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

[keyser]

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!!!

Just some folks more literal than others, and chemistry not always a strong suit. We know a fizzy mess, and Dawn may just goo it up, but VOC's and other stuff we can't predict will be used needed subtle caution I guess. 

Rather have unadulterated Tito's to wash away the messes of the mind and cheeks. 

[1930fordpickup]

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.

Back when I was still a bar going young man they could still smoke in the bars here. Every night when I would get home even at 3am the coat would go on a hook on the front porch to air out. This was from 3 to 5 hours in the bar leather just sucks up orders and holds onto them. 

[lordairgtar]

That is something my son douses himself with in the morning and I swear , that stuff masks near ANYTHING I

 I was told in my youth that a little goes a long way and cologne is NOT French for bath substitute.

[Eshaver]

Lordairguitar , your wisdom continues to shine in the darkness!

[lordairgtar]

Thanks Ellen.

[Joe Handley]

This has been an interesting read, a couple weeks back I traded a friend a set of tires I'm no longer using on an r/c truck for a used r/c car and the thing reeks of cigarette smoke and dog (literally, there dog hairs on it, and I'm allergic to dander) and I'm hoping that this helps.  Right now it's crazy windy out right now, so I stuck it on the picnic table, and if it rains, oh well, the electronics are waterproof and will eventually get replaced with better stuff anyway..

[Skip]

The Dawn dish soap worked well, it didn't remove it all but did a good enough job that the parts were allowed in my hobby room.  Since some of the items were plastic, resin and plated plastic I washed a few pieces in the vinegar solution, there was also a marked reduction in odor, but then there was a slight vinegar smell that washed right off with the Dawn dish soap.  Also tried sprinkling a good amount of baking soda on the parts first, the baking soda reeked after just a day, then Dawn dish soap; to my sensitive snoot I believe that this worked the best of all methods that I tried.

Recommendation,  Dawn dish soap for a one shot treatment.  Baking Soda, soak in plain old Baking Soda for a minimum of 24 hours inside a closed container; I used ziplock bags.  Next place the parts in another ziplock bag, place about a teaspoon of Dawn dish soap in the Baggie, finally add just enough warm water to cover the parts.  Gently agitate the parts around to allow the dish soap to dilute into solution.  Shortest time that I found worked for a single soak was 2 hours.  For a two time wash I found that the odor was mitigated in two 15 minute soak, rinse, soak and rinse sessions.

Once again, Thank You all for the great suggestions, this is just one of the things that makes our community great! 

Edited March 17, 2016 by Skip

[Joe Handley]

Leaving the car outside for several hours helped, my have to play around with some of these tips on Friday.