Stinky old tackle boxes - how to clean up?

[chinnok]

Throw them in the garbage and buy new!!

 

[Salmon Seeker]

could try citrus degreaser

 

[chille51]

Thanks for the suggestions all. I put all of the tackle in a bucket with some hot water and oxygen bleach over night, and the boxes themselves got submerged in garbage cans with hot water and something called Rockin' Green which is a natural laundry detergent that is intended specifically to deal with biological (ie sweat and BO) stains and odours. Rinsed it all off this morning and have had everything baking in the sun in the yard all day. Results seem promising - I think all the hootchies might still have a bit of a smell retained but the boxes themselves now seem fine as does any metal or hard plastic gear. I'll update again once I put everything back together and close them up for a while. If anyone is curious what gear was in the boxes, happy to post some pics - there are some antiques in there for sure! I'm not sure if the previous owner was fishing only for bottom fish or just hadn't used this stuff in a while or didn't follow the regs so well, but there isn't a pinched barb in the lot that I've seen so far!

 

[Haverodwilltravel]

WD-40 and that’s all.

 

[RiverBoy]

you have to look at the chemical composition of the product you intend to use and determine if it is a masking agent or a pairing agent. problem is you need to know what is is you are trying to eliminate. masking an odor with an aromatic will do zero when it comes to fishing gear; in fact will most likely have a negative effect. toss the old rubber stanky gross hootchies. try and keep the hard items like plugs and spoons.

 

[bryce]

Go to somewhere that sells scent away. It’s a product designed for hunting. Gets rid of 99.9% of smells. It works great. I use it on my hands after I spill gas on them and the smell is 100% gone

Spilling gas!!!! You must be made of money lol

 

[PEETZcanada]

Soak in CLR rinse off in freshwater.

 

[Max123]

Soak in warm water with Oxi Clean, then rinse well - leaves no residual odour

 

[chille51]

I dealt with the stank two years ago, but good tips for anyone else that may be wondering.