A thread on how to do that would be twice as long as how to clean the bags.

Cat odors are very tough to beat
 

I bought a house not realizing that many cats had lived there for quite a while. When we visited the house prior to purchase the seller had candles burning, cookies baking in the oven and a couple windows open.

I tried the above suggestions, but what worked the best is that product hyped on TV. Oxiclean. They now have a liquid version, but I used the powder mixed with water. It is the only product that got the cat odor out of tile grout.

Same thing happened when daughter2411 borrowed my favorite suitcase.

All suggestions will diminish the odor. The key word is diminish - not to be confused with "rid."

You may think the smell is gone, but humidity will magically reactivate the telltale odor. Luggage doesn't have to get wet.

I had more success getting rid of the smell of death than cat pee smell. Don't get excited, the death smell happened when daughter2411 turned off the freezer in mid summer when she was 4 yrs old - wasn't noticed until the lid popped open. Oh my. :td: (why don't we have a 'stinky' smilie?) She got her pay back 10 years later. Her cat wet in her leather shoe. Thinking she had gotten rid of the smell, she wore the shoes. Yep, body heat will also reactivate the odor.

I second the suggestions UAL_Rulez listed.

How to keep cat away from luggage:
1. Put luggage away / out of cat's 'space' between trips.
If no area off limits to cat:
2. Sit bag up, (less area to lay) & put lemon extract on cotton balls, place inside mesh bag & hang from handle. Lemon extract is a natural cat 'go away' tool. Don't over do or you will smell like a lemon tree on your next trip.
3. Cats also shy away from cedar balls & moth balls. Don't use moth balls - explanation probabaly not needed.
4. Don't wash luggage with anything with ammonia in it - ammonia draws cats & tells them to "please pee here"
5. Don't use 'cat go away' spray inside luggage - clothing will absorb that odor.

cleaning luggage
 

I think hands down that the best thing for removing stains is Oxyclean. It will take almost any stain out. I have never tried it on smells but if I had the same problem, I would try out Oxyclean. It comes in spray, paste and granules. I would try spray.

I showed a kitty-owning coworker this thread, and she recommended an orange-based deodorizer.