how to remove musty smell from speed graphic

[spoolman]

I recently was given a 2x3 speed graphic that is perfect in every way except for the pungent misty odour coming from inside the bellows of this camera. Any suggestions on how to get rid of it ?.

Thanks,

Doug

 

[AgX]

If the odour is only to smell at that bellows and no other part of the camera, I assume the bellows to be infected. Then the issue would rather be to kill the fungus in first instance. Or to substitute the bellows.

However I often experienced cases were the surfaces were clean but "just" took on a moldy odour from the environment they had been exposed too. In such cases hot air is the remedy. But it can take time and one should consider thermal damage and thus be careful with heating.

 

[peter k.]

ahha.. enjoy it, ... but seriously, when I first opened the old Graphic box of my dads years ago, the 3x4 had a musty smell, that was stored inside, but I enjoyed it because it was ageless time, coming to light again. Gradually, using the camera ect the smell disappeared, but then I live in Arizona, its a lot dryer here.
Suggestion: Open it up, take the lens and lens board off, open up the back, even if you have to remove the ground glass, let it air out.

 

[Sirius Glass]

ahha.. enjoy it, ... but seriously, when I first opened the old Graphic box of my dads years ago, the 3x4 had a musty smell, that was stored inside, but I enjoyed it because it was ageless time, coming to light again. Gradually, using the camera ect the smell disappeared, but then I live in Arizona, its a lot dryer here.
Suggestion: Open it up, take the lens and lens board off, open up the back, even if you have to remove the ground glass, let it air out.

Also let it sit in the sun to destroy the infection.

 

[Eagle Blue]

If I had to take a guess I'd say that the camera structure is made of oak, which is a very musty smell in the first place. Even freshly cut oak timber has that musty smell. And it gets worse as time goes on. The camera could have sat for countless years closed up, containing the stench of old oak till it permeated everything. So you open up the camera, draw out the standard and the bellows draws in air, and you get that pungent sharp uriney-oak stench. The bellows themselves are likely not the culprit, unless there's obviously a whitish residue all over them. Once the camera airs out a few days in the sunshine, a lot of the smell can be cleared out of it. but the camera will always have that old piano smell to some extent. Maybe put some rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle and spray it inside and outside all over it in the hot summer sun and put a box fan in front of it for a couple days and much of the smell will be cleared out of it. For a while anyway, till you close the camera back up and let it sit in the closet for eleventy more years.

 

[jim10219]

Hit it with some Lemon Pledge. I don't know if that will do much for the odor, but it certainly won't make it worse. In any case, that stuff is good for softening and moisturizing the bellows, shutter plane curtains, and leather covering. It's a great restoration tool for those cameras.

 

[spoolman]

Hit it with some Lemon Pledge. I don't know if that will do much for the odor, but it certainly won't make it worse. In any case, that stuff is good for softening and moisturizing the bellows, shutter plane curtains, and leather covering. It's a great restoration tool for those cameras.

Thank you all for your suggestions. The camera body is metal and it was kept inside a lined case in a semi damp basement for a number of years. I don't want to try any solution that will affect the bellows material so what I'll end up doing is,when the rain stops on Monday, I'll take the lensboard and the groundglass back off and let it air outside for the day. That is unless some curious squirrel or bird decides to check it out.

Doug

 

[darkroommike]

I recently got a set of Ansel Adams books with that musty smell, I killed it with ozone and airflow. I have a room filter than generates a small amount of ozone to aid in removing particles from the air, I just opened the books and arranged them on the outlet of the fan. So open your camera, remove then lens and the back, extend the bellows (Speed Graphic bellows are pretty tough) gently and blow dry air through the camera for several days.

 

[Rick A]

Thank you all for your suggestions. The camera body is metal and it was kept inside a lined case in a semi damp basement for a number of years. I don't want to try any solution that will affect the bellows material so what I'll end up doing is,when the rain stops on Monday, I'll take the lensboard and the groundglass back off and let it air outside for the day. That is unless some curious squirrel or bird decides to check it out.

Doug

Maybe wipe it down with a cloth dampened with hydrogen peroxide to kill any mildew that may be growing inside it and the case. Charcoal (briquettes or lump) placed inside will remove the odor.

 

[Dan Fromm]

If I had to take a guess I'd say that the camera structure is made of oak

Speed and Crown Graphics' bodies are made from Mahogany. Why guess about what you can look up?

OP, you're a little confused and have been misleading us. I'll grant you that you don't know much and that Graflex' nomenclature is confusing. Graflex' press cameras with metal bodies were sold as Super Graphic and Super Speed Graphic. The SSG differs from the Super Graphic in having a normal lens in a Graflex leaf shutter with claimed top speed of 1/1000. Pacemaker and Super Graphics have bellows made of a synthetic material.

But since you're confused you may not even have a Graphic. There were other metal-bodied press cameras.

 

[GRHazelton]

Speed and Crown Graphics' bodies are made from Mahogany. Why guess about what you can look up?

OP, you're a little confused and have been misleading us. I'll grant you that you don't know much and that Graflex' nomenclature is confusing. Graflex' press cameras with metal bodies were sold as Super Graphic and Super Speed Graphic. The SSG differs from the Super Graphic in having a normal lens in a Graflex leaf shutter with claimed top speed of 1/1000. Pacemaker and Super Graphics have bellows made of a synthetic material.

But since you're confused you may not even have a Graphic. There were other metal-bodied press cameras.

I have a 2 1/4 x 3 1/4 Busch Pressman C camera which has a metal body. Busch also made the Pressman D a 4 x 5 camera, which was also metal bodied.

 

[Dan Fromm]

I have a 2 1/4 x 3 1/4 Busch Pressman C camera which has a metal body. Busch also made the Pressman D a 4 x 5 camera, which was also metal bodied.

Look again. My first 2x3 camera was a Pressman C. It had a metal front door and back and a leather covered wood body. Yours should be the same.

Oh, and by the way, Eagle Blue, we have some oak furniture. Why doesn't it smell musty?

 

[paul ron]

I recently got a set of Ansel Adams books with that musty smell, I killed it with ozone and airflow. I have a room filter than generates a small amount of ozone to aid in removing particles from the air, I just opened the books and arranged them on the outlet of the fan. So open your camera, remove then lens and the back, extend the bellows (Speed Graphic bellows are pretty tough) gently and blow dry air through the camera for several days.

+1

sterilizing UV bulb and ozone treatment is the best way to kill and deodorize any musty smelling fungus ridden article.

 

[Sirius Glass]

1. Place the camera on a kitchen or dining room table.
2. Open the camera up completely.
3. Remove the lens and lens board.
4. Sit down.
   
5. Pour a shot of bourbon in a glass.
6. Drink the bourbon.
7. Repeat from step 5 down until the odor disappears.

 

[removed account4]

doug,
the best way to get rid of that smell, is to cover it up with another !
take up smoking and go to a "cigar lounge"
or HOOKA bar with the camera for a couple of weeks..
make sure the bellows are extended and you blow smoke at the camera

 

[spoolman]

Hi John: I can always count on you to come up with a humorous and light hearted response. Unlike the responses in #s 10 and 12. I think this person takes things a little too seriously. Maybe he should take the advice given in #14 and loosen up a bit.

Doug

 

[hacked - sepiareverb]

Cat pee? Be thankful.

 

[GRHazelton]

1. Place the camera on a kitchen or dining room table.
2. Open the camera up completely.
3. Remove the lens and lens board.
4. Sit down.
   
5. Pour a shot of bourbon in a glass.
6. Drink the bourbon.
7. Repeat from step 5 down until the odor disappears.

I like your thinking, Sirius! I'd suggest a good single barrel burb (as my lovely wife Flora says). Beware of cutesy names! There are many upstarts out there....

I prefer my burb on the rocks, but YMMV. Please, no soft drink adulterants! In the hot summers typical here in Georgia a Mint Julep is recommended, but don't skimp on the quality of the burb! Sterling silver julep cups are traditional, but costly. And let's not enter the "muddle vs. crushed" debate. Too many long friendships have foundered on these rocks! Tragic....

Either regimen is also efficacious for treating the common cold. Or at least assuring that the sufferer doesn't care....

Perhaps Febreeze could be employed, but pleeeeze! Keep it away from the burb!

 

[bdial]

ground coffee works well to eliminate musty odor. I don't know, but you might be able to use it to make developer after the smell is gone.

 

[Gerald C Koch]

The best way to kill mold and mildew is with either Di-Gad or SunPac paraformaldehyde. Open the bag packaging and place the bag inside the bellows and the camera in a large plastic bag. Seal it well and leave for a few days. The bags release formaldehyde gas which will kill any mold or mildew spores. Afterwards allow the camera to air out. This cure works for all leather goods. It will also not harm the camera.

 

[Dan Fromm]

Gerald, are you sure that the brands of paraformaldehyde you mentioned are still available? I asked because I just googled them and found nothing.

I used to take paraformaldehyde to the field to preserve specimens. Carrying it was much safer and more convenient than carrying formalin, also much more acceptable to the FAA and airlines. I stopped traveling with it when customs inspectors started getting, um, sticky about white powder. I had visions of one sniffing or, even worse, tasting my white powder. These days formalin is a controlled substance in the countries I used to collect in. And it seems to be a carcinogen.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I prefer my burb on the rocks, but YMMV. Please, no soft drink adulterants! In the hot summers typical here in Georgia a Mint Julep is recommended, but don't skimp on the quality of the burb! Sterling silver julep cups are traditional, but costly. And let's not enter the "muddle vs. crushed" debate. Too many long friendships have foundered on these rocks! Tragic....

Straight is the preferred method of imbibing, however there are a few exceptions such as Mint Julep, dry Gin Martinis [stirred, not shaken] Ouzo with a little ice.

 

[Arklatexian]

1. Place the camera on a kitchen or dining room table.
2. Open the camera up completely.
3. Remove the lens and lens board.
4. Sit down.
   
5. Pour a shot of bourbon in a glass.
6. Drink the bourbon.
7. Repeat from step 5 down until the odor disappears.

Or the bellows might start smelling of "apples". Once bought a sack of ripe apples at a roadside stand in New Mexico, put the sack on the back seat and after a day in the car, the whole automobile smelled like bourbon. I was careful not to bend any laws all the way home............Regards!

 

[Arklatexian]

1. Place the camera on a kitchen or dining room table.
2. Open the camera up completely.
3. Remove the lens and lens board.
4. Sit down.
   
5. Pour a shot of bourbon in a glass.
6. Drink the bourbon.
7. Repeat from step 5 down until the odor disappears.

Or the bellows might start smelling of "apples". Once bought a sack of ripe apples at a roadside stand in New Mexico, put the sack on the back seat and after a day in the car, the whole automobile smelled like bourbon. I was careful not to bend any laws all the way home............Regards!

 

[Arklatexian]

Straight is the preferred method of imbibing, however there are a few exceptions such as Mint Julep, dry Gin Martinis [stirred, not shaken] Ouzo with a little ice.

I wonder how a Martini made with Ouzo would taste? Nah, I like the taste of juniper........Regards!

 

[Gerald C Koch]

Both seem to be still available.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Protexal...Mold-Inhibitor-4OZ-SUNPAC-MILDEWCIDE/38473869