Stinky tools

[PhotonWrangler]

Awhile back I bought a little pouch of pry tools, mostly plastic spudgers of various types for opening electronic devices. They came in a blinged-out sparkly pouch that looked like it was originally intended for use as a teenage girl's cosmetics kit. Odd choice, but whatever keeps the tools together I guess. I set it aside and forgot about it for awhile.

Today I ran across it again so I opened up the zipper pouch to check out the tools and... yikes. The insides smelled exactly like skunk. Now I remember why I set it aside. 🤢

This isn't the odor that's typical with certain types of transparent plastic tool handles (think Xcelite) which have their own distinct odor of parmesan cheese, caused by butyric acid outgassing form the plastic. No, this honestly reeks of skunk.

Has anyone else run across this with a tool set, and how did you get rid of the odor?

**Edit**
Here's what the carrying pouch looks like.

 

[aznsx]

Awhile back I bought a little pouch of pry tools, mostly plastic spudgers of various types for opening electronic devices. They came in a blinged-out sparkly pouch that looked like it was originally intended for use as a teenage girl's cosmetics kit. Odd choice, but whatever keeps the tools together I guess. I set it aside and forgot about it for awhile.

Today I ran across it again so I opened up the zipper pouch to check out the tools and... yikes. The insides smelled exactly like skunk. Now I remember why I set it aside. 🤢

This isn't the odor that's typical with certain types of transparent plastic tool handles (think Xcelite) which have their own distinct odor of parmesan cheese, caused by butyric acid outgassing form the plastic. No, this honestly reeks of skunk.

Has anyone else run across this with a tool set, and how did you get rid of the odor?

Most of my older tool boxes absolutely reek. I've never known the cause, but assumed it had to be degradation / breakdown of various plastics / synthetic materials. I'm a chemistry dummy. (About the only thing I remember from Mr. Wizard is the lemon and potato batteries;-) I don't know if there's a way to eliminate it, but I'm all ears....

 

[TIFisher]

Quite a few years back I purchased a CR123 delrin battery holder from County-com. When I opened the plastic zip bag it shipped in I almost choked on the stench. It smelled like a rotten cat box. Apparently delrin off-gasses some nasty concoction in the curing process. I left a negative feedback comment in the requested product review...it was never published (LOL). I washed it in dish soap, dried it, and dropped it in a small container covered in baking soda for a week or so. The base stink lingered despite, but after using it for the intended purpose it took on the stank of the CR123 cell, which I could live with.

 

[PhotonWrangler]

Most of my older tool boxes absolutely reek. I've never known the cause, but assumed it had to be degradation / breakdown of various plastics / synthetic materials. I'm a chemistry dummy. (About the only thing I remember from Mr. Wizard is the lemon and potato batteries;-) I don't know if there's a way to eliminate it, but I'm all ears....

I've read that the smelly clear plastic handles can be sealed with a couple of coats of shellac, which will stop the butyric outgassing. Since I have some of those tools, I may try it. This probably won't work on the spudgers though.

 

[Monocrom]

A bit of industrial, plastic scent is thankfully all I've run into with some cheaper tool sets. Skunk smell? Makes a rusty tool seem not as bad.

 

[PhotonWrangler]

Today I opened up that tool pouch again,, emptied out all of the contents and found the culprit. It was a metal spudger with a yellow plastic handle with a smelly black rubber overlay.

 

[Buff]

I ran into this when buying a simple tool box to be filled with the basic tools my son(a new home owner might need and use. Filling it with the plethora of extra tools i acquired over my life time. Some of the black plastic tool boxes i looked at when i opened stunk real bad like chemicals and yes gas? I’m sure these Chinese made boxes are made under extremely lax environmental constraints and who knows if our health will be compromised? JMHO.

 

[bykfixer]

Back toward the end of WW 2 Fulton delivered a bunch of TL122C and D right angle flashlights. They reportedly smelled like doo doo. After the war most were thrown in the trash because of the smell. So currently those models are difficult to come by. They are out there but not in quantity. I have a C model that doesn't stink unless the tailcap is opened to change batteries. And yes the smell is like doodoo.

 

[louie]

I'm familiar with the Xcelite problem. Still here after 40+ years. Nothing else seems to have a similar problem here.

Chemical guys lost a lot of my respect when I find foam disintegrated, or rubbery coatings that have turned to goo or vinyl that now has a slime all over it. Apparently longevity is just not a criteria.

 

[Buff]

My dad (a USAF pilot) had the olive drab “L” shaped flashlight. I loved that thing. It had colored lenses in the tail cap.

 

[Monocrom]

They made an LED version nowadays. I've got one that takes C-cells.

 

[PhotonWrangler]

...I have a C model that doesn't stink unless the tailcap is opened to change batteries. And yes the smell is like doodoo.

Do you know what the source of the odor is?

 

[bykfixer]

Do you know what the source of the odor is?

I do not.
Fulton had just bought Kwick-Light for their plastics know how so it may have a rogue enoloyee seeking revenge by brewing a large batch of stinky plastic. Or perhaps it was a trial and error gone horribly wrong.

 

[raggie33]

Plungers

 

[PhotonWrangler]

I washed that tool in water today and finished it up with a bleach wipe. This has diminished the odor to a tolerable level, and it doesn't seem to transfer to my hands after handling it.

To Buff's point, I do wonder about the safety of handling certain imported plastic and rubber materials when they reek badly or gradually deteriorate into a sticky mess. I have an old Radio Shack handheld AM/FM radio, still unused and in it's original box, where the external rubber duckie antenna has broken down into a very sticky goo. I hate to trash a NIB piece of electronics, but I have no idea what to do with it and whether it's even safe to try and resurrect it.

 

[Buca]

I heard recently somewhere on a micro plastics and plastics discussion with some chemists on the panel. The take away was that often black plastics seem to have higher toxicity levels due to that color is often a result of multiple recycled items of different structures and therfore is more prone to leaching than others. They recommend not using black kitchen utensils especially when used on warm or hot food items.

Im a dummy but my child is taking chemical engineering and bio chemistry at Northeastern. She got all nerded out but said my simple take away is highly probable. The rest was the teacher from Charlie Brown

 

[Buca]

Black is typically the least stable of plastics items as my pea brain understands it. It's always something acid rain, holes in the ozone,cholesterol in eggs, freon, teflon,pfas,pvc...Im not a rabid environmentalist but not a criminal poluter either at least not intentionally. But I'd say we should probably consider those unintended consequences we always hear about. "That's just my opinion I could be wrong."

 

[PhotonWrangler]

Thanks Buca. I agree, it's hard for the end user to know what's been blended into black plastics.

I'm a little less wary of plastic items that don't have a strong smell. I have a small tool sitting next to my keyboard that has a black plastic handle. The material is hard, has a texture and weight similar to glass, and has zero odor. I would pick it up and use it without thinking twice. On the other hand, tools and other items that have a discernible odor are shedding something into the air and onto your skin. That's what I don't trust.

 

[Monocrom]

Gotten to the point where I can tell if a black plastic anything will degrade and turn sticky. One, it feels like silicon rubber instead of plastic. That's the key thing. Two, it's on something cheap. Enjoy the item for the few months it'll take before becoming sticky.