When dry there is no more smell. But, that is her job, not yours . If your rollers have absorbed the odor, you can spray them with the product and they will be fine. If you need the name of the product, PM me and I will find what it is. Had a senile cat who peed on a nearly new mattress in a seldom used room. It took out the smell and the stain. Miraculous! I think some people do become immune to the smell. I was in a class with a woman who reeked. I can't imagine what that house was like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewingpup Posted May 8, 2015 Report Share Posted May 8, 2015 tee hee...folks can become immune to smells or at least lose their sense of smell...some medications and age take their toll....and there is the thing called "olfactory fatigue" I experienced that one time when I had bought a dehydrator....and decided to do several trays of onions...yep onions.....I turned the thing on and eyes teared something fierce for a couple of hours...then like magic....they stopped and I didn't smell onion anymore...wow..glad that was over...then I had to go to work...so I changed into my nurse's uniform and off I went....during the beginning of shift report, several people started noticing an "onion" smell...I really was a smell!...same thing happens with noise....if you go to a loud event like a concert...get in your car, adjust your radio....then get home, sleep, get in your car and wonder who turned up the radio...that was you when you ears got fatigued from from the loudness of the concert...but recovered after a quiet night....if you keep exposing yourself to those loud noise, eventually the ear can not recover and you have hearing loss...just like smell I am afraid....maybe those folks who did not bath or wash clothes way back in the dark ages did not smell so bad after all...tee hee....OK...off my soap box as a retired industrial hygienist....Lin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimerickson Posted May 9, 2015 Report Share Posted May 9, 2015 I'm with Lynn. There are a lot of materials that have that odor, especially it they get damp. I think it's formaldehyde. I can smell it in a number of engineered wood products. If you call, ask whether she has a cat first. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickenscratch Posted May 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2015 She does not have a cat. She packed the quilts in a plastic bag and put them in a fruit box. Chances are either of those things could have caused the smell. Also, one has hand painted blocks and batik sashing and backing. Maybe it was just a combination of all those things. After removing them from teh sewing room again, and putting them in a small closed up closet with one of those odor absorbing jars of jelly, I can at least work on them. Actually finished the small one around lunchtime and just starting on the big one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maggienoella Posted May 9, 2015 Report Share Posted May 9, 2015 This has been a very interesting read. I had no idea about plastic and smell as it degrades. At any rate, I'm glad that you were able to finish one and get going on the other. There is always something to learn on this forum. LOL Joan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zora Posted May 11, 2015 Report Share Posted May 11, 2015 Polyurethane..ureic acid is a component, and yes, it smells like pee. Just one of the reasons to not store quilts in plastic long range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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