The stench of a Rolleicord...

Kino · Dec 11, 2018

Man, I have a bargain Rolleicord 3, Model K3B that reeks of tobacco smoke. Can't tell if it is cheap pipe tobacco or someone who smoked 20 packs of unfiltered Chesterfields a day.

I used to smoke, and am generally tolerable of smoke-smell, but this is stomach-churning. I'll bet the guy who owned it, and you know it was a guy, had that yellow pall on every surface of his house interior; an amber glaze that was slightly tacky to touch... shudder...

I have wiped it down with 99% alcohol, sprayed the leather with Fabreze several times and now have it sealed in a plastic bag with a tub of baking soda, but it laughs at me and stinks to high-heaven.

I will probably have to peel off the original leather and replace it, but I am wondering of most of the metal molecules have been displaced by nicotine...

rubbernglue · Dec 11, 2018

Does it smell just as bad on the inside? If not I guess you're lucky

Kino · Dec 11, 2018

Yes, even the interior...

rubbernglue · Dec 11, 2018

incredible.. I suppose you should change all the lightseals also then as they are likely to get rid of what is not in the leather...

darkroommike · Dec 11, 2018

I have a whole room air filter that also ionizes the air, in the past I have rested stinky books and cameras on the exit vent for a few days. Ionizers are used in motels to help eliminate mildew and smoke odors in guest rooms.

rubbernglue · Dec 12, 2018

I know of a particular leather sofa which smelled a lot of tobacco, after quite a bit of rinsing with mixed chemicals and water the last but not least was simply to let it vent outside for as long periods as possible during the summer.. I have read that venting is pretty effective regarding tobacco smells in all, so perhaps you can just let it stand somewhere where the air is well vented and let it stand there for a couple of months or so...

Helios 1984 · Dec 12, 2018

Ozone generator?

removed account4 · Dec 12, 2018

hey kino !
years ago i rented a mini van and it smelled
so bad ( it was the middle of the winter ) i drove it
from one rental branch to the next ( on the way home )
they went out with a can of smells so good and said
" mr will have this fixed in no time " needless to say they
gave me a new set of keys about IDK 3 seconds into the operation.
(the guy came back looking like "jim" from "taxi")
==
you might try direct sunlight ( UV ), burry it in a bag of unground coffee beans
or burn some incents ( works for pilgrims )

Kino · Dec 12, 2018

Interesting suggestions! I shall investigate them in my quest to detox this camera.

However, I wonder if nicotine is like sodium hydroxide and will give me speed-boost on film?

If so, I might get an extra stop or two just by using this camera!

Rick A · Dec 12, 2018

Put it in a box with unused coffee grounds (or whole beans) and seal the box for a week or so.

Kino · Dec 12, 2018

rubbernglue said:
incredible.. I suppose you should change all the lightseals also then as they are likely to get rid of what is not in the leather...

I hadn't thought of that; add that to the list...

Kino · Dec 12, 2018

I have some new French Roast beans; maybe I'll try that next.

baachitraka · Dec 12, 2018

Please take that lady out for shooting so she can breath some fresh air...

mcfitz · Dec 12, 2018

Another suggestion is combination of baking soda mixed with cheap, perfume free kitty litter, lots of both, seal the camera up in it for at least a week if need be, longer. Both things abosorb odours. This worked a miracle on a very musty old Voigtlander folder.

Stale tobbaco smell is different from the stench of must and mould, but it might work. Good luck.

John Koehrer · Dec 12, 2018

Kino said:
I have some new French Roast beans; maybe I'll try that next.

What would that do to the flavor of the coffee?

Rick A · Dec 12, 2018

John Koehrer said:
What would that do to the flavor of the coffee?

My (late) father would enjoy that, he never went a day without his first thing in the AM cig and cuppa.

Old_Dick · Dec 12, 2018

+1 with Helios 1984.

Kino · Dec 21, 2018

After alternating between baking soda and coffee beans for 10 days, the smell is largely gone; but so is the leather!

Seems the nicotine was the only moisture in the leather and when that left, it started popping off the camera.

tezzasmall · Dec 22, 2018

I inherited a smokers chair some time ago now and did it stink!!!

In a non smoking household it couldn't be left in the living room and was put outside in the fresh air, whenever the weather was ok.

Time took it's toll, along with Febreze and other liquids, to try and dilute the smell.

Eventually after about six months, the odour had just about gone and the chair was let back into the house.

So, it's good to hear that you have got ridden of most of the smell so quickly in comparison.

As for the leather pealing off, maybe that would have happened anyway, but from what I've seen, there are numerous suppliers of new 'leather' coverings for most cameras available now.

Terry S

Kino · Dec 22, 2018

Yes. I have a replacement set bookmarked and hope to have it recovered soon.

I need to clean the shutter first. At least I won’t be worried about ruining the leather now.

CropDusterMan · Dec 22, 2018

Contact Harry Fleenor at Oceanside camera in Redondo Beach CA. He could recover it , or sell you a kit perhaps.
He is the master at CLA of Rollei's.

Pentode · Dec 22, 2018

In falling off, the leather may have done you a pretty big favor as that’s probably where most of the odors were living. If you let it sit near an open window for some fresh air for a while and then wipe all the accessible surfaces down with naphtha and fit it with new leather I imagine your troubles will be over.

For what it’s worth, costumers in the theater industry, when faced with stinky costumes that need to be freshened up quickly between a matinee and an evening performance, keep a spray bottle filled with cheap vodka on hand. It actually works! They spray the costumes down and they are stink-free that evening. I suspect that only works on “biological” smells, however. Cigarette smoke is pretty tenacious.

mgb74 · Dec 22, 2018

I'm late to this thread, but I have heard that used car dealers (or their detail shops) use an ozone generator to eliminate tobacco odor in used cars. And, with respect to the comments about coffee grounds, I've seen flight attendants hang pouches of coffee grounds in airplane bathrooms.

The stench of a Rolleicord...

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