TOP 10 ways and methods to get rid and eliminate the smell of rubber
Those who like to shop in online stores, especially Chinese ones, often receive poor quality products that smell like rubber: shoes, toys, car accessories and much more. What to do, how to quickly get rid of the unpleasant smell of rubber, so that you can use your purchases as intended without harm to your health.
The nature of smell
The rubbery “scent” comes from a variety of reasons:
- New items, items with rubber elements, may smell at first. Since the material is more often used for commercial purposes, various additives are added to improve the quality, which quickly fade. But sometimes, during long storage in a warehouse, long delivery to the consumer, added impurities get into the rubber, resulting in a pungent bad smell.
- Poor quality materials used in the manufacture of products, cheap glue, chemical compositions.According to experts, many consumer goods are made in the traditional way: from cheap materials, literally from garbage, without any permission from the health inspection service. Then they sell a fake, pretending to be a well-known brand.
Whatever the reason for the disgusting smell, you need to get rid of it, because the purchases have taken place.
The main methods of withdrawal
The rubbery smell is not only disgusting, inhaling it is harmful to the body, especially for those prone to allergies. The smell of rubber is toxic because it contains toxic compounds:
- formaldehyde;
- phenols;
- benzenes.
An unpleasant smell hurts the head, attacks of allergies, poisoning occur. The question of how to get rid of the smell of rubber is not at all idle. It's good that there's more than one way to get rid of the stench.
Fresh air
Aeration is the gentlest method of eliminating odors. Purchased shoes, for example, are taken out to the street (courtyard, balcony, loggia), to a place where the wind “walks”. Sometimes 5-6 hours is enough for the rubbery spirit to evaporate. It happens that at least 2-3 days are needed to eliminate rubber breathing. The method is simple, but it does not always help.
The sun
The sun's rays can also release the "fragrance" of the rubber. Ultraviolet light has a destructive effect on persistent chemical compounds that cause an unpleasant "smell". For this purpose, rubber-smelling purchases are placed in direct sunlight on the street, or directly in the apartment, for example, on a window sill flooded with sunlight.
It's important to keep in mind that prolonged exposure to UV rays can damage things like bicycle tires and rubber boots. They will crack.With sunbathing, the main thing is not to overdo it.
White vinegar
The tool is used to remove the smell of rubber from shoes, children's toys, car mats.
How to use white vinegar:
- Fill a bucket with 10 l of water.
- Pour half a glass of 9% table vinegar.
- Place a rubber thing or object in the solution, soak it for 60 minutes.
The main thing is not to forget to get it out of the bucket in time. Effective, but not suitable for large rubbers.
Peppermint Oil
Peppermint won't kill the smell at all, but it will kill it. The method is used to remove rubber spirit from shoes. Step by step recipe:
- Get a bottle of peppermint oil from your pharmacy.
- Dampen a cloth or sponge in it.
- Thoroughly wipe the entire shoe.
Sometimes a quarter of an hour is enough for the smell to cease to be pungent and unpleasant.
Potassium permanganate or hydrogen peroxide
Every housewife has these funds. They eliminate unpleasant "odors", for example, from toys or shoes. A cotton ball or rag is moistened in a weak solution of potassium permanganate and the surface of the objects is wiped. Hydrogen peroxide is also used. If after the first use of the funds the smell persists, the procedure is repeated. In this case, potassium permanganate is alternated with peroxide.
Alcohol
It is also used to eliminate rubber odors: on toys, shoes, small rubber objects. Dampen a cotton ball or sponge in alcohol and wipe down problem areas.After the smell does not disappear, they will get rid of it by repeating the procedure for a week.
It should be remembered that leather shoes are not wiped with alcohol.
Special deodorants
The chemical industry offers a wide variety of different deodorants. Among them there are special ones that eliminate unpleasant odors. Buy such a deodorant in a car accessories store. Spray the spray in a well-ventilated area, preferably outdoors. It is advisable not to treat children's things and objects with such a fragrance in order to avoid allergic reactions.
Charcoal
One of the remedies that will cope with the unpleasant "scent" of rubber. Cheap and easy to use. Coal absorbs (absorbs) harmful substances contained in a pungent smell.
How to use:
- Put tablets or powder in the pockets of objects or inside shoes.
- Leave on for 3-7 days.
- Shake or vacuum.
The tenacious spirit of the new rubber must evaporate.
Flour and soda
The method is not quite familiar, but simple. Flour and baking soda mixed in equal proportions are poured into canvas or gauze bags.
Placed in shoes for 2-3 days. The rubber bouquet should "go away".
Characteristics of the odor elimination of products made in China
Many products that are not made in China smell bad. Chinese handicrafts have almost the entire periodic table:
- styrenes;
- formaldehyde;
- organic solvents;
- heavy metal salts (cadmium, lead, cobalt);
- toxic glue.
These and other poisons are found in shoes, sneakers, children's toys, car mats and other products from China.
There is an opinion that it is impossible to get rid of rubber and plastic gasoline. But those who think so are wrong.
How to deal with rubber smell:
- Mint or lemon balm will help overcome the fetid "scent" of children's toys. The branches of the dried plant are poured with boiling water in a basin, insist. They put toys in it, leave it for 12 hours, then wash it with laundry soap, wipe it dry. Not even a breath of the smell will remain.
- Car deodorant will help you remove the acrid smell from your carpets. Laundry soap is also used in the fight against unpleasant amber. It is rubbed on a coarse grater, poured with warm water. Rugs are washed in soapy water and then air dried.
- To get rid of the bad "smell" of strollers and bicycles, they are left in the fresh air until the smell is completely gone. And when the room has managed to absorb the spirit of the rubber, the damp terry towel will absorb any unnecessary odors.
- Washing the rubber bouquet from the clothes will help washing with detergent and conditioner. Things will become fresh, with a pleasant aroma. In winter, clothes are hung on the street, frost will "kill" all odors, except for the coolness.
How to get rubber smell out of shoes
It's harder to get the stench out of Chinese shoes, especially leather substitutes: you can't wash clothes, shoes, and boots. First, they try the gentlest way - airing.
Light
If rubber breath isn't too sensitive, a shoe deodorant will do the trick and get rid of the harsh, unpleasant notes.
Mean
Refreshing shoe deodorizers will eliminate more than just the slight rubber smell. If the unpleasant spirit does not disappear completely, they wipe the shoes with vinegar and dry them. Rubbing with vinegar is repeated if after the first procedure the smell has become less noticeable. Sometimes special granules of activated carbon are used, which are able to absorb all odors.
Strong
A fragrance absorbing agent is essential. Apply an absorbent, preferably natural:
- cedar;
- lavender;
- lemon;
- coffee.
Dried grass is put in shoes and left for 3-4 days. If the shoes will be worn next season, the plant is not removed before the required time.
Cedar is used in the form of chips, which are poured into bags of fine fabric, put in shoes or boots for 24 hours. Sometimes this is done more than once.
Tips and tricks from experienced housewives
To make things, shoes, products that stop smelling bad, housewives use all available means. But it is advisable not to use everything thoughtlessly in the fight against amber rubber, so as not to spoil purchases.
Useful tips:
- First, test from the inside of the shoe by dropping a drop of this or that product on it for 60 minutes.
- They begin to get rid of the rubber smell with aeration. Improves efficiency in cold weather. Often they only get away with it that way.
- Look for the source of the odor (soles, rubber sole). Try changing the insoles for new and better ones.
- The shoes came out in the cold. If the weather does not allow, the steamer is placed in the freezer for 2-3 hours.
- Activated charcoal, coffee, green tea sachets are effective. Housewives put them in gauze bags under the soles.These funds are used even when the shoes are worn, as long as the feet do not get wet.
- The zest of lemons is put in the shoes and left for a day. Crumpled newspaper, salt also picks up unpleasant odors if left in shoes for 8-10 hours.
It should be remembered that shoes with a lacquer coating will not withstand frost, they will crack. After trying all the gentle methods to eliminate the smell of rubber, move on to the more drastic ones. But often other methods are not necessary. The disgusting smell of Chinese products is not a condemnation to shopping.
If you act wisely and cautiously, applying one method or another, the problem is that it will cease to be a headache.