Bag bellows stinks of tobacco smoke

[Lars Åke Vinberg]

I just bought a bag bellows for Toyo 45G monorail from someone in Canada. It really stinks of tobacco smoke. Is it washable?

The bag bellows is made of a satin-like cloth material, looks like good quality. No Toyo logo, so I don't know if it is Toyo or other brand. I'm guessing cold water, some mild detergent will do the trick.

[Donald Qualls]

Water is bad for the stiffeners between folds; they're likely cardboard (pasteboard, they'd call it some places), and water will swell, warp, and distort them, possibly making the bellows permanently misshapen.

You might try cleaning the exterior of the bellows with a spray cleaner like 409, Fantastik, or equivalent product (usually sold in a trigger spray and a 750 ml to 1 liter bottle, advertised to clean anything in the kitchen); these won't wet the bellows enough to damage anything, and are pretty good at removing odors. Alternately, Febreze is an American product specifically touted to remove odors from fabric -- this sounds right up its alley; just spray it on and wait a bit. You may also be able to obtain a product specifically made for removing tobacco odors or stains from fabric -- this would be the best of all, but I don't know any brand names even for the USA.

Wrapping and stuffing with newspaper, possibly through several cycles, is a good way to get a lot of odors out, but the nicotine and tars from cigarette smoke are pretty stubborn -- I've seen nicotine stains come through multiple layers of oil based paint in a bathroom, and the nicotine is the part of tobacco that really smells bad (the tars don't smell all that bad if they're not too concentrated -- and I'm speaking as a non-smoker).

[Andrew O'Neill]

I second the Febreeze stuff. Works nicely on a stinky focussing cloth that I got from an old photographer who smoked like a chimney. A lot of us also use it on our stinky hockey geer here in Canada.

[george jiri loun]

Leave it in sun.

[Armin Seeholzer]

Hi Lars

I had the same problem with my Sinar bag bellows and I washed him out first with warm water and sometthing like calgon wich smells very fine and strong and then washed it again with cold water and tried it at the sun. And after it was try I used a spray for tents which hold it flexible and waterproof. Did it 2 years ago worked perfect.

[Donald Qualls]

Doh!! BAG bellows -- please ignore above comments about stiffeners; if you can separate the cloth from the frame, laundering in gentle cycle with delicate fabric detergent (like Woolite) should be just right -- same treatment you'd give fine lingerie (and I don't mean cotton jockey shorts). A little fabric softener will help with the smell, too -- that "April fresh" scent covers a multitude of sins...

[SHY]

Take up smoking ;-)

S.

[Mike Cockerham]

There is a product called Odor Xit that will remove the odor.

www.odorxit.com

Mike

[Matt Mengel]

Charcoal absorbs odors-just dont use Matchlite

[Joseph O'Neil]

I'll second the Febreeze suggestion. I had a similar situation to you once, stuff works like a charm. A soft wipe off first with a damp cloth just to remove any surface particles, then after it dries, spray it, even if you have to do it twice over a couple of days.
joe