Get rid of mildew smell from old chips (1 Viewer)

[Psypher1000]

Being in the Arizona deserts we neither deal with basements nor mold/mildew very often. As such, I'm at a loss on how to remove mildew smell from old chips. Any ideas?

I've thought of leaving them in a bag of kitty litter for a week or two. I could try a vinegar bath I suppose, but not sure I want to expose old chips to vinegar.

Thoughts?

 

[BNM]

Isn't a vinegar bath supposed to remove smoke smell, etc.? Maybe good for mildew also?

 

[luckbox]

hmmmm rice in a baggie might work, or a quick resolve carpet cleaner depending on what type of chips....i had some old hot stamped paulsonsthat smelled so i threw a dryer sheet in the case with them after i gave em all a lite dish soap with a toothbrush bath, let em dry then put em back in the case with the dryer sheet, it took a month but worked.

but what kind/make of chips?

 

[luckbox]

Isn't a vinegar bath supposed to remove smoke smell, etc.? Maybe good for mildew also?

bleach will eat mildew but i have never tried on a chips

 

[stocky]

bleach will eat mildew but i have never tried on a chips

You go first

 

[NiceShot]

Soaked in warm water and dawn worked for me but they didn't smell that bad.... how bad is your mildew problem?

 

[MD Mike]

Isn't a vinegar bath supposed to remove smoke smell, etc.? Maybe good for mildew also?

Vinegar worked for me when I had a very bad cat that kept peeing on the rug in the same spot over and over again. Basically would use vinegar and then something else (baking soda?? @Tracy could tell you since she did all the cleaning ).

But the smell went away. Now does that work for chips? I've no idea. This is where chemistry knowledge would be very useful.

 

[slisk250]

If baking soda doesn't hurt the chips, I would try putting a couple barrels in a ziplock with baking soda and letting them sit for a week or so.

 

[BGinGA]

Try a soak in Nature's Miracle. That shit works wonders. Even removes skunk odor:

http://www.natures-miracle.com/products/pet-odor-stain-removers/original-pet-stain-odor-remover.aspx

 

[mike32]

I don't know how to get rid of the smell but I once bought an old set of elephant and crown solids on eBay. They showed up super warped and had an awful mildew smell. I sent them back and got a refund as the seller didn't disclose the warping but the smell was sickening!

 

[Psypher1000]

Try a soak in Nature's Miracle.

Oooh...good call. We've used that for pet incidents before. I think I'll give that a go first.

 

[liftapint]

Oooh...good call. We've used that for pet incidents before. I think I'll give that a go first.

Please report back here after you try it. I have some very stinky chips too.

 

[Psypher1000]

Just a quick update. I tried the Nature's Miracle product for a 30 second light agitation/soak and a 1min light agitation/soak. For the 30sec soak I tried as instructed - soak at full strength, let stand for five minutes, pat dry - as well as soak-n-dry and soak/rinse/dry. The instructional method yielded the best results and did in fact reduce the odor, but not eliminate it. It also left behind a bit of a chemical smell. Tried the 1min soak and it deadened the odor just a little more. The colors didn't seem to fade so far & the inlays seem just as intact as they were before. In short, no visible damage to the chips, but the results aren't as amazing as I'd hoped.

I'm going to try a similar but different product tomorrow and see if it leaves the same chemical odor.

 

[Psypher1000]

I'm having some initial success with this product. After trying it out there was a faint, pleasant smell after 2min soak/5min air dry/pat dry/5hr air dry. When I checked again 24 hours later there was no significant scent of any kind - mildew, chemical, or otherwise. This was on six chips tried three different ways.

I'm going to try a full barrel next. Once that's done & they've set out for a day or two, I'm going to shuffle them for a while and see if that brings the mildew odor back to life or if it's more-or-less permanently removed.

#hopeful