Phew! Cigarette Smoke Removal From Styrene & Resin Parts - Help!!!

[Skip]

I need some help and suggestions on how to remove stale cigarette smoke odor from styrene and resin model car parts?  I received 3 separate eBay orders or should I say odors today and they are all so bad that they are in the garage!!  Pretty sure I'm not the only person who is interested in how to get rid of the smokey smell off of model parts.

Ive used dryer sheets to mitigate smoke and musty magazine odors with great success before.  I'm hesitant to use dryer sheets with plastic and resin because most contain silicones in them for that anti static cling.  Which is why I really am not too thrilled about using the dryer sheets with model parts, especially stuff I will be painting, one of the stinkers is a resin body!  

I get severe migraine headaches from being around stuff like this, so it's not just a nuisance odor.  For some of us it can trigger life threatening Issues, asthma, severe migraines can and have triggered strokes, even if it's just a slight headache or burning nose and sinuses the whole thing can be a literal pain.  So when you hear one of us "whining" about receiving stinky stuff we really do have an issue with it, we really aren't just complaining about something really trivial.

[Eshaver]

I'm a "Former " smoker myself . I would actually try fabreeze , an air freshener and if that dosent work, spray the box , not the plastic with AXE deodorant . That is something my son douses himself with in the morning and I swear , that stuff masks near ANYTHING !

[KeithJackson]

I also collect video games and this is a HUGE issue in that community.  Will the dryer sheets cause issues even if they are not in contact with the parts?  Some people have had success with placing the items in cat litter for a while.  I have had issues where I just let the item sit for a long time and it eventually went away.  However, if the smell is that bad for you, finding a place to store them for that length of time might be a problem.

 

[CapSat 6]

I HATE it when I get something from EBay like that...I have used coffee or charcoal pretty successfully. Put the offenders in a box (with the kit opened up & spread out) with a couple of cupfulls of fresh coffee or charcoal. Don't use the coffee to drink afterwards, as it absorbs the smell. The items end up smelling like coffee, but that's not nearly as bad as cigarette ash!

[CapSat 6]

Oh- and to be clear, this is coffee grounds before they have been used- pre-used coffee grounds...

[Ace-Garageguy]

You can also try putting the parts or whatever in a closed box and sprinkling baking soda all over everything, letting it sit for a while.

If baking soda will pull the stink out of my sneakers, it ought to work on just about anything known to man. 

Note: It can be REALLY hard to get cigarette smoke smell out of some materials. I got a lovely used office chair last fall to use at the model bench. Repeated soakings in Fabreeze kinda worked, but I've had to leave it outside for months...yes, months...to get it to the point I can bear to have it in the house.

Edited March 1, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy

[Snake45]

A brief wash in rubbing alcohol should remove the stink.

[Skip]

You can also try putting the parts or whatever in a closed box and sprinkling baking soda all over everything, letting it sit for a while.

If baking soda will pull the stink out of my sneakers, it ought to work on just about anything known to man. 

that was one idea I had been thinking of too.

[louie]

How about just washing them like you would do before you paint anyhow. I know that the resin parts or body have the mold release agents on them that needs to be washed off before you can prime and paint. Seems to me that some warm water and soap will do a pretty good job cleaning just about anything, especially plastic. Also if the smell of the smoke bothers you to bad to do it wear the resperator that you would use when painting. 

Thank you.    Jeff 

[Harry P.]

Soak them in diluted vinegar.

[XJ6]

Soak them in diluted vinegar.

yep that is the trick that is the one that will work !!! 

[Skip]

Soak them in diluted vinegar.

Will try that one for sure, safe on resin I hope!  Lots of vinegar left over from making pickled peppers last fall.  Probably try some dish soap along with the vinegar, maybe even a dusting of baking soda, for alcohol, (would vodka work instead, you know drink the vodka until you no longer care about the smell!  I don't  drink so it wouldn't take much!!)  Didn't they try vodka on sneakers on Mythbusters?

wouldn't be that bad but it is just that wicked, rancid, stale cigarette smoke smell, I could smell it on my hands even after washing them!

[1930fordpickup]

I have had luck with washing with dawn dish soap. With one kit I washed everything but the paper even the tires that came with the model, had the tires sitting in a ziploc baggie of baking soda for a year and it did nothing to remove the smell. The plastic parts ended up OK just the rubber tires still smelled. 

I have been told before about the charcoal trick. It even works on a smelly real car. 

Edited March 1, 2016 by 1930fordpickup

[Maindrian Pace]

Spray 'em down with Westley's Bleche-Wite, work in with a wet tooth brush, rinse. Just one more option.

[Edsel-Dan]

I have put Cedar chips (Small Pet bedding)

in kit boxes that I store knowing they may sit for months/years

before being handled again

 

I prefer the stronger smelling cedar for this

as it does weaken over time

 

I will try some of the other ideas, but, having both parents be smokers, I don't

notice the oder!!

 

However, there is a STRONG Chemical smell in the Moebius Ventura

I have never noticed on any other kit!!!!

Not even their original Hudson Hornet!!!!

[Tom Geiger]

Last summer I got a box of first day covers for my stamp collection.  The entire box reeked of cigarettes so bad that I smelled it immediately when I opened my mail box.  I put all of the envelopes in a paper sack with a bunch of dryer sheets for about a month and it was fine.   

[charlie8575]

I could see the vinegar working, as it'll leach out the stuff that stinks.

An overnight soak in soapy water could also do the job. 

Try some parts in different solutions and see what happens.

Re: dryer sheets. Try them, but be sure to wash the parts thoroughly before attempting construction. 

Charlie Larkin

[keyser]

I wouldn't randomly mix vinegar, (acetic acid), with baking soda, or other bases. Won't go well. 

Dawn, wash, then rinse, then soak, then wash/rinse/dry. Toss in bag with dryer sheets, or Febreeze sheets. 

If box/instructions bad, do what Tom did with proofs. Can also spray with Febreeze repeating a coat every day or so. 

Charcoal great as is baking soda but please don't randomly mix stuff. 

Wash first, then deodorize. 

 

Edited March 2, 2016 by keyser
spelling

[Atmobil]

You can also try putting the parts or whatever in a closed box and sprinkling baking soda all over everything, letting it sit for a while.

If baking soda will pull the stink out of my sneakers, it ought to work on just about anything known to man. 

Note: It can be REALLY hard to get cigarette smoke smell out of some materials. I got a lovely used office chair last fall to use at the model bench. Repeated soakings in Fabreeze kinda worked, but I've had to leave it outside for months...yes, months...to get it to the point I can bear to have it in the house.

In 2012 I got a wallet from my late uncles estate. He had gotten it as a gift from his bank in about 1990 and he and my late aunt both smoked heavily. I have now used the wallet for nearly four years and I keep it in my jeans pocket most of the time every day, I don't smoke and neither does anyone else here but it still smells of cigarettesmoke.

[RandyEarle]

I bought a small bottle pump spray of scent removal from Famous Amos. It works great.

[Ace-Garageguy]

 

... there is a STRONG Chemical smell in the Moebius Ventura

I have never noticed on any other kit!!!!

Not even their original Hudson Hornet!!!!

It's just part of China's new toxic-waste-problem disposal program. They mix it all up and put a little in every product they ship out of the country. Pretty soon, no more problem...for them. 

I think it's a follow-on program inspired by the baby-formula-with-melamine test run back in 2008.    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Chinese_milk_scandal

Edited March 3, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy

[keyser]

It's just part of China's new toxic-waste problem disposal program. They mix it all up and put a little in every product they ship out of the country. Pretty soon, no more problem...for them. 

I think it's a follow-on program inspired by the baby-formula with melamine test run back in 2008.    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Chinese_milk_scandal

Don't forget the air in the bags and boxes. Still, Chipotle and Carnival cruises can trump the morbidity tolls. USA USA

[Junkman]

Wipe them with a moist melamine sponge.
Then pack them in freezer bags together with a bit of coffee powder. After a few days, take them out and wash them with soap and water as normal.

Edited March 3, 2016 by Junkman

[Skip]

I wouldn't randomly mix vinegar, (acetic acid), with baking soda, or other bases. Won't go well. 

Dawn, wash, then rinse, then soak, then wash/rinse/dry. Toss in bag with dryer sheets, or Febreeze sheets. 

If box/instructions bad, do what Tom did with proofs. Can also spray with Febreeze repeating a coat every day or so. 

Charcoal great as is baking soda but please don't randomly mix stuff. 

Wash first, then deodorize. 

 

I see my tongue in cheek wasn't cheekish enough!!  Vinegar and baking soda make a cool frothy fizzy mess, yes I did know that. Could be why the Dawn dishwashing detergent was going to get tossed in too,,,  then again if you drank the deodorizing vodka, who cares what it smells like and the mess you just made!!!

[oldcarfan]

I've had luck with dish soap and warm water as the first step. I scrub them with a tooth brush. Cigarette smoke forms a coating. Surface treatments will only mask the odor. Once you have to removed the surface contaminants, try vinegar as Harry said, or baking soda or as a last resort, place them outside for a few days and let them air out.