Cigarette smell on minis

[SparqMan]

I recently purchased a bundle of D&D minis from eBay and foolishly forgot to check if they were from a non-smoking home. As you may expect, the smell of cigarettes has permeated the plastic of the minis, making them unusable at the game table.

I've read a few guides online about removing smoke smells in general, but I'm worried that solutions involved baking soda, bleach, or other chemical solutions will affect the plastic and/or paint. I have tried sticking them in the freezer in a Ziplock bag, which appears to clear the odor until they return to room temperature.

Has anyone had success solving this problem?

 

[jaerdaph]

I have no idea if this will work or possibly damage your minis, but have you tried spraying them with something like Febreze Fabric Refreshener? I believe it's a corn product derivative. I used it a lot when I lived in New York City when smoke odors from other apartments would seep through the walls and it really worked well. But that was for sofas, curtains and other fabrics.

You may want to try it on one mini first to see if it causes any damage if you do try it.

 

[SparqMan]

I have no idea if this will work or possibly damage your minis, but have you tried spraying them with something like Febreze Fabric Refreshener?

Sadly that was the first thing I tried. I liberally Febreze'd a few minis and left them on the windowsill with fresh air blowing in. The odor was masked/contained for a brief period, but wore off after a few minutes.

 

[Theo R Cwithin]

Plastic is tough... Vinegar or baking soda solutions are probably ok, certainly for the plastic, and probably for the paint as well. But it would probably take several treatments. Honestly, though, I've never had much luck with things like this that involve scrubbing.

Just letting them sit in direct sunlight for a few days might help-- but of course they might start to fade after a while. This certainly works for fabric, leather, etc with mildew and musty smells; might work for thin plastic with smoke?

I've never tried it, but I've heard of dry approaches, too: wash the thing well in warm water and dish soap, let it air dry completely, then pack it in a dry odor remover like baking soda or kitty litter for a few days. As long as it's really dry when it goes in the pack, you're not likely to hurt the mini.

If you just store them out in the open air, most of the smoke will eventually work its own way out of the plastic or break down. It could take a few months, though.

Good luck with it....

 

[SparqMan]

The dry approach is indeed my next effort. Baking soda seems more cost effective than kitty litter/activated charcoal. Thankfully most D&D minis feature such low quality gobbed up paint jobs that I doubt any damage will prove devastating.

Worst case scenario, I can try putting them back up on eBay, although with a proper scent warning.

I'll post up results if I achieve any success.

 

[frankthedm]

Have you tried scrubbing them with soap? A toothbrush will let you scrub the little nooks and crannies. I'd say start with dish soap as the_orc_within sugested.

If all else fails, use a clear spray on sealant. That should at least trap the smoke smell inside a clear plastic shell.

 

[dvvega]

Your biggest problem here is that the mini plastic is porous and so the smoke really did get into them. Literally bonded with them inside. It will take a long time - if at all - for the smell to go away.

Your best bet here is to use something that will mask the smell. Minis are similar to hair in the porous sense and so as suggested soap and water (or shampoo) may help you depending on how long they were in the smoke environment.

If you've ever been nightclubbing/pubbing/anything where smoking is allowed you would have smelt your own hair and realising that it smelt like smoke. After a couple of days it is gone, however your clothese needed a good wash.

The last suggestion I would have is to get a "personals" bag - used for lingerie washing and pop in all sorts of soft fabrics - underwear, pillowcases, whatever. Then dump in the minis, and give them a run through a washing machine - the more clothes in the machine the less the odds for destruction.

That should get the smell out.

D

 

[Umbran]

The dry approach is indeed my next effort. Baking soda seems more cost effective than kitty litter/activated charcoal.

Activated charcoal absorbs chemicals and holds them. It will at best catch that which comes off the minis.

Baking soda works by way of being slightly alkaline - several of the compounds we think of as odoriferous are slightly acidic, so the baking soda can break them down a bit. Similarly, vinegar works by being slightly acidic, and breaking down compounds that are alkaline. Chlorine and sunlight work by breaking down just about anything.

Recommendations I've seen for removing tobacco odor include using vinegar, baking soda, or both. This suggests to me that the compounds involved are neither particularly acid or alkaline - which means neither substance is going to work well.

 

[Morrus]

I wonder if putting them through the dishwasher would work? I'm not sure I'd want to risk that, though.

 

[Scotley]

One of the many jobs I had as a youth was for a company that did fire and flood restoration. The absolute best way to get smoke smell out of porous objects is to expose them to a high concentration of ozone. My guess is that this is going to be cost prohibitive. Even renting an ozone generator is going to cost much more than replacing the mini's. The repeated treatments alternating with vinegar and baking soda will eventually work, but it may take way more time than you want to spend on it. It might be worth consulting with local fire restoration companies and asking if you could toss them in their ozone room for a couple of days for a nominal fee. Ozone oxidizes the carbon based compounds that have infiltrated the plastic and it will get rid of the odor. There are various products out there that supposedly do the same thing, but I'd be very skeptical.