cigarette smoke?

[halimium]

A friend wants me to bring my concertina to his house and jam with him, but he's a heavy smoker.

 

will my instrument draw in the smoke through the bellows and then stink everafter of it when I play at home?

 

I think it might..?

[malcolmbebb]

How badly do you want to find out?

 

I do have one box awaiting some attention, that reeks of cigarettes. But I don't know how long it took to get that way.

 

 

(Still wrapped up in a plastic bag!)

[fearfeasog]

How badly do you want to find out?

 

I do have one box awaiting some attention, that reeks of cigarettes. But I don't know how long it took to get that way.

 

 

(Still wrapped up in a plastic bag!)

 

there is a brand of matboard (used in picture framing, and similar to what Bob Tedrow uses to make his bellows) called Alpharag Artcare made by the Bainbridge company. you can get it at most custom picture frame shops. The deal with it is that it has a certain ability to absorb pollutants, smells, nasty stuff like that. Concervators use it to get the mold and must smell out of artwork. Try getting some, cutting it into strips, squares, whatever. seal your concertina up with it for awhile and see how it works. I think it's probably 15-20 dollars for a 32 x 40 inch sheet. worth a try!

[spindizzy]

Before the smoking ban in pubs, the first play on my concertina the next day brought forth a terrible smell of old ash trays but this did go away after a bit of playing. (The evenings clothes generally went straight in the wash). A few things that helped were to flush out the concertina with some lung fulls of fresh air before packing away, an not leaving it stored in its case until it smelly better. A few hours every couple of weeks in a smoke filled room didn't seem to cause lasting problems, but there are tales of professionals playing accordians and such regularly in smoke filled rooms, having to get the reeds cleaned of tar every few years.

I think if noone is actively smoking, it might not be too bad, but wouldn't want to overdo the smoke exposure for box or lungs.

[hjcjones]

Why not invite him to come and jam at your house? With the proviso that he'll have to go outside when he wants a fag.

 

However, as the others have said, occasional exposure is unlikely to do lasting damage to the concertina. As for your lungs...

[Alex West]

I'm told by my son (who runs a tea business in China) that tea roots are a traditional Chinese method for soaking up smells. (http://www.minrivertea.com/blog/tea-roots-soak-up-bad-smells/)

 

As it happens, I have a large stock of out-of-date tea so if you (or any other contributor) wants to try using tea to soak up the smell, it's yours for the price of postage (£2.50 per 100g bag for the UK). I'm sure the leaves are just as good as roots for this purpose and it's got to be better, cheaper and greener than using chemical odour neutralisers!

 

Alex West