Long List of Guitar / Guitar Case Smoke and Odor Removal Methods

[vruscelli]

JRB, Yeah, you'd definitely need to use something that won't harm or discolor the interior...and there are a few things that will come pretty close to the effectiveness of bleach without harming lining (in part depending on the nature of the lining).

One of the things I've seen recommended is distilled white vinegar mixed with water. It's important that it's the distilled white version.

There's a ton of stuff on the internet about using distilled white vinegar to kill mold and mildew and for deodorizing. Supposedly if you use a vinegar mix you can then let the case heat up in the sun and fresh air and you shouldn't be able to smell the vinegar afterward. If there is an odor of vinegar, you can then use more baking soda and perhaps even follow that with some Ozium Deodorizing Spray to get rid of whatever odor might remains (if any smell at all).

I have not tried this method, but have read and heard quite a bit about it.

Here are a couple of relevant links:

1001 Uses for White Distilled Vinegar

The following also a helpful site for mold and mildew help, but some of the things used are pretty harsh (like bleach), so many would not be appropriate for a guitar case.

How to Kill Mold with Bleach, Vinegar & More

With a vinegar mix, you could try it on a small remnant of carpet or other material and make sure that with evaporation and sun/heat drying that it doesn't leave a vinegar odor...then move on to the guitar case if satisfied.

[FrankS]

Low levels of ozone is quite effective. It is active gas that can penetrate into the case, do its work of oxidizing odors and disinfecting, and then decomposing all on its own to leave no residue. There are inexpensive ozone generators but they should not be used in occupied spaces as high levels can cause respiratory symptoms in some people.

Frank Sanns

[Beachrunner]

Originally Posted by vruscelli

This small fan blowing into the guitar through the sound hole has worked exceptionally well for me to remove smoke odor. If using a fan, be cautious about maintaining proper humidity since a fan might actually sap moisture from the guitar.

I'm working on a recently acquired Taylor acoustic-electric that obviously spent quite a bit of time in a smoking environment. The guitar didn't smell nearly as badly as the case, but it still had at least a moderate amount of smoke smell (although descriptions like "moderate" are going to vary according to the sensitivity of the nose of the person doing the sniffing). In any case, the guitar had an unmistakable smoke smell coming from the inside of the body.

I've been experimenting with the least intrusive methods I can think of to cure the smoke odor problem with the guitar. I've placed a packet of activated carbon in a mesh pouch in the body and have even been using a mini ionizer/air purifier inside the body as well.

I moved on to focusing on air circulation with this tiny 3x3-inch USB powered fan (a Thermaltake Mobile Fan II External USB Cooling Fan). This particular model was roughly $12 and has adjustable speed. I hung it with a couple of long, semi-heavy-duty rubber bands from the fork on the guitar stand so that it aligned with the sound hole. The front of the fan grill rests on the guitar strings, blowing air into the body. It can also be easily reversed to pull air out of the body, but I think forcing air in is more effective.

The way I see it is that normal air movement in and out of the body of a guitar is likely to be pretty slow in most circumstances, even outside of the case. This small fan has sped up the overall process of fresh air working its magic as part of smoke odor removal.

A little fan like this can be hung from the guitar stand fork in any number of ways (assuming use of a guitar stand). Given that this particular fan has a metal frame around it, I wanted to keep fan movement to a minimum so as not to chance scratching the guitar. A fan fully encased in plastic would be safer, but I didn't have one like that. I used a couple of 7-inch rubber bands to suspend the fan because I had those right at hand, and the fan weighs so little that it stretches the rubber bands only about a half inch. A single loop of string would work just as well (or better).

Ingenious!

[vruscelli]

Beachrunner: Thanks! That small fan has been more effective than I would have ever thought. The active air movement has had pretty amazing results as far as I'm concerned.

I also think that anyone who might have their guitar in and out of smoky environments could really benefit from occasional use of a small fan like this. That is, don't wait for smoke to set in, but use the fan for a few hours the night or day after an event that exposed the guitar to smoke so the smoke doesn't set in long term -- just flush it out before it really sets in.

[vruscelli]

Originally Posted by FrankS

Low levels of ozone is quite effective. It is active gas that can penetrate into the case, do its work of oxidizing odors and disinfecting, and then decomposing all on its own to leave no residue. There are inexpensive ozone generators but they should not be used in occupied spaces as high levels can cause respiratory symptoms in some people.

Frank Sanns

Yes, absolutely. I don't own an ozone generator but they seem to be truly effective. There's a lot of controversy about their use (usually involving improper use and health concerns) but anyone who educates themselves a bit before using one likely won't have any problems.

I see small but good ozone generators as a home investment that can be used in many ways. I wouldn't get one for use only on a guitar case, but if I planned on other uses for it (which I'd certainly would), I can see them as very useful and versatile tools.

Small ozone generators (depending on the design) can even be used to "pipe" ozone directly into a case if done creatively. Or open the case inside a small closet or bathroom and run the ozone generator inside that space. For something like mold or mildew, it ought to kill it all so there is no recurrence or coming back to life of the spores after time. It might take more than one treatment, but still...all you'd have to do is use it when needed.

One of the problems with ozone generators is figuring out how much to spend and which to buy. And anyone considering one shouldn't confuse an ozone generator with less effective ionizers which are not the same thing.

[Joe M]

Even though it isn't an acoustic, I recently purchase a used Nocaster RI that had a definite smokey odor. I have had acoustics in the past that smelled of smoke and tried almost all of the methods listed to get rid of the odor with little results.

Since we've been having such unusually great weather here, I decided to try sitting the guitar in the outdoor sun. After two days at about 3 hours a day, the smoke smell is completely gone.

As I said, I'm not sure if the sun method would work with an acoustic since there is the unfinished wood on the inside of the guitar that I didn't have to worry about with the Fender

[FrankS]

The UV from the sun is a great germicide. The UV al turns a small portion of the oxygen in the air to ozone. It is natures own germicidal agent and deodorizer. The key is low levels for a few days. Large levels for a short period of time are not nearly as effective as they can not penetrate deeply enough to do sufficient good.

Frank Sanns

[Sprikitik]

Originally Posted by vruscelli

Also doubles as a Tonerite.

[vruscelli]

Originally Posted by Sprikitik

Also doubles as a Tonerite.

By Jove, I think you're right! Or..."You're darn tootin'!"..or even, "Hell yeah it does!"

I think you've hit on another tangible benefit. It definitely keeps a low level vibration traveling through the guitar while the fan is running.

[mc1]

vruscelli, i just wanted to say thanks for the compendium of methods. seems very thorough and well organized. good work.

[vruscelli]

Thank you, mc1. When I was looking for solutions for my own guitar and case, I found many discussion areas where there were (for instance) three or four suggestions made but none that I found that resembled a compendium (which I almost titled the thread, by the way... ).

It did take a bit of effort to pull all these together, and while I can't personally vouch for all the suggestions, there are certainly plenty of ideas to work with...and hopefully more will be added by others as time goes by so that we end up with a true compendium.

[vruscelli]

Results/Update

I'm happy to report that more than a month after stopping use of any of the smoke removal techniques I tried for the Taylor acoustic-electric guitar and case I was treating for smoke smell, the guitar and case seems to have no remaining smoke odor. I had purchased the guitar second hand and both it and the case pretty much reeked of smoke when they arrived to me. As a non-smoker, I found the stale smoke odor a pretty foul thing every time I opened the case or held the guitar (the case was the worst of the two but the guitar was pretty bad, too).

I wanted to stop treating both the guitar and case and just let the guitar sit for a while and see if the smell returned. The techniques I used seem to have done the trick. The guitar case has been fine for a long while, but removing smoke smell from the interior wood of the guitar itself was trickier and more time consuming (especially with being cautious about the interior electronics).

I think the single most effective tool I used for removing the smoke smell from the guitar body (the interior) was the small USB powered fan I used at the sound hole to circulate fresh air into the body.

The exact remedies I used in my situation were:

For the guitar case: Arm and Hammer Pet Fresh, baking soda, Ozium air freshener (a very small amount) and a packet of activated carbon (activated charcoal), that I've placed more or less permanently into the case. I also placed the opened case outside in the fresh air and sunshine for about three days (during daylight hours only...a very helpful step).

For the guitar: A packet of activated carbon (activated charcoal) placed inside the guitar body for a while (kept in the guitar body for a couple of weeks in this particular situation), a small USB powered ionizer (used for a couple of weeks), and a USB powered fan blowing directly into the sound hole (used for a couple of weeks overall).

For anyone interested, I provided details of each of these techniques that I personally used in previous posts in this thread.

[upsidedown]

Thanks for putting this together, 'Celli.

Took possession this week of a guitar that just REEKS of dryer sheet smell. The guy who sold it to the guy who sold it to me shipped it with a damp dryer sheet in the case, to humidify it during shipment, if you can believe that! I mean, that's his story, and he's sticking to it.
If the baking soda socks I stuffed into the soundhole don't do the trick, guitar is useless to me.

[Diamond Dave]

Originally Posted by vruscelli

carbo activalus

Great list but charcoal doesn't get a Latin name. We reserve that for living things.

[upsidedown]

As stated above, I despise the dryer sheet smell...in my neighborhood and especially on my guitar. So far I've used Nature's Miracle, baking soda, sunshine and wind, cedar chips and activated charcoal in an attempt to eliminate the dread (no pun intended) smell.

All of that might -- MIGHT -- be working, but it's taking forever. Forever I tell you.

Yesterday I hit on a new idea; pencil shavings. Filled a sock with them and dropped it into the soundhole. It's getting crowded in there, what with the cedar chips and activated charcoal, but it's starting to smell better. I think.