Cigarette Smoke Smells on Vinyl

Hey everyone!

 

I bought a body from Mandarake a short time ago which was described to be in good condition. However when it got here, I was shocked and horrified. The first thing I found upon opening the box was a terrible smell of cigarette smoke, which quickly filled the whole kitchen with a terrible odor. The body was very badly yellowed, and the smell so strong that if you picked up the body or the bubble wrap used around it you could smell it from very far away. The yellowing was disappointing enough, but the smell just kills it for me. The excitement of finally getting another body to put one of my heads on, only to find it in such bad unexpected condition was crushing.

 

 

Mandarake Nakano refuses to work with me and said they didn't believe me about the smoke smell. They said I could send it back if I want and pay for return shipping, but if they tell me they don't think it smells strongly enough of cigarette smoke they will force me to pay the money to have it shipped back to me and not refund me anything. So I'll be losing a minimum of $140 if I try to return it, possibly up to $200 shipping it back and forth two times.

 

I've tried several things already, including using some cleaning cream, lotions, and magic eraser. The cleansing cream has helped relieve some of the yellowing, evening out the skin tone much better than I expected it would. The harder vinyl on the legs and arms (it's an Obitsu body) no longer smells as strongly of smoke, but the torso and breast piece smells horrid. I pick up the pieces which are now disassembled, and if I try to smell either piece to see if the odor is still there my eyes literally start burning.

 

I'm now to the point where I tried wrapping all of the pieces that smelled the worst in paper towels with essential oil on them. They're not soaked, but have enough on them to hopefully alleviate the smell. I have them firmly rapped in hopes that the oil's scent will soak into the vinyl. I am using "people safe" essential oils, not the kind that tells you not to get it on your skin. I'm throwing in a scentsy cube as well and hoping that may provide some luck, but I don't know for sure if it'll work long term. In the past couple of hours with everything sitting in the zip lock bag the body smells less like smoke than it has the entire time I've had it. No damage to the vinyl either.

 

Does anyone have any other recommendations for getting the smoke smell off? I really wanted to use this body, but I don't want to put a head, wig, and clothes on it (or have it near my other girls) if the smell has any chance of transferring.

 

On a side note- I've never had trouble with Mandarake before. This really is the first time. I've loved them since I started using them over a year ago, but Nakano has severely disappointed me and this has really hurt my faith in them. I've gotten some amazing deals there, and a lot of my girls have come from there.. but my trust in them is fractured. Nakano is not running their store in a customer friendly way. I don't want to say don't buy from Nakano - but be very weary. Someone else I know recently ordered a tiny re-ment set from them that was supposed to come with a box. She was charged $30 shipping by Mandarake for the tiny package, then the package arrived without a box or manual for the set. I brought all of this up in an email to them, so I'm hoping they will take action and figure out what is going on. I know everything won't be perfect all of the time, but bad customer service as a constant really isn't acceptable.

 

I love Mandarake and I really do hope that they get everything sorted out in their Nakano store, and I will still buy from them again.. but be cautious if you're planning on getting anything from them in the near future.

Edited February 27, 2017 by Guest

Wow I ordered from Mandarake Nakano just recently and they gave me great service. It's really odd that suddenly they just give terrible service like that :/

 

Although for the smoke smell I can only assume that someone had been smoking near it. I wouldn't understand another reason why it would smell like cigarette.

 

As a way to remove the smell. I have used oxygen absorbents, dryer sheets, or liquid softeners(not for the vinyl! Only use this for wigs/clothes)

 

What I have done in the past with the strong 'new vinyl smell' I simply put the pieces into a container and put dryer sheets with the oxygen absorbents.

 

It did get rid of the smell, but it does substitute the smell with dryer sheets(if you don't mind the smell)

It definitely is a surprise! Mandarake has always surprised me with their excellent customer service previously to now, so that was a huge shock to me. Usually they're awesome at describing stuff as worse than it actually is, and delighting with a package that is much better than you imagine. It's unfortunate and hopefully just a one time thing. I'm assuming the bad yellowing is because of the cigarette smoke as well.

 

I've heard of the dryer sheet method before but wasn't sure if it would work or not on vinyl! I'm going to dry the vinyl soon and wash it off, and see if it smells like pepper mint essential oil or like smoke still. If it does, the dryer sheet method will be what I try next.

 

Thanks!

You're going to want to get it away from the oils right away! Wash the pieces and dry them off. I've never been told what exactly happens with vinyl + oil other than to never mix the two. So it doesn't do anything good. Don't use anything more with oils in them. I think that's also just going to mask the smell. It won't actually get rif of it.

 

Something that could work is to put the pieces in baggies with baking soda. Leave it for a few days. It should absorb some of the smell. Someone correct me if I'm wrong on that though. I've seen that suggested for playline vinyl toys/dolls. Don't know how DD or Obitsu take to it though. :/

I did rinse the oil from them and wipe the pieces down with dishwasher soap and warm water. So far everything looks good, no damage done and smells much better. It probably is just masking the smell, but honestly I'd rather have the vinyl absorb and smell like oil than smoke. I will say I am using people safe essential oil, rather than the type you would put in a diffuser or on something (so not the kind that tells you not to put it on your skin) so hopefully that may be what the difference is. I was a little concerned about that as well. I'm going to leave everything out for a couple more days and see what happens and if the smell starts to resurface, if it does I'll definitely try the baking soda.

 

Really the worst part is just the actual torso, not so much the arms or legs. I figured if I can't use any clothes or anything on this doll without making them smell like smoke, anything is worth a try. I'll probably just end up using the skeleton and spending the money on all new body parts unfortunately anyway. Hopefully though this will help and be an idea of what to do next time. Crossing my fingers though and hoping I don't end up in this situation again.

 

EDIT -

 

I should also say, I put the essential oil on paper towels and wrapped it around the body parts that smelled the worst. I only kept them like that for about four hours. In my first post I didn't really explain exactly what I did, so I'm going to change that to make a little more sense. After removing the paper towels I can barely smell the smoke smell anymore but on one part. I'm going to go ahead with Noxxbunny's recommendation however and make sure to wash the pieces thoroughly just in case. The fact that I had put so many different types of facial cleaners and doll cleaners on the parts in order to try to get the smell off in the previous week may also have had something to do with why the vinyl has so far not reacted negatively. So really, I suppose any results I find here won't be quite conclusive to say what exactly essential oil's can do regardless. Noxxbunny is definitely right however, I know they can severely damage some materials. With research I'm unfortunately not able to see any examples of vinyl.

 

So I can say that definitely did get rid of the smell. Over the next few days I'll keep an eye out and see if the smell comes back, gets worse, or if anything happens to the vinyl.

Using dryer sheets sometimes works but the way I have found to work best *for me* was to get the offending parts, put them in a Ziploc bag and cover them with cornstarch..... heavily. Shake the bag well and then let sit for a few days. After a few days, pull the parts out, toss the cornstarch and clean everything well with warm water and Dawn dishwashing liquid. If the smell remains, repeat the process until it's gone.

 

I had a DD2 body come to me once that had a faint smell of smoke to it and after doing this method on it twice, there was no more smell to it at all. I've heard baking soda will work too but I personally haven't tried it so that's why I'm not endorsing that one.

 

If the dryer sheets don't work, try the cornstarch method out. It might take a few tries but I know it works.

 

 

Billy

Thanks Baldylox! That actually may be my next go too. I would have to go buy dryer sheets, but I have some cornstarch.. and I don't know if I'll get to the store tomorrow.

 

That's awesome that you've had experience with it working! Hopefully it will do the same in this case. The answers I've been given definitely help me feel a lot better about having at least a little faith in getting the smell out.

Baking soda. De-smoked an rin and saber fullsets doing it, it'll take a few weeks, but it worked. Not much you can do if its yellowed though. Mix with a bit of water to make a paste as well occasionally. Also rotate with a vinegar/water mixture as well.

Twin Pines of Maine D-stinker

http://www.twinpines.com/D-stinker

Thank you K-2! That is awesome! I didn't even know something like that existed.

 

Have you used it by chance?

Have you used it by chance?

I have not as of yet. I have used their Remove-Zit (for stain removal), Formula 9-1-1 (for cleaning), and I have Mr. Hill's book on vinyl doll care and cleaning. I've been very satisfied with the performance of those products and have every reason to believe the D-stinker would work as advertised.

Simple solution.

 

Hot water + white vinegar. Household remedy and cheap solution.

 

I used to have a dollfie that reaked of cigarette smoke that I bought from Yahoo Japan Auctions. The whole box and the outfit as well. I threw away the DD box because that was probably a loss cause but the vinyl body parts and clothes are easily salvageable.

 

Disassemble your DD into their easy to remove pieces that can be done by hand. Find a bucket you can toss everything into including the clothes. Fill with hot water (Water temperature that is comfortable to shower in or right when the water starts to steam.) and put like a tablespoon of white vinegar. Let it soak in there until the water has cooled down. If it still smells, repeat the process. It gets rid of smoke and your DD will not smell of vinegar at all either.

 

You won't need any type of cleaner.

This is a little bit off-topic, but this one time my friend ordered some items for me from Mandarake.

The items didn't have smoke smell, but that friend smokes and his room smells like it too.

I opened the package at his place, then I took the package and items home. Until now, everytime I open that box with items, the smell comes out. The items are stored for now, but I should throw out the package I think.

 

About Mandarake itself. It's fairly odd that they are so difficult about it. Mandarake's service usually is very good, but if something is not in their description and you tell them something different, they deny it. I've read similar stories before on MFC. If they forget something, it seems like it's your fault all of a sudden.

I hope you can get rid of the smell by yourself, since Mandarake is not helping in this case. Good luck!

About Mandarake itself. It's fairly odd that they are so difficult about it. Mandarake's service usually is very good, but if something is not in their description and you tell them something different, they deny it. I've read similar stories before on MFC. If they forget something, it seems like it's your fault all of a sudden.

I hope you can get rid of the smell by yourself, since Mandarake is not helping in this case. Good luck!

 

It's also worth noting that the rate of smokers in Japan is still higher than abroad, and smokers basically NEVER notice the smell of cigarette on other items--they're inured to it. As in, I had to move out of an apartment because the cigarette seepage from other units was so bad it smelled like *I* was the smoker, but the movers were smokers and didn't notice a thing, for example. So if the person/people packing your doll were also smokers, they'd likely never notice it.

 

Having lived in not just one but two stinky apartments I've had to flee (first the aforementioned cigarette seepage place, and then one with a mix of cigarette and mold smell), I'd say probably do a mix of the baking soda and vinegar approaches. Make a water-and-baking-soda paste to make it easier to handle, and slather it on her like it's zit cream. Let that dry, probably overnight. Then, wet paper towels with vinegar when you wipe the baking soda paste off--it'll not only add an extra layer of odor-killing, but since it reacts chemically with baking soda, it'll help you make sure you get all the baking soda residue off. Interestingly, this approach also works great as a gentle oven or stove cleaner.

 

For anyone with stinky clothes or wigs, add some vinegar to your soapy water/washing machine when you wash them--just don't mix it with bleach because vinegar + bleach = toxic chemical reaction. Vinegar in my wash is basically the reason I didn't have to replace all my clothes and linens after living in those stinky apartments.

 

If the cigarette smell is wafting around your room when you handle her, put a small pot of vinegar on the stove and simmer it on low for about 20 minutes. It'll help neutralize the smell in the air.

 

For those who are stuck living with smokers (or mold waiting for treatment, or cats, or any other persistent odor source), you may want to look into getting some zeolite. It's a porous volcanic rock with great odor absorbing properties. Personally, I got a huge bag of the stuff, put it into multiple mesh satchels, and put them in various corners around my place. After a period of time (a month or so for mild smells, 1-2 weeks for the really odoriferous), you take them outside and put them in the sun for a day. You basically wind up taking the smell out with the zeolite satchets, and the sun/fresh air neutralizes it so you can then bring them back in and use them again.

 

Thus ends Poofie's Depressingly Thorough Odor Fighting Tutorial.

you can try baking soda as well, it has pretty good odor absorption properties. I'm not exactly sure what will happen with the chemistry though since it's an alkaline, it could end up bleaching something, so maybe test on a foot where it will usually remain covered. Just put it in a bin of soda for a few days and see if it pulls out any odor.

 

You can also try storing everything in a box with activated charcoal.. you can get it at a petstore in the aquarium area. I put the charcoal into some socks and tie them up and leave them in gym bags or gear bags.

I am SO GRATEFUL to all the contributors in this thread!

 

I washed the vinyl parts (whichever I could take off DDdy2 body) in dishwashing detergent (Sunlight). It took out a good portion of smoke smell, but not all of it. Then I tossed those parts in hot water+vinegar for a few hours now. It's magic - I just sniffed inside upper torso and I can smell good ol' viny therel!!! Outside I still can detect cigarette smell, but I will repeat the sequence or simply re-heat the water and leave overnight.

Clean cat litter works wonders for absorbing odours like cigarette smoke. Just fully submerge your stinky item in the cat litter and leave it for a few days... Should help a lot!

Dear Riesz,

Yes!!! That's a brilliant idea! That will be perfect in terms of smell and moisture absorption! I would wrap her in a paper towel to avoid dealing with fine dust later and leave totally undisturbed.

 

So, my girl spent a night in a vinegar bath. I rinsed her and dried the best I could - as I explained in the other thread, I couldn't disassemble her entirely. She has a nice vinyl smell with just a hint of smoke, virtually undetectable, unless you put your nose right to the surface and smell really hard. Now she's in the dryer on the footwear tray. I'm positive she's quitting her bad habit for good after being treated like this.

 

And if I suspect she secretly smoked again - I swear I'll bury her in a cat litter for a week or so!

I'm so glad the vinegar bath worked!

 

A couple years ago I bought a rare Azone PureNeemo from Mandarake for an amazing price with the caveat that she reeked of cigarettes. I washed the clothing in a vinegar solution and the doll spent several days submerged in my kitty's litter bag. She came out perfect! PureNeemo dolls are plastic, not vinyl, but I was amazed at how the scent totally disappeared.