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Stinking Tools

17K views 37 replies 34 participants last post by  GypsyR 
#1 ·
I can't stand it anymore. My tools stink. A real putrid odor is all about my tools. If you've ever had to smell a very dead dog it would be close to that. I have removed them from my toolbox and soaked them in simple green to no improvement. Next I tried orange whatever hand cleaner and even a new toolbox. These are the tools I call my travel tools. Junkyard and pull your own part tools. Mostly Craftsman and a few Snap-on. Surely I'm not(I hope) the first to expierence this. ANY suggestion will be attempted as soon as weather allows. Thanks for the help! <><
 
#28 ·
tools that stink

Here is the definitive answer to most tools:
The smell of the Xcelite screwdriver handles is because they are made of a plastic known as cellulose butyrate. One of the components of that is butyric acid, which is the stench of rancid butter and vomit. So that's why they smell, decomposition. I've smelled real butyric acid, and oh my god does it stink to high heaven. (My high school chemistry teacher used some to punish some after-hours users of his classroom who left it a mess. Whole wing of the school stunk for weeks. PU!) I have a small Xcelite toolkit in a blow-molded case. We call it the "baby vomit toolkit."
By the way, I did soak them in Clorox overnight and the smell is still there. Its the Plastic that stinks.
 
#31 ·
Sometimes things need to be brought back up.
I had the same problem when I lived in New Orleans. I cloroxed all the tools and got rid of all the drawer liners and anything else plastic. Sprayed the box with a fungicide and that cured it as long as I did it about every 3 months.
 
#32 ·
I've been married twice and the tools of both my husbands stink the same! I've read the "don't close them up" advice and I don't think that's it. The last husband's tools were in a clean cabinet in a clean laundry room in an open tray, and they stank the same as the first husband's tools in a tool box--same awful smell.
 
#35 ·
alll of my craftsman plastic handled tools (mostly screw and nut drivers) stink or have a weird smell to them.....i attribute it to stuff on the skin getting on the handles or degradation of the plastic over time, cuz some of the tools are close to 40 yrs old now.....but wrenches and metal stuff? never stink
 
#37 ·
alll of my craftsman plastic handled tools (mostly screw and nut drivers) stink or have a weird smell to them.....i attribute it to stuff on the skin getting on the handles or degradation of the plastic over time, cuz some of the tools are close to 40 yrs old now.....but wrenches and metal stuff? never stink
It's the type of plastic the handles are made from. There's not much you can do to get rid of the smell. When I was in Tool & Die, I had a bench mate that sat right beside me. In the morning, as soon as he opened his toolbox, you could smell it. One drawer he had was nothing but his plastic handles tools. Good Lord it's a smell that you don't forget for sure.

I've tried all sorts of stuff to get the smell off of the handles from wiping them down with alcohol, to wax and grease remover, to tossing some in the dishwasher. Anything you do is only temporary.
 
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