Calumet 4x5 REEKS of Nicotine

[Kino]

I managed to pick up a very serviceable Calumet 4x5 camera yesterday, the putty colored version with a geared front rise and a non-detachable, rotating ground glass; only problem is that it REEKS of Nicotine. I mean it is FOUL.

The camera was folded for a long period of time and the bellows are dark brown on the ridges and still relatively putty colored in the folds.

The guy must have smoked three packs a day for 20 years in a closet with this camera.

I tried Formula 409, Shacklee Basic H and G, Lysol and setting in the sun for a day. The smell has diminished a bit, but the brown stains refuse to fade and I am a bit afraid of scrubbing the bellows too hard.

Would a mild bleach mixture sprayed on the bellows weaken the rubberized coating? The bellows corners already look marginal, but then again, I fully plan to get out my can of black plastikote and go over the folds on the inside anyway.

I guess I can live with the smell if I have to; I used to smoke myself, but this is absurd...

 

[agGNOME]

cc-400? cool camera. After all you have tried I don't suppose this would help, but maybe try 'bouncing' the camera while in it's closed case (if this was included). Bouncing would be: using fabric softner sheets inside and out of the bellows etc. and in the case for a couple of days to absorb the smell. Good luck

 

[Kino]

Thanks agGNOME, I might try that, but those products tend to make me cough worse that the nicotine! Strange but true...

I wonder what is worse; sitting in the direct sun for hours or putting it in a closed area with a ozone generator?

 

[david b]

how about fabreze ?

 

[dmr]

The best thing ever I've found for getting rid of tobacco odor is ordinary baking soda. How you apply it to a view camera will be an exercise for the student, however! It just seems to suck up the yucky smell.

 

[Kino]

how about fabreze ?

Ummm... don't know; never used it. Does it have that heavy, synthetic flowery smell like dryer sheets?

DMR: that would certainly be worth a try; thanks! I might just seal it up in a tupperware container with an open box or two of baking soda and see what happens.

 

[bdial]

Try some coffee, get a box of the pre-measured packets for the single cup machines. I'd put a few in the camera and several more in whatever enclosure it fits in if you don't have a case for it. Give it a few days, maybe along with the baking soda.

 

[dmr]

DMR: that would certainly be worth a try; thanks! I might just seal it up in a tupperware container with an open box or two of baking soda and see what happens.

What I might suggest is to liberally dust the stinky surfaces with it, or, if you don't want to do that, enclose it with a whole bunch of loose powder or wrap the powder in cloth or a paper towel.

I've used it recently for a nice sweater that I wore to a going-away party, right before the new smoking regulations went into effect. I dusted it in a paper bag, let it sit overnight, then rinsed and hand washed.

It's worked wonders for kitty accidents on carpets too. That is the REAL test!

 

[Emile de Leon]

I have a Deardorf that had the same problem. Just put the camera at near full extension on a tripod with good circulation for 2 to 3 months without the back or lensboard on. Put a dish of baking soda inside and replace once in awhile. Swish some good smelling incense in and out over the weeks. But before you do this clean all parts carefully to remove most of the smell. My Deardorff does not have that smokers smell anymore and it was really bad when I got it. Emile/www.deleon-ulf.com

 

[Early Riser]

Just imagne what the guy's lungs must look like......

 

[kraker]

This should really be mandatory information on any secondhand or auction site... "This item was stored in the house of a (choose the applicable) smoker / non-smoker".

This one sounds pretty bad. I've acquired some things that I had to "air" for a few days, never worse than that.

Sorry, I don't have any solution, but I hope you find something that helps.

 

[juan]

The baking soda idea is probably good. I've found with other things, such as typewriters, sitting them outside for several days seems to work. I put mine in the shade of the porch, not the sun. One day has never been enough.
juan

 

[MattKing]

If you need a new ground glass, Dave at SatinSnow won't have difficulty working with the camera.

see: (there was a url link here which no longer exists)

I know, I'm bad!

Matt

 

[erikg]

yeah, at least then the ground glass won't stink! considering that is where you put your nose it may be worth it---
I wouldn't recommend the bleach, it won't do much for the smell and could do some damage. the absorbtion method as noted above is best, baking soda, coffee, both. and time.
enjoy the camera, that was my first 4x5 back in the day.

 

[Jon King]

Try Fabreeze. It doesn't smell, to me at least, not at all like dryer sheets and the like.

I bought a clarinet for my daughter from a jazz musician who had been dragging it to bars for several years as his back up instrument. The clarinet hadn't picked up too much odor, but the case!! One cleaning with Fabreeze and the smoke smell was gone from the case.

 

[Kino]

Thanks everyone; all good suggestions! I now have a anti-odor arsenal to deploy against this smell!

I get a contact buzz from just touching the thing...

 

[seawolf66]

Here Try this site for cigarette order removal: good luck [http://www.zorbx.com/sections/people/smoke.asp]

 

[BrianShaw]

I had similar problem with a piece of used darkroom equipment. Fabreze followed by a few days of airing-out solved the problem. No residual smell from either cigarette or Fabreze.

 

[Curt]

A few years ago I bought a densitometer that was the same, really foul cig. smell. I wiped, aired, and tried about everything. It's in the attic and recently I opened the box and about heaved up. I think I made it made and it's smells worse than the day I got it. That fuming gets into the structure and doesn't come out.

I know that there is a way to un-cig. cars. If you can find out where they do it you might be able to have them put it in the tent with a car.

 

[wilsonneal]

A commercial ionizer works well. If you rent one of these at your local tool rental place for around $100 for a weekend, and shut it in a small room with the stinky camera, the smell will be significantly reduced.
Neal

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Clearly this camera needs to get out of the case, more than 100 yards from the car, and spend some time breathing the fresh air and enjoying the summer weather.

 

[Sal Santamaura]

The only part of this camera that's porous is its bellows, if I remember correctly. You seem to be as sensitive to cigarette stench (many more chemicals than just nicotine, by the way) as I am. In that case, the best advice is to trash it and obtain a replacement from Camera Bellows. There's no other completely effective way to deal with the reek.

 

[removed account4]

maybe you can "burry" your gear in a sealedbox filled with paper or something that smells nice, or at least with some baking soda

 

[Curt]

The only part of this camera that's porous is its bellows, if I remember correctly. You seem to be as sensitive to cigarette stench (many more chemicals than just nicotine, by the way) as I am. In that case, the best advice is to trash it and obtain a replacement from Camera Bellows. There's no other completely effective way to deal with the reek.

...and get some Ilford film for it?...

 

[Kino]

Well, the smell is starting to diminish to usable levels, thanks to everyone's suggestions.

I am setting it in the sun each day, with the bail lifted and the lens board removed, after soaking it with Fabreze, inside and out. The nicotine stains on the bellows are fading very slowly, the smell is predominantly rubber now, with a whiff of tobacco now and then. Each night, I take the camera and put it in a tupperware tote after placing open boxes of baking soda and carpet fresh in there.

Soon, I think the final treatment will be as proscribed by Mr. Goldfarb and Curt; extended trips to the country, loaded with Ilford.

Many thanks to all!