Cigarette smoke damage to LEGO or shipping materials

[matt1147]

Like others have mentioned, I've had success simply soaking/washing with soapy water, rinse, and dry. Now the instruction manuals were harder - I read to put in a air-tight container with coffee grounds or dryer sheets. I've done both and it definitely helped. There's still some odor but not as bad - smells "old" instead of smoke. I also read that heat is really the only way to eliminate the odor entirely from the pages but of course it's tricky without doin damage. I heard to try a blow dryer but I haven't done it yet. Anyone else successful removing smell from manuals/boxes?

[StompingFreak]

Like others have mentioned, I've had success simply soaking/washing with soapy water, rinse, and dry. Now the instruction manuals were harder - I read to put in a air-tight container with coffee grounds or dryer sheets. I've done both and it definitely helped. There's still some odor but not as bad - smells "old" instead of smoke. I also read that heat is really the only way to eliminate the odor entirely from the pages but of course it's tricky without doin damage. I heard to try a blow dryer but I haven't done it yet. Anyone else successful removing smell from manuals/boxes?

 

Little hint for. spray a cloth with fru-brezze, place in bottom of tupaware container. place some cardboard over it. Put in manual. Seal and leaves for 48hrs. Open smells fresh, clean. better than coffee. Stomping

[El Guapo]

Fabric sheets can suck up foul odors too...so sticking them in a sealed tuperware with a Bounce sheet helps. Also, Ozium is pretty good at getting cigarette smoke out. Ozone generators really do the trick--but that might be a little overkill.

[wholovesboo]

Baking soda is also supposed to remove odors (it works for my fridge and my kitchen trash can!). You could leave an open box of baking soda inside the box (then closing the lid of the box) and let it sit for a week. Just be very careful NOT to let the baking soda tip over and get all over the inside of the box. If this worries you, Arm & Hammer sells baking soda in a specially designed box where you remove the cardboard panels from the side of the box and there's a filtered paper that lets the baking soda "breathe", but none of it actually escapes the box.

[jaisonline]

I've found that if you stuff a pillow case with bricks, tie the end, then put them in your washing machine. On a cool was(about 30`Degrees with soap powder). It does take the smell out, plus it does remove some staining.

 

it helped w/ removing discoloration from say, light blue gray elements?  

[exciter1]

Baking soda is also supposed to remove odors (it works for my fridge and my kitchen trash can!). You could leave an open box of baking soda inside the box (then closing the lid of the box) and let it sit for a week. Just be very careful NOT to let the baking soda tip over and get all over the inside of the box. If this worries you, Arm & Hammer sells baking soda in a specially designed box where you remove the cardboard panels from the side of the box and there's a filtered paper that lets the baking soda "breathe", but none of it actually escapes the box.

 

Thanks, I left the box outside in the sun for a few hours yesterday and it is actually a little better. I'll try it as many times as it takes.

[varmintt]

I just bought some bulk minifigure parts on bricklink and they reek of tobacco smoke.

 

any thoughts on how to fix this that don't involve washing the pieces?

 

I had this before with some used SW toys I bought off ebay and noticed after a few months of sitting in the garage the odor pretty much dissipated.

 

I didn't want to wait that long.  I was going to try sealing them in some Tupperware with some baking soda. 

Any better ideas?

 

[shadow010]

try to cut up some apples  that soaks up most smells

[Huskers1236]

Baking soda should do this as well.  I would just wash them, though.

[Guest TabbyBoy]

I detest smoking intensely, I'd have sent the whole lot back.

[exciter1]

Here's a good thread where it was talked about at length:

 

http://community.brickpicker.com/topic/5381-cigarette-smoke-damage-to-plastic-lego/?hl=smoke

[remy1492]

Ion air filters like the orec or ionic breeze eliminate cig odor if you keep it in as small a placr as possible for no air t circulation. There are industrial sized ionizers to de smoke cars and houses of bad stuff.

Careful though too much ozone is bad for you to breathe.

[justafrog]

I know two kinds of smokers:

 

Type A: The kind that pollute their entire environment -- car, home, office, and all its contents as well as smelling horrific themselves.

Type B: The kind that actually only smoke out in the open air and shower frequently and you don't even know they're smokers from the state of their car, house, or stench.

 

I know, it may seem I'm being rude, but I consider it a public service and people will be nicer to smokers if they all become type B. Plus, it'll keep them from stinking up everyone else's Legos. 

[jason1125]

Worst thing ever happened  today  my house burnt almost all the way down lost allot of Legos but i had one room that was smoke damaged ghost train ,loner ranger train ,hoth and the black peral all were mint in box now the boxs are all damaged my question is will the insurance company pay me for the damaged items and still let me keep the Legos or will they pay me and get rid of my legos?? any info would be very helpful i lost about 10 grand of legos in the fire very discouraging.   ..thanks

[boliramirez]

I would not mind buying some of those damaged pearls and constitution trains. I guess my clientele is not as picky as the US average shopper is..... send me a PM..... by the way, I am sorry that it happened to you......

[Guest brickcrazyhouse]

dude that sucks lesson for the rest of us to check with our policy providers about the "whats if's"

 

you may want to offer the damages up for trade I know we don't mind smoke damage for sets that we want to build (kids don't smoke it's a hell of a monkey on your back)

[jason1125]

I have to see how the insurance adjuster handle that but I will PM you and let you know thanks

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[chinothegeeko]

Worst thing ever happened  today  my house burnt almost all the way down lost allot of Legos but i had one room that was smoke damaged ghost train ,loner ranger train ,hoth and the black peral all were mint in box now the boxs are all damaged my question is will the insurance company pay me for the damaged items and still let me keep the Legos or will they pay me and get rid of my legos?? any info would be very helpful i lost about 10 grand of legos in the fire very discouraging.   ..thanks

 

Wow very sorry that happened and glad you are all safe, at least I assume so.  They should pay you for them. I dont know why they would take them. 

[Alpinemaps]

Sorry to hear about it.  I hope everyone is safe and doing okay.

[@rtisan]

Very sorry to hear this. Got to put the family and other thing first, then the Lego. In regards to that, there isn`t too much you can do with the smoke damage or smell. Paper is paper, and it retains very well. Airing it out may do some good, but if it ever did, it would take a long time and will probably never go back to the way it was. If the pieces are intact, they are able to be sold in groups, by set, or individually. Hopefully you have insurance to cover everything, in which I wouldn`t worry about the Lego. Best thing to do is get yourself re-established, then if you want to rebuild your investments go from there. 

 

 

 

you may want to offer the damages up for trade I know we don't mind smoke damage for sets that we want to build (kids don't smoke it's a hell of a monkey on your back)

That`s a good idea, unless your insurance company covers the losses for you. Probably not worth the hassle. 

 

Hopefully everything works out for you! It`s a horrible thing to have happen, but things will hopefully get better in the future. Best of luck!

[TheOrcKing]

I am so sorry to hear such a thing happened to you. My condolences to you and your belongings. I don't know how your insurance policy is but anymore I swear they always manage to find some loophole out of the deal you paid into for years.

[jason1125]

Thank you everyone for your help I do believe that the insurance company will give me the price I paid for the Legos but just not the appreciated amount so hopefully come Monday I'll know more about what's going to happen a lot of the damage was just the boxes so that's what I was really concerned about if they were going to give me the value of the SATs if I were to buy them in the store or if they were going to give me the appreciate in value and I'm really wondering if they're just going to take the Legos and dispose of them

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[terrymc4677]

Thank you everyone for your help I do believe that the insurance company will give me the price I paid for the Legos but just not the appreciated amount so hopefully come Monday I'll know more about what's going to happen a lot of the damage was just the boxes so that's what I was really concerned about if they were going to give me the value of the SATs if I were to buy them in the store or if they were going to give me the appreciate in value and I'm really wondering if they're just going to take the Legos and dispose of them

Sent from my LG-MS770 using Brickpicker mobile app

If they pay you and take them then hopefully they get donated somewhere, like a children's hospital or something. It would be terrible to see all those bricks go to waste if the majority of the damage is only to the boxes.

[jason1125]

Yea hopefully everything will workout ok i had allot of my big sets not in the home but i did lose lotr tower and monster haunted house that i had built that im very sad i lost so yea if anyone has a huge lego investment  make sure you check you policy  im going to call the lego store and see if i can get a list of sets i bought using the vip card but im almost positive insurance is only going to pay for retail value not actual appreciated value the rest of my stuff they will give me what its worth ...i think the reson im so sad is because im very matriculate about how mint ikeep my sets to see all the black peal boxes all messed  up just kills me

[Migration]

Funny thing about the Black Pearl from an investment standpoint, new it's worth around $220 and used it's worth $200 both of which are way over retail. You may want to just sell them as used sets assuming that the bricks and sails are ok. Of course there is something to be said for just letting your insurance company handle it and focusing on rebuilding. It's never easy after a fire like that, best of luck to you.