Help - musty smelling tails! :O

[Sugar]

Help!

I started spa-ing a couple of my recently acquired ponies, and though they were gross inside (rust and probably mold), they cleaned up well.  The problem is now, their tails still smell mildewy!  Not their manes, oddly enough; just the tails, and they aren't discoloured, just stinky, like something that's been left in the corner of a musty old basement for gosh knows how long.  Bleah.  This after an Oxiclean soak, too.  

Does anypony have any good tricks to remove this smell?  Would bleach be advisable?  I figure it'd kill the mold or whatever's causing the mildew smell, but I don't know if it'd damage the hair's colour.  Should I give up and rehair?  I've never rehaired, and I'd worry the difference between the old manes and new tails would be too dramatic...

Thanks for any info or tips!

[invaderhorizongreen]

If you decide to use bleach I would be really careful about it and dilute it really really well.

[DirePony]

I am new to pony collecting so I cannot guarantee that this would work on them but with some of the other figures I use to collect (Masters of the Universe, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and a few others) if I got a stinky figure I would put it in a Tupperware container with Arm and Hammer baking soda and let it sit for several days. A lot of the time that would get the odor right out of the figure. Again I have never tried it on a pony as I have only been collecting for a couple of months and everything I have is G4 but it might be worth a shot!

[rybett]

Are the tails in the body or out?  I vote for taking them out, using a nice smelling shampoo/conditioner on them.  Once they dry the should be OK, if not, try the soda.

[FantasticFirefly]

Yep- it works. Same idea, fresh baking soda at the bottom of a tub, fabric over top, ponies placed over that -seal em' up. although the material ponies are made from can really soak up odors so sometimes it takes weeks/months to fade away. The soda can also stain, so you need to place the pony on something like a piece of fabric and make sure the pony is fully dry first before sealing her up.

Since you've already loosened the seals and cleaned them inside and out you can remove the tails, clean them separately and spray them with anti-bac odor remover, leave for a while then rinse/clean/condition.

[Oneleo1]

I was going to suggest baking soda as well!

[Glitchie]

I wasn't using it for the smell, but to get some tape residue off of Merry Treats - it didn't come off totally, btw, I'm still working on it - but a friend of mine suggested Dreft. She had some in a spray spot remover. It smells like babies, and oddly enough, ponies! You spray it on, and rub it in, then wait a few minutes and rinse it out and the smell of the dreft lingers.

[hathorcat]

Yes, on most smells baking soda or kitty litter should work - baking soda neutralises the smell and kitty litter absorbs it. However, if you think it is mildew I would vote in favour of a good boil soak with shampoo. Just remember with some colours to only soak them individually as a few are not colour fast.

[Sugar]

Yay!  Thanks for the tips, everypony!  I've got a few options now, and I'll let you know how they turn out.   I'd never dealt with that before, even with my own herd that had been sitting in a box in my folks' basement.  It was... most unpleasant.  But it's part of why I can't help but open my ponies and clean 'em well.  I'd not have noticed for a while otherwise, as it was really the part around the washer/clamp that was worst off for stinky.  Ew.

Anyway, off to spa!   Any excuse is a good excuse to spa.