Cats and photos

Truzi · Jun 8, 2014

My best friend's Uncle has been giving her mementos from her family's past, and sometimes these include old photos. He has cats, and some of these old B&W photos have a bit of a urine smell.

They will put objects like this somewhere to "air out," but it takes time, and doesn't always get rid of the smell. I've searched on APUG, but would like further ideas, or confirmation.

The photos in question are B&W snapshots (~3x5?), and from the mid 1960s and earlier, typically done at a photoshop (no minilabs back then); in other words, they were professionally done, not done in someone's personal darkroom.

I'm hoping we may be able to just wash them, considering how they were printed. Most are traditional film photos, but there might be the occasional Polaroid roll-film photo as well.
Opinions?

Maybe in the future her Uncle will unearth the negatives, which would make things much easier. Until then, we just need to clean up prints.

snapguy · Jun 8, 2014

cat show

Years ago when I tried just about any kind of freelance photography that would make me an honest buck I teamed up with another dude to photograph a cat show. We would put a cat on a chair in front of a nice background, shoot the animal's photo and then do the same with another cat, and another. Except, we found out real early on, that a cat won't sit quietly and pose for a camera where another cat has just been. One of the cat owners lent us a bottle of cat spray. After each cat sitting we would spray the chair and the next cat couldn't smell the last one and we had no problem. I don't know if it would work for your purpose or where you would get the spray but I assume your local pet store would have it.
Speaking of cats, I once photographed a mountain lion that an animal doctor had in a cage in his back yard because the cat had been injured. He asked me if I liked cats and I said yes. He said that was good because the mountain lion will know if I didn't like cats. No problem. The mountain lion thought I was okay and let me rub her neck through the cage. She purred. The mountain lion is the largest cat that purrs.

gone · Jun 8, 2014

Very odd post. As if someone can't professionally develop and print at home! We've always had cats, always had friends w/ cats, and not a trace of urine smell nowhere. Them cats are getting a bad rap here, as is usually the case w/ pets. It's always the companion I think, not the pet, in situations like this. So, I don't know man. Just put 'em on a clothes line and let 'em air out or something. But, I swear...

fotch · Jun 8, 2014

You should be able to do a short rewash. If they have a glossy finish, you may need to use a "Chrome Ferrotype Plate for Drying Prints" or you can dry them without the glossy finish in a blotter.
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gone · Jun 8, 2014

Very odd post. As if someone can't professionally develop and print at home! We've always had cats and not a trace of urine smell. So, I don't know man. Just put 'em on a clothes line and let 'em air out or something. But, I swear...

View attachment 89234

Truzi · Jun 8, 2014

momus said:
Very odd post. As if someone can't professionally develop and print at home! We've always had cats, always had friends w/ cats, and not a trace of urine smell nowhere. Them cats are getting a bad rap here, as is usually the case w/ pets. It's always the companion I think, not the pet, in situations like this. So, I don't know man. Just put 'em on a clothes line and let 'em air out or something. But, I swear...

Very odd reply.

Ok, let me put it another way...
I'm rather sure they did not develop it themselves. I am very confident that they, like many people taking snapshots in the 60s, paid someone to develop and print it for them. Whether the person providing that service (in all likelihood contracted through a photo store) actually developed and printed in a store or home is quite beside the point; the family took the film to a "professional" and paid to have the film developed and printed. They did not do it themselves, and thus "professional," in this context, would infer a high probability the process was done in a manner considered "correct" for the time period, whether in a home or store. I feel this may be salient in considering how to handle the prints today, and obviously erroneously believed stating it as I did would negate the need for such a verbose explanation.

Let me put it yet another way...
In the half-century these prints have existed, at some point they were stored somewhere that a cat pissed on or extremely near some of them.

To preempt further question of my assertions, cats have always lived in the house, and there are things other than photos suffering the same fate. As stated in the OP, airing-out has been neither quick nor complete.

I apologize if you took offense to my OP describing these particular photos.

@fotch
I do have some ferrotype plates (and blotters) I've never used. Would ferrotype have been typical for mid-60s 3x5 snapshots? I'll have to double-check to see if the photos were glossy. (If I were to ferrotype after rewashing, I'd first make some test prints and practice.)

NedL · Jun 8, 2014

I thought this post was going to be about photos of cats, which surely could be a topic

I was thinking the prints could be re-washed too, and then it occurred to me they might be ferrotyped, and Fotch beat me to it. I had no idea you could still purchase ferrotype plates or that they are so inexpensive. I don't want to hijack your thread but this makes me very curious... I had an idea that you need a press or some other device to use the plates, is it really as simple as drying them face down on one of these ( .... off to search APUG.... )

Good luck!

lxdude · Jun 8, 2014

Washing should do it; I don't think it will hurt the Polaroids, but I don't know, having never done it.

Another route is to set up a way to rephotograph them; simple enough with the small size. Soft lighting would avoid reflections and a macro lens would ensure high detail and no distortion.

Truzi · Jun 8, 2014

My ferrotype plates came from a camera store that went out of business, so they were cheap

I'd mentioned the re-photographing to them. I'm not good enough to do that, but we have pro-shops here that will do it - with a digital camera (not scan) and wet-printing.

HowardDvorin · Jun 8, 2014

There exist a deodorizer people use toclean urine oder out of carpets. It is a liquid
mixed with water. Directions are on the label. It can be bought at janitorial supplies store. You might find a similar product at pet shops.

I never used it on paper,but it works great on carpeting./

Howard

Two23 · Jun 8, 2014

Walmart sells a whole line of urine smell remover in the pet dept. It's made by Simple Solutions. You could try using a small amount to rinse one or two and see how they do.

Kent in SD

Jeff Kubach · Jun 8, 2014

This post really piss me off.

Jeff

Tom1956 · Jun 8, 2014

Throw them in a box with dryer sheets. It seems dryer sheets are the cure for everything from mouse problems to polio these days. Might work, if you don't mind things smelling like dryer sheets. You should take up smoking. Then they won't smell like cat litter.
People are getting mighty persnickety about smells the days.
Edit: talk about smells, my stepmother sprays room spray and has perfumed candles, and fancy smelly soap, and all that kind of thing. I don't see how my Dad puts up with it. I hate going there Christmas and having to stay. Burns your eyes.

lxdude · Jun 9, 2014

Jeff Kubach said:
This post really piss me off.

Jeff

Calm down, Kitty!

Truzi · Jun 9, 2014

Jeff Kubach said:
This post really piss me off.

Jeff

Oh no... is this Analog Pun User's Group time again? Seems pun-threads occur on a regular basis, but I've not yet worked out the cycle. I really try to avoid them, because my puns can be particularly bad (as the beginning of this paragraph attests).

Tom1956 said:
Throw them in a box with dryer sheets. It seems dryer sheets are the cure for everything from mouse problems to polio these days. Might work, if you don't mind things smelling like dryer sheets. You should take up smoking. Then they won't smell like cat litter.
People are getting mighty persnickety about smells the days.
Edit: talk about smells, my stepmother sprays room spray and has perfumed candles, and fancy smelly soap, and all that kind of thing. I don't see how my Dad puts up with it. I hate going there Christmas and having to stay. Burns your eyes.

My best friend breaks out when in contact with things dryer sheets are used on. She and her parents do not smoke, though I do; I'm pretty sure they'd prefer the smoke smell, lol. They also have always had cats, but never any urine smells in the house.

Since we do not have the negatives, I do not want to ruin the photos attempting to remove the odor.

Tom1956 · Jun 9, 2014

Truzi said:
Oh no... is this Analog Pun User's Group time again? Seems pun-threads occur on a regular basis, but I've not yet worked out the cycle. I really try to avoid them, because my puns can be particularly bad (as the beginning of this paragraph attests).

My best friend breaks out when in contact with things dryer sheets are used on. She and her parents do not smoke, though I do; I'm pretty sure they'd prefer the smoke smell, lol. They also have always had cats, but never any urine smells in the house.

Since we do not have the negatives, I do not want to ruin the photos attempting to remove the odor.

Smart move. They are what they are. They'll smell like something else when you're croaked and they find them at the estate clearance. They're photographs--they'll be there, good Lord willing, and maybe even when the creek rises. A CD or a memory card will inevitably end up in the throat of a fish, killing it. Smells change, everything will be OK.

Doremus Scudder · Jun 9, 2014

I wouldn't use odor-removing chemicals on my photos...

If the prints are very high gloss (i.e., a ferrotyped finish) and fiber-base (I assume they are from that era) then washing them will remove the gloss and give you a finish more like unferrotyped glossy fiber-base paper. You may like this, especially since the photos probably won't smell anymore... If the photos aren't high gloss to begin with, then no worries.

You can try re-ferrotyping, but you might need a bit of practice. If I were doing this, I'd find a photo that was a duplicate or not so important and use it as a subject for experimentation. Wash is and dry it as you would a fiber-base print (I might even give a quick re-fix, just in case...) and see if you like the non-ferrotyped finish. If you don't, then read up on ferrotyping and give it a try on this one print. There is likely a learning curve here and you may ruin a print or two before you get the exact technique worked out.

You may be able to wash and re-ferrotype a badly ferrotyped print; I'm not sure. In that case, you can try over and over with one print till you get things worked out.

Best,

Doremus

lxdude · Jun 9, 2014

Truzi said:
Oh no... is this Analog Pun User's Group time again?

Smell world, ain't it ?

fotch · Jun 9, 2014

After re-washing, you can just dry without the gloss, using blotter paper.

eddie · Jun 9, 2014

Spray a cloth with one of those cat urine sprays, or Febreze, and put it in a box with the photos. Just make sure the cloth isn't touching the emulsion. Leave it for a few days.

If they had elderly female cats, it's not unusual for the cats to develop kidney issues. I had two that lived into their early 20's, and they both had problems "holding it in" near the ends of their lives.

removed account4 · Jun 9, 2014

how about re-washing them
and then leaving the prints outside in sunshine?
sunlight kills smells and other things ...
they will probably curl when they dry
but you can flatten them afterwards ..

mgb74 · Jun 9, 2014

What about the chrome and canvas print dryer common in every 70s darkroom? Doesn't that provide that same ferrotype effect?

Jim Jones · Jun 9, 2014

Before doing anything at all to the original prints, scan them to provide a digital copy. Digital files or prints can be spread among all interested relatives. I'd be reluctant to expose the original prints to water or any chemical. Once they've been scanned and perhaps printed, interleave them with absorbent paper, store them away, and hope some of the urine will migrate from the print.

fotch · Jun 10, 2014

jnanian said:
how about re-washing them
and then leaving the prints outside in sunshine?
sunlight kills smells and other things ...
they will probably curl when they dry
but you can flatten them afterwards ..

I would avoid the sunlight. A short wash & proper drying should do it. Very similar to the original procedure.

Xmas · Jun 11, 2014

momus said:
Very odd post. As if someone can't professionally develop and print at home! We've always had cats, always had friends w/ cats, and not a trace of urine smell nowhere. Them cats are getting a bad rap here, as is usually the case w/ pets. It's always the companion I think, not the pet, in situations like this. So, I don't know man. Just put 'em on a clothes line and let 'em air out or something. But, I swear...

Hi

If you can get a cat to stay on a clothes line be sure and take a photo.

Salt water is good as a hypo clear so you might be correct on the companion.

Noel

Cats and photos

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