At some point last night I put a container of yogurt into my backpack for consumption at some point later in the day.  Then I went and forgot about it completely.  Then at some point between them and yesterday afternoon, that container of yogurt burst open, spreading yogurt all over the inside of my backpack.  Fortunately, I had no books or papers or electronics in there to be ruined; but the vinyl inside my backpack was soaked through.

I know what you’re thinking.  Ew.

So upon discovering this mess, I started to clean it out.  First I cleaned out all of the mess, then wiped down the inside thoroughly with a damp cloth.  Then I sprayed bleach all over the inside.  I set it aside to dry, and hoped that would be the end of it.

Unfortunately, the stench of spoiled yogurt is, in a word, godawful.  And it lingers.  It smells something like filthy gym socks, with cheese.  And even with the bleach, the smell ended up lingering.  Today I tried to squelch it by wiping it down thoroughly with a wet towel all over again, and then, in a fit of… well, in a fit of something that probably wasn’t really inspiration but felt like it at the time, I spritzed it thoroughly with Febreze.  That helped for a few minutes. But now the stench is as bad as it was.

This is a nice backpack, and I’d hate for it to be ruined like this.  It’s a Swiss Gear backpack which normally goes for $90 but which I picked up for $25 because it just happened to be misshelved at Staples. Does anyone out there have any suggestions for how to de-stink a backpack like this in a really short period of time?

As for other woes… Well, I don’t really have any.  Other than my stinky backpack, life is pretty good.