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Made in gb
Courageous Grand Master




-

Disaster struck the other week - I had a house fire. Nobody was hurt, thank god, but a lot of my stuff is a total write off. Soot everywhere, and the whole place is stinking of smoke.

I was in the process of selling a chunk of my mini collection, but, you guessed it, much of it stinks to high heaven.

Does anybody have advice on getting rid of the smoke smell/soot, without damaging the paint job on the models?

Thanks for any replies.
   
Made in de
Painting Within the Lines




Hamburg Germany

Essentially you have covered your minis in black pigment pulver now... I would guess the only thing that works is using an airbrush without paint to blow that off, maybe a soft brush to very carefully remove small amounts that sit in recesses.
   
Made in gb
Decrepit Dakkanaut




UK

Glad you and yours are OK

If they've actually got soot on them you've got two choices,

if it's only dry powder you can brush it off with a makeup brush

if it's a more oily residue (which it probably will be) you're stuck with having to wash them. warm (not hot) water and washing up liquid is probably your best bet, hold the base and 'swish' the figure around. Acrylic paint should stand up to this.

If that doesn't work you may be better off stripping them

You can try reduce the smell with baking soda which is pretty good at absorbing it. You'll want a lot, so look at chinese supermakets where you can buy bags of 1-2 kg for not a lot. You might get away with sticking them in an airight tub with a thick layer of backing soda on the bottom, but I suspect covering the minis in it is the way to go. Give them a week and see how they do

Don't bother with fbreeze or simmilar, that will just make them stink of fbreeze for a short while, then the smoke smell will return

 
   
Made in gb
Courageous Grand Master




-

 OrlandotheTechnicoloured wrote:
Glad you and yours are OK

If they've actually got soot on them you've got two choices,

if it's only dry powder you can brush it off with a makeup brush

if it's a more oily residue (which it probably will be) you're stuck with having to wash them. warm (not hot) water and washing up liquid is probably your best bet, hold the base and 'swish' the figure around. Acrylic paint should stand up to this.

If that doesn't work you may be better off stripping them

You can try reduce the smell with baking soda which is pretty good at absorbing it. You'll want a lot, so look at chinese supermakets where you can buy bags of 1-2 kg for not a lot. You might get away with sticking them in an airight tub with a thick layer of backing soda on the bottom, but I suspect covering the minis in it is the way to go. Give them a week and see how they do

Don't bother with fbreeze or simmilar, that will just make them stink of fbreeze for a short while, then the smoke smell will return


Cheers. It's the oily residue. It's sticking to the minis likes a limpet mine. I'll give the baking soda thing a go. On the plus side, I've got a dragon that smell like it's been brreathing fire!

"Our crops will wither, our children will die piteous
deaths and the sun will be swept from the sky. But is it true?" - Tom Kirby, CEO, Games Workshop Ltd 
   
Made in us
Fixture of Dakka






 Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:
Disaster struck the other week - I had a house fire. Nobody was hurt, thank god, but a lot of my stuff is a total write off. Soot everywhere, and the whole place is stinking of smoke.

I was in the process of selling a chunk of my mini collection, but, you guessed it, much of it stinks to high heaven.

Does anybody have advice on getting rid of the smoke smell/soot, without damaging the paint job on the models?

Thanks for any replies.


Baking soda.

Put them in a box of the baking soda and cover the figures in it.

After a few days, get some canned air and spray them off.

You can add in a couple of those dryer sheets that make the figs smell good, and set them on cool air in the dryer, too. Frbreeze sheets, I think thier called.

Se them on the plastic shoe tray in the dryer, set in the sheets, and start up the dryer.


AGAIN- COOL AIR!!!!!
   
Made in us
Krazed Killa Kan






Columbus, Oh

wouldn't that cause the figures to whang around inside the box? I mean, it SOUNDS like you are advocating loosely wrapping them in a dryer sheet..

My contribution to the thread is this..

I got a Bloodbowl game years ago that stunk of cigarette smoke and campfire smoke. Styrofoam board, plastic and metal figs, as well as the rules etc in paper.

Separated each "type" of material, and put it in a plastic box with airtight lid, with crumpled up newspaper in them. The stuff that is "real newspaper" not a magazine, or a flyer. In a week, changed the newspaper, and did it again. Second week, no aroma at all.

I don't know how this might help with the physical residue, but it should help with the aroma.

-Porkuslime

2+2=5 for sufficiently large values of 2.

Order of St Ursula (Sisters of Battle): W-2, L-1, T-1
Get of Freki (Space Wolves): W-3, L-1, T-1
Hive Fleet Portentosa (Nids/Stealers): W-6, L-4, T-0
Omega Marines (vanilla Space Marine): W-1, L-6, T-2
Waagh Magshak (Orks): W-4, L-0, T-1
A.V.P.D.W.: W-0, L-2, T-0

www.40korigins.com
bringing 40k Events to Origins Game Fair in Columbus, Oh. Ask me for more info! 
   
Made in us
Fixture of Dakka






 porkuslime wrote:
wouldn't that cause the figures to whang around inside the box? I mean, it SOUNDS like you are advocating loosely wrapping them in a dryer sheet..

My contribution to the thread is this..

I got a Bloodbowl game years ago that stunk of cigarette smoke and campfire smoke. Styrofoam board, plastic and metal figs, as well as the rules etc in paper.

Separated each "type" of material, and put it in a plastic box with airtight lid, with crumpled up newspaper in them. The stuff that is "real newspaper" not a magazine, or a flyer. In a week, changed the newspaper, and did it again. Second week, no aroma at all.

I don't know how this might help with the physical residue, but it should help with the aroma.

-Porkuslime


The dryer has a tray in it to put your shoes on. ( at least mine does.) The tray sits on a rim on the bottom of the dryer door, and sticks out into the dryer for you to put stuff ( shoes) on.

The sheet I'm refering to is one of those dryer sheets that makes your cloths smell good. One has a teddy bear advertising it, the other has a dog or something.

I like that Newsprint paper Idea, though. Might even be better then misunderstanding "Putting them in the dryer and sending them on a ride, while you bang up your stuff".

Ceader wood chips work as well. Put them in a closed lid box with the wood chips and that helps with the smells.



At Games Workshop, we believe that how you behave does matter. We believe this so strongly that we have written it down in the Games Workshop Book. There is a section in the book where we talk about the values we expect all staff to demonstrate in their working lives. These values are Lawyers, Guns and Money. 
   
Made in ca
Homicidal Veteran Blood Angel Assault Marine




Toronto-Ont

I worked or a disaster renovation company for a while, we dealt in restoring damaged contents after fires and floods.

The two methods I would recoment would be a light wash using some very mild soap and a soft cloth. I wouldn't use a brush or anything for risk of damage to the model. Just dab at the model, don't rub. It is the residue that is causing much of the smell.

The other way would be the baking soda, however you also can risk damage to the model if they are moved around in there.

Luckly plastic is not a very porous material so the smoke should come out rather easily. As I mention above, most of the smell is comming from the residue, so a good wash should help.

If you have vehicles, you may not be able to get the smell out of the completely as some of that residue may have got on the inside or inbetween parts. Try a quick soak in warm water with a little of the mild soap.

Also leaving them to sit and dry somewhere where there is airflow will help, it won't make a difference if it's cold or warm air. Just beware that very cold temps can cause the glue bonds to break down.

skycapt44 wrote:
FYI optimus is the cheesiest player I know


DT:80S++++G+++M++B++IPw40k96#+D++A++++/mWD179R+++T(T)DM+ 
   
Made in us
Abhorrent Grotesque Aberration





 Grot 6 wrote:


You can add in a couple of those dryer sheets that make the figs smell good, and set them on cool air in the dryer, too. Frbreeze sheets, I think thier called.

Se them on the plastic shoe tray in the dryer, set in the sheets, and start up the dryer.

AGAIN- COOL AIR!!!!!


Please please please don't use those god awful dryer sheets. Most people I know hate the way they smell; and if you are planning on selling your minis then it's probably NOT a good idea to use that.
   
Made in us
Ferocious Blood Claw




Midland, MI

I'm very Sorry to hear about your fire! One of my big fears - i have too many books- my place would go up like a magnesium flare!

I'd suggest the quick wash. getting the gunk off will be the big step.

However, my sister in law recently had a fire as well, and one thing I HIGHLY recommend is Odi-ban. You can get it from Lowes or Home Depot here in the states. It did an incredible job on the clothes from her house. we were able to rescue things that I thought would have NO chance.

You can also use this on animal smells. I unfortunately have no idea how it would do with models, but a little in with some water should work really well (even the vehicles if they are bad). I'd try one to start to see if it works ok. (or just dab it on when you are washing them and wipe it right off) I have no idea what soaking in it might do to glues.

Good Luck.
   
Made in us
Krazed Killa Kan






Columbus, Oh

 Grot 6 wrote:


The dryer has a tray in it to put your shoes on. ( at least mine does.) The tray sits on a rim on the bottom of the dryer door, and sticks out into the dryer for you to put stuff ( shoes) on.

The sheet I'm refering to is one of those dryer sheets that makes your cloths smell good. One has a teddy bear advertising it, the other has a dog or something.

I like that Newsprint paper Idea, though. Might even be better then misunderstanding "Putting them in the dryer and sending them on a ride, while you bang up your stuff".

Ceader wood chips work as well. Put them in a closed lid box with the wood chips and that helps with the smells.


I confess I have not ever seen a dryer like that.. must be a premium upgrade. I have a dryer that is pushing 20 years old though.. none of this new-fangled nonsense for me.

(I really did have a mental image of stuff whirling around in there banging up against the drum and paddles..)

If cedar chips help.. maybe cedar rodent bedding would work too? I wonder.. got a bag of that in the garage from a kid's experiment in varmint tormenting

2+2=5 for sufficiently large values of 2.

Order of St Ursula (Sisters of Battle): W-2, L-1, T-1
Get of Freki (Space Wolves): W-3, L-1, T-1
Hive Fleet Portentosa (Nids/Stealers): W-6, L-4, T-0
Omega Marines (vanilla Space Marine): W-1, L-6, T-2
Waagh Magshak (Orks): W-4, L-0, T-1
A.V.P.D.W.: W-0, L-2, T-0

www.40korigins.com
bringing 40k Events to Origins Game Fair in Columbus, Oh. Ask me for more info! 
   
Made in gb
Courageous Grand Master




-

Thanks for all the replies. For the time being, I think I'll stick to soapy water and use baking soda as the nuclear option if all else fails.

"Our crops will wither, our children will die piteous
deaths and the sun will be swept from the sky. But is it true?" - Tom Kirby, CEO, Games Workshop Ltd 
   
 
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