I went to bring up the Marathon from storage to put my 3 and a half month old in (switching from the safe seat) when I noticed it was dripping and there was a horrible smell coming from it.
The cover felt damp, but not soaked. I began pulling it apart and the foam underneath was saturated with pee and it had collected into the little openings at the back of the seat. :thumbsdown:
I took all the straps etc. off, let it air outside for two days and then tried washing the cover. It still reeks of cat pee. The other part that smells is the versa tether strap, it seems to have collected a large portion of the urine.
So, I tried pricing out replacement parts (straps etc are 55 dollars from Britax, but the shipping is nearly 30!), I found a used cover on eBay, but I'm wondering if I should even bother if I can't get the smell out of the versa-tether.
Is there anything safe I can use to try and clean the strap? Vinegar? Baking soda?
Could someone please explain why I can't soak it? I know I'm not supposed to, but I guess I don't really understand the reasoning as to why not. The strap has already been saturated, correct, if it sat in pee? Does that make the seat unusable now (safety-wise, not cat-pee wise I'm still hoping I can get the smell out).
It just seems so wasteful to have a perfectly good shell of a seat that was expensive get thrown out because I can't wash the strap, YKWIM? If all else fails, I'll probably replace the seat with a Flora Radian, but if I can save the money I would prefer to go that route.
The cover felt damp, but not soaked. I began pulling it apart and the foam underneath was saturated with pee and it had collected into the little openings at the back of the seat. :thumbsdown:
I took all the straps etc. off, let it air outside for two days and then tried washing the cover. It still reeks of cat pee. The other part that smells is the versa tether strap, it seems to have collected a large portion of the urine.
So, I tried pricing out replacement parts (straps etc are 55 dollars from Britax, but the shipping is nearly 30!), I found a used cover on eBay, but I'm wondering if I should even bother if I can't get the smell out of the versa-tether.
Is there anything safe I can use to try and clean the strap? Vinegar? Baking soda?
Could someone please explain why I can't soak it? I know I'm not supposed to, but I guess I don't really understand the reasoning as to why not. The strap has already been saturated, correct, if it sat in pee? Does that make the seat unusable now (safety-wise, not cat-pee wise I'm still hoping I can get the smell out).
It just seems so wasteful to have a perfectly good shell of a seat that was expensive get thrown out because I can't wash the strap, YKWIM? If all else fails, I'll probably replace the seat with a Flora Radian, but if I can save the money I would prefer to go that route.