Hello my name is gary and to make a long story short, I recently obtained a toolbox from my father and all of the tools smell very bad. He had the toolbox stored in a back cabinet of the basement which unfortunately was the same area where the trap was. I cannot over emphasize how bad the smell is. I have tried letting them soak in lestol , scrubbing every one of them. Once the tools get placed in the toolbox (which was cleaned as well) they eventually start smelling like crap again. I have searched for cleaners but come up short with options. They are good tools and I would hate to have to get rid of them. Can someone help me.

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Here is what I clean and restore old tools bought at auctions with (Caution: product must be appropriately matched to tool to avoid damaging tool finish):

Murphy's Oil Soap
Softscrub w/bleach
Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner & Degreaser
Harvey's Industrial Degreaser (for parts washer)
Kerosene
WD-40
Scotchbrite Hand Pads & Pneumatic Angle Grinder Discs
Dremel w/ Scotchbrite Buffs

In your case, I might also try soaking in a baking soda solution or paste for several hours and then thoroughly drying and oiling/carnauba paste waxing to prevent rust.

Maybe let sit out and bake in sun or at warm heat in an old oven too...

Shaving cream may work,
Or place the tools in an air tight container with some taters cut in half, sometimes the taters will absorb odors.

Also see if you have a friend, or if the shop mechanic at your shop, has a automatic parts washer, they are water based, and at the end of the work day mechanics use them to clean their tools.

Also try after you clean them, spray them in some eucalypts. Found in many stores that sell chemicals for cleaning up after a fire. It is used in odor control

Use vanilla extract. The cheap imitation stuff is fine. This will even clean bad tomcat--urine smells.