ever-ready handle stinks

[Kentos]

Hi all, just removed the old knot from my ever-ready handle and while everything went well, the handle smells like my grandfather's old craftman screwdriver...any ideas on getting rid of the smell? Or am I stuck with it? It smells like cheese...stinky, stinky cheese lol.

 

[Munxcub]

I just did one too and it smells like old library book vomit.

 

[Moai]

Soak it in white vinegar for about 20 hours.

 

[Kentos]

I have it packed in baking soda now. I'll try that next if it doesnt work. Thanks!

 

[Moai]

I'm interested if that works. Sounds like a valid idea.

 

[Kentos]

So far...no love. Does the vinegar just overpower the smell or does it neutralize it somehow? I am not sure which smell would repulse me more in the long run....

 

[routeinfo]

I had that problem with a few of my older handles. For me the stink came from the old knot base and glue. Once I removed all that nasty stuff the smell was gone.

 

[hotwheels]

I guess the knot never dries out and becomes an eternally moist breeding ground for mold and and fungi. Maybe I'll just have to get me a live badger for lathering up!

 

[Jethro1984]

I had that problem with a few of my older handles. For me the stink came from the old knot base and glue. Once I removed all that nasty stuff the smell was gone.

I was wondering if that's what it could be. The handles are plastic aren't they? Get all the gunk out and then just dip it in some boiling water.

 

[Kentos]

My fear is that it's inherent in old vintage plastic items. From the tool talk forums:

The smell of the Xcelite screwdriver handles is because they are made of a plastic known as cellulose butyrate. One of the components of that is butyric acid, which is the stench of rancid butter and vomit. So that's why they smell,
decomposition.


I guess I need some vinegar...

 

[Moai]

Vinegar smell should go away after a few good rinses or a quick soak in water.

 

[Lando]

This is the reason I gave up trying to restore a bunch of vintage brushes I had acquired and sold them off. I couldn't stand that smell, and it comes from the plastic/bakelite handles. The old bakelite razor cases smell the same way. Phew!

 

[JPDyson]

The Xcelite nut drivers my Dad has introduced me to this scent, and I found it again in some vintage brushes. Old plastics can just flat out stink.

As for beating it, no clue.

 

[Hawkeyeted]

I just did one too and it smells like old library book vomit.

 

[Deltaboy]

A good soaking in some vinigar will do the trick.

 

[Telecaster52]

Both of my everreadys had that moldy resin smell, it seemed to be mainly concentrated in the old knot. Once you get the old nasty chunk of hair and glue out, the smell fades. In the cases of my brushes, the plastic funk subsided before the initial badger funk, so I think the funk comes from the brushes sitting around in dark, possibly damp places (under a sink) for a few years/decades.

 

[Munxcub]

I did the "get the funk out" procedure to defunkify the new knot. And since sitting out on my shelf for a week and a bit the handle stank has diminished considerably. Another week or 2 and I bet it'll be pretty much gone.

(that get the funk out sure worked! It even softened up a VDH boar I got for Christmas.)

 

[Telecaster52]

I did the "get the funk out" procedure to defunkify the new knot. And since sitting out on my shelf for a week and a bit the handle stank has diminished considerably. Another week or 2 and I bet it'll be pretty much gone.

(that get the funk out sure worked! It even softened up a VDH boar I got for Christmas.)

The super badger i put in my 500pbt had a stank so rank that it took 5-6 runs of the GTFO method to get all the eau de roadkill flavor out

Was it sitting next to a sad keanu?

 

[rickboone1]

Everyone I've ever picked up stinks. New brushes are cheap enough, those things get tossed.

 

[Munxcub]

Was it sitting next to a sad keanu?

one shelf down and a few inches to the right actually...