deep clean a soft case?

[tcandaman]

Hey all and happy new year! I recently posted about getting back in to practicing in another thread, something else I need to take care of is my current soft trombone case. It’s definitely on its last legs and offers little to no protection, but was very helpful lugging it around the city. It currently smells pretty terrible. It’s basically a heavy cloth black trombone shaped bag, with a softish slide holder inside.

Is there a way I could try and clean this? Maybe a bath with laundry detergent? If the color fades that’s fine, just trying to get it as clean as possible while still being able to work enough to get the horn in for repairs, then explore a real hard case.

[tbonesullivan]

Definitely make sure that there was no cardboard used in the construction, or else washing it will cause that to break down and make it even less protective. Hopefully the slide protector has a plastic stiffener, and not cardboard.

[tcandaman]

thank you. do you think a bit of laundry detergent or dish detergent would be better? i’d say it’s also pretty dirty, it’s been on subway floors etc for many years.

[tcandaman]

update - I soaked it with some warm water and laundry detergent, it was super dirty and dried on the balcony. it's like 80% better!