Removing Odour...

[varney]

I restored an old rosewood Lachenal anglo a few months ago. When it arrived this instrument was in a homemade case and on opening I was hit by an odour like a slap in the face! Somewhere in its past it had been fitted with a really bad homemade bellows which, if I'm not mistaken, looked like it had been construced from old saddle leather. I only say this because the smell was a strong, sharp, sweaty /musty combination which had a hint of horse stable(!)and permeated the entire instrument.

 

I fitted a new bellows did all the internal work = new pads, valves, bushings etc etc, then finished by french polishing the ends. A new case replaced the vile=smelling old one at which point I thought I'd gotten rid of the odour problem. Not so!

 

A couple of months later the french polish smell has disappeared, but there's still a noticeable hint of that original stale sweaty smell. When I opened it up I found the reed pan itself carries the odour, as does the interior of the action box. It's also present in the old gasket lining of the bellows frame. Would it be safe to spray that material with something like anti-bacterial Febreeze?

 

I don't fancy the idea of spraying anything on the reed pan or action box to try and eliminate this smell, but am open to suggestions.

 

Has anybody experienced a similar problem and how did they overcome it?

 

Michael.

[Alan Day]

I restored an old rosewood Lachenal anglo a few months ago. When it arrived this instrument was in a homemade case and on opening I was hit by an odour like a slap in the face! Somewhere in its past it had been fitted with a really bad homemade bellows which, if I'm not mistaken, looked like it had been construced from old saddle leather. I only say this because the smell was a strong, sharp, sweaty /musty combination which had a hint of horse stable(!)and permeated the entire instrument.

 

I fitted a new bellows did all the internal work = new pads, valves, bushings etc etc, then finished by french polishing the ends. A new case replaced the vile=smelling old one at which point I thought I'd gotten rid of the odour problem. Not so!

 

A couple of months later the french polish smell has disappeared, but there's still a noticeable hint of that original stale sweaty smell. When I opened it up I found the reed pan itself carries the odour, as does the interior of the action box. It's also present in the old gasket lining of the bellows frame. Would it be safe to spray that material with something like anti-bacterial Febreeze?

 

I don't fancy the idea of spraying anything on the reed pan or action box to try and eliminate this smell, but am open to suggestions.

 

Has anybody experienced a similar problem and how did they overcome it?

 

Michael.

I carry two of my concertinas in a wonderful leather vanity case it is much admired and only cost me £25 in an auction. The interior however smelt as if a bottle of perfume had been poured into it and the smell was unbearable. Someone suggested that I stuff it with newspaper and leave it for a while. This seems to have done the trick.

Al

[David Levine]

I bought a concertina from a man who was a heavy smoker and the instrument reeked. I put a sock filled with baking soda inside the closed concertina and that absorbed a lot of the odor. I couldn't play it while the sock was inside but it did ameliorate the awful smell. I also leave the case open and the odor is gradually fading. In fifty years I probably won't notice much smell.... or much else, for that matter.

[Simon H]

Antifungal deodorant foot spray. Not the powder variety. Works a charm. Don't (obviously) wet everything with it, just a couple of light mistings over a few hours.

Simon

[Hasse]

Baking soda should work just fine, unless it’s a really tuff odour, then active carbon (charcoal) will do the trick! I've used it to remove odours from really bad smelling object from time to time. You can get the active carbon as powder or granulated, imbedded in sheets of paper or textile (I recommend textile or second granulated). If you can only get hold of powder or granulated spread it in a plastic bag with the up side perforated, put it inside and/or outside your concertina and seal it all of tightly in a plastic bag, and leave it for some days to weeks. For really strong odours you might have to repeat the process a couple of times. This will normally be enough to remove or reduce the smell noticeably.

[varney]

Great advice from everybody - thank you!

 

This instrument is going out for sale so really can't go through a process which has it sitting around for weeks. I'm thinking the anti-fungal foot sparay sounds the fastest solution but am wondering if a light misting of that even on the base of the action board will have any detrimental effect on the wood? I can't imagine doing this with the reed pan, but I suspect the chamois in the bellows frame is harbouring the most of this odour so will tackle that first.

 

Michael.

[Alex West]

Here's a suggestion from my son who runs a tea business from his home in China. http://www.minrivertea.com/blog/tea-roots-soak-up-bad-smells/

 

Maybe not so easy unless you have a supply of tea stems and roots but I'll ask him if the leaves would do as well (but you may not be able to get a decent cuppa out of them afterwards!)

 

If anyone's seriously intersted, I'm sure he'd be able to get a bag of the leavings to you

 

Alex West

[Hasse]

Great advice from everybody - thank you!

 

This instrument is going out for sale so really can't go through a process which has it sitting around for weeks. I'm thinking the anti-fungal foot sparay sounds the fastest solution but am wondering if a light misting of that even on the base of the action board will have any detrimental effect on the wood? I can't imagine doing this with the reed pan, but I suspect the chamois in the bellows frame is harbouring the most of this odour so will tackle that first.

 

Michael.

 

Some anti-fungal agents can be more or less corrosive, so to be on the save side I would definitely keep the spray away from all metal parts. And be careful not to get any anti-fungal spray on the outside otherwise you risk staining.

Best of luck!