The Incredible Exploding Can of Mace

[macfan]

Hello everyone! Not sure if this is the right forum to post this question in but here goes. My brother is a police officer and he keeps his can of mace in his car. He was in Texas this weekend and came back to find that the mace exploded in his car. I haven't seen the outcome yet but he tells me that his gray leather seats are stained reddish pink. Has anyone ever tried to remove something like this before? The type of mace they are using is called Oleoresin Capsicum.

I will most likely start off with a wipe down of everything with a woolite mix and then go to some kind of leather cleaner and conditioner. I have the Zaino leather cleaner and conditioner and asked him to pick up the Lexol leather products before he comes over tomorrow. Figure that it wouldn't hurt to have more than one product on hand.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

One of the other officers told him to wipe the leather down with rubbing alcohol to get the stains and extra residue off. We'll see if that works. Thanks in advance for any help that can be offered.

 

[ZeusCGP]

Aside from the actual clean up, something that would neutralize the capsicum also might be a good idea.

 

[Setec Astronomy]

A little off-topic...that isn't really mace, it's pepper spray. I'm going to guess like any red plant (=dye), it may be a bit tough to remove.

 

[az57chevy]

Think red pepper stain

 

[imported_cj99si]

alcohol on the leather seems like a bad idea. steam clean (extract) the whole thing(including headliner)

 

[imported_steveo3002]

isnt there a phone# on the can...maybe they can suggest something

 

[SpoiledMan]

WEAR GLOVES!!! Wetting OC again will reactivate it and it will burn/irritate your skin like crazy. Check the can for a number and see what you can find out about neutralizing it.



Oh yeah, cover your face too as any splatter will have the effect of being OC sprayed!

 

[Mr.Concours]

Try a good APC almost neat on a small test area,not sure what to do as I haven't had to deal with anything like this but thats my suggestion.

 

[belcherm58]

I have always heard that acids like tomatoe juice and vinegar will kill the burn of capsicum. I raise

hot peppers and have been told to wash my hands in acidic wash to kill the burn. I do not think that

has anything to do with the stains but it might help to keep from burning your hands during the clean up.

 

[macfan]

Thanks for the advice so far everyone. I'll get to tackle the situation tonight when I get home from work. I'll let you know how it all turns out.

 

[steck]

"exploded" yeah right!!!



more like "emptied the can on a bad dude!!" would be a more interesting story though...

 

[The Big Kahuna]

Try contacting your local cop shop. They normally have either a spray or treated towelettes that are used to neutralize pepper spray after a suspect has been subdued.

 

[macfan]

Thanks everyone! It is now Friday and I have yet to see the car. Seems like something keeps coming up and my brother can't make it over to me. Hopefully this weekend it will be worked on.



charlesu...Thats a good idea. I am going to have to ask my brother about that. Thanks.