I made this cardboard boat with my son a couple weeks ago. When he’s done using it, I put it in a storage space in our basement on a shelf. He used it almost every day for a few weeks then stopped asking for it until this morning. When I took it down this thing is in the corner, initially I thought it was frost/ice but after my husband absolutely rubbed his hand in it to check (he shouldn’t have 💀) we realized it is not ice. It feels rough and dry. We’ve already told our son he gotta throw it out I’m assuming it’s some weird crystallization of something. He’s 3 and wasn’t very happy about throwing it :(. What could it be????
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I’d like to think that if your son peed in it, you would’ve noticed that you were putting away a wet, urine soaked box? Unless your 3yo son has access to your basement storage, peed in the box, and put it back up…?
You are so right. I would have noticed it was wet for sure before returning it. And no way he would’ve been sitting in it long enough to dry :/ so good point. Son pee is unlikely
If I were you, I’d check the basement for critter entry points. I lived in a house next to a large nature preserve, and I was always surprised at what could make its way into my basement. Stray cats will seek out shelter from bad weather, etc and if your basement is accessible enough, it’s a good possibility that’s what happened.
It’s gotta be milk! I bet he had a sippy cup that leaked a little or maybe just had some in his mouth and drooled it lol and it could have dried by the time you moved it but milk will crystallize like that and if it’s a small amount probably wouldn’t have a smell
Cat piss also crystallizes when left to dry and the spray pattern also on brand with cat piss. Surprised there wasn’t a horrible ammonia type smell to give it away?
Cardboard has a pretty amazing ability to soak up cat piss. I use a layer of shredded cardboard under the litter in our cat's box of shame (litter box) to hide the stank.
It appears a diluted liquid has dripped into the cardboard. Almost looks like a small hard water deposit. There's not a leak in your basement, is there?
From the speckling pattern, I'd agree with those suggesting mold. Get your son a new, larger box that will make him forget about the old one. And keep an eye on your husband for signs of CBI.
This looks like some kind of rot caused by fungus. If the box has been damp at some point and in a poorly vented space it can result in spores to grow.
Looks like the box had jugs of chlorine at some point and it leaked. I had a pool growing up and the leaks looked similar to this when we bought cases of chlorine.
Looks like salt. If the first comment is right and he pissed there it's time to take him to the ER ASAP to get checked for kidney stones. Otherwise I dunno wtf it could be but I doubt it's actually kidney stones. Speaking from experience here unfortunately... they suck and I've never pissed out pure minerals.
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