Smoke damage question

[Blakbird]

I just acquired a used copy of the Tower Bridge (10214) at an excellent price and am in the process of building it. Unfortunately, the moment I opened the bags I was hit with a massive stench of smoke. The parts are not discolored, but the smell is so strong that I have to have my windows open while I build. My question is, does this smell over go away (fade over time)? If not, is there anything I can do about it?

[Kez]

Well it depends where you keep your set, I bought a set once but it was incomplete, it reeked of smoke so I mixed it in with my big box full of pieces. Over time the smell died off and now it smells just fine, if the smell doesn't go overtime perhaps you could consider cleaning it with a few wipes, but surely the smell will go away eventually, if you don't already, perhaps get an air freshener plug in the room you are currently keeping the set, that should help the smell go away.

[LEGO Guy Bri]

I've had a similar problem with a few Hot Wheels I purchased off ebay a while back. They had a strong odor of smoke, pipe tobacco to be specific, as well. I let them sit and air out, and after a week or more, I couldn't smell the smoke anymore. I believe the abs that make up the interior and windows held the scent the longest. I would recommend soaking them in a cherry scented car wash solution for a day and air drying them to help with the smell, if it is as strong as you said. LEGO bricks are real good at holding odors for a long time until they are cleaned. I also picked up a bulk lot from a house that had some pretty strong odors, let them "air out" for a couple weeks, to no avail. I'd stop building and wash them

[Blakbird]

..... I'd stop building and wash them

Too bad I've already put over 1000 pieces together! Perhaps I will put this model out in my garage for a couple of months and see if it gets better. Then it will smell like auto exhaust instead of smoke.

[Darkdragon]

It took a really long time (few months), but I was able to get rid of smoke smell completely in some bricks and cloth parts.

I put them in a sealed bag, surrounded the parts with newspaper (inside the bag). I changed the newspaper every week or two. After a couple months the smell was gone.

[1974]

Vinegar seems to do the trick :

http://www.brickwarrior.com/?p=1

However it seems to be very labour intensive. Put the set out in garage with your spacerocket and I'm sure you'll get a much better and famliar smell

[Blakbird]

However it seems to be very labour intensive. Put the set out in garage with your spacerocket and I'm sure you'll get a much better and famliar smell

Good point! I do have a bunch of rockets out there. I love the smell of Ammonium Perchlorate in the morning.

[TheLegoDr]

I agree, use a wipe. Maybe a scented wipe. Or on the lego website it starts what temperature you can use to clean them.

[AmperZand]

The odour will fade over time by itself. I live in an old building and my downstairs neighbour's cigarette smoke sometimes wafts up to my place making my LEGO smell bad. After a few days, there's no more odour - and I have a super sensitive sense of smell.

Edited June 27, 2013 by AmperZand

[Balrog]

You could also try to put the Lego into a sealed bag with a small portion of coffee powder. At least in refrigerators it helps to erase a bad smell.

Perhaps that helps.

[Legogal]

I wash them in a large bowl with a bit of dishwashing detergent; let them sit a day if you can. Then rinse well and let them dry on towels placed on baking sheets out of the sun of course. This has worked on smoky used parts purchased on BL and eBay. Take care to sort out the bad parts after they are clean and dry. I buy few used parts because I am sensitive to smoke, but sometimes you can only find used parts ad have no choice. Good luck!

[Sid Sidious]

I once bought a large box of loose parts off of eBay. When they arrived, they stunk of smoke. I just left them spread out on my bedroom floor for a few days, and the smoke smell went away.

[Blakbird]

I once bought a large box of loose parts off of eBay. When they arrived, they stunk of smoke. I just left them spread out on my bedroom floor for a few days, and the smoke smell went away.

I must admit, the option of doing nothing and waiting for the problem to go away is quite compelling! In fact, just over the past few days since I made the initial post the parts have already destunk significantly (or I have become acclimated to it). The seller had the model assembled before selling it, so I have to assume that he smoked continuously while taking it apart in order for the smell to have been so strong.

[Balrog]

The seller had the model assembled before selling it, so I have to assume that he smoked continuously while taking it apart in order for the smell to have been so strong.

I do not think that smoking while disassembling a set puts such a hard smell of smoke to the bricks. I would rather think, that he had the set in a cabinet. Maybe even one with closed doors. Being a smoker myself (and I did something awful like smoking indoors in the past) I can tell you, that the smoke goes everywhere, every corner and through every groove. So over the time (the set is pretty old) a lot of smoke got into the cabinet, where it could hold and lay down on the bricks. Try washing off a cabinet in a smokers flat after years of smoking. You'll see how smoke lays on everything.

Did you try to compare colors of those bricks from the set with newer parts? They might be a bit darker than the new bricks. At least I would assume that.

[naf]

When I recovered my Lego from my parent's basement, my box of pirate LEGO reeked of smoke as my parents used to smoke down there. All of my bricks were stored in sealed plastic bins, but the pirate bin must not have been shut tightly enough. The sails were all yellow from smoke, and everything stunk. I soaked the the sails in water and a bit of oxyclean for a few hours, and soaked the bricks in water and dish soap overnight. I let the sails air dry a bit, and then ironed them underneath an old t-shirt. The bricks I let air dry next to a fan overnight. Everything looks brand new and clean, with no smoke smell.

[LEGO Guy Bri]

Too bad I've already put over 1000 pieces together!

Yeah, you are a good ways into it! I'd wash what's loose and leave what's built to air out. I'd only be concerned for the parts that are connected. Not very much fresh flowing air between connected bricks. It will probably take quite some time before those lose the smell. At least 3/4 of the model can be dealt with

[1974]

I once bought a large box of loose parts off of eBay. When they arrived, they stunk of smoke. I just left them spread out on my bedroom floor for a few days, and the smoke smell went away.

I'd probaly use another place than my bedroom though

I'm a smoker of funny stuff, but I do it outside. Then I take my space shuttle back in and start MOCing. Works pretty well allthough sometimes I end up on the wrong planet ..

[nayrsllim]

i bought a vmkk from bzp i think. the mask was sent in a mint gum container. needless to say the mask although was in a plastic bag, smelled strongly of minty freshness. it was irritating but the mask was in perfect condition, so i left it out to try and get the sent off. didnt really work to well, but i got over it.

[Jay Scovil]

The odour will fade over time by itself. I live in an old building and my downstairs neighbour's cigarette sold by e cigs wholesalers sometimes wafts up to my place making my LEGO smell bad. After a few days, there's no more odour - and I have a super sensitive sense of smell.

I really the product will work.. I am facing smoking smell problem for a while and really need to sort it out ASAP..

Edited August 10, 2014 by Jay Scovil

[Modelmaker]

Start smoking and you won't notice the smell. Problem solved

[Trango]

Specific follow-up question here: how do I clean large rubber technic balloon tyres of cigarette smoke?

I purchased a second hand set and everything reeked of smoke. Cleaning the bricks were easy, hot water, some soap, letting it sit for an hour, airdry, and we have acceptable results.

The big balloon tyres however now smell like smoke AND soap. It's probably worse than just smoke! I left that out in a (convenient) storm wind for a few hours but to not avail.

Does anyone has a solution to get large rubber tyres smoke free?

[MGCJerry]

A few months ago I acquired a collection of Lego in several small bins, boxes and misc containers that were mixed with megabloks, and some other generic brand. It was a heavy sort but ended up with an 18 gallon bin of Lego. This collection reeked of cats and had a ton of cat hair and fleas.

I ended up washing them in the bathtub with a little bit of light laundry soap and hot water. I then placed them into pillow cases and threw them in the dryer on medium heat for 20 mintues. Nice clean Lego and no stench of cats. Dont know about big balloon tires because this collection only had the tiny tires.

[Trango]

Yip. Thanks. I'm sure these big rubbers make for a whole unique challenge :-)

I'm finding threads on the net about baking soda to get rid of cigarette smell in rubber... not sure if it'll do something to the texture of the tyres.

Edited November 30, 2015 by Trango

[zux]

I had similar issue with tires, but it was a smell found in basement, you know, the "storage smell". Cleaned my tires several times with no big luck. So I just left them with assembled set and smell is no longer so concentrated. Yes, if you smell the tire closely you'll notice it. However simply having set in an opened air sort (sort of) solved my issue.

AOW in this thread gave his tires a wash with "real tire cleaner". So you might try that one as well.

[Junior Shark]

You could also try to put the Lego into a sealed bag with a small portion of coffee powder. At least in refrigerators it helps to erase a bad smell.

Perhaps that helps.

This. Coffee gets bad smells out of anything. One time I burned a pizza in the oven. The solution? Plates of coffee beans areound the kitchen. Also, I've used it to get the smoke smell out of Lego.