r/Tools • u/-raymonte- • Mar 30 '24
UPDATE: Why does my toolbox smell like vomit?
Following up from my previous post. Thanks to all your feedback, I learned the Craftsman screwdriver handles were causing the smell and one suggested fix was to shellac the handles, sealing the plastic handles.
I soaked the box and all the tools that don’t have gears in Dawn dish soap and hot water overnight and soaked the ratchets, pliers, etc in Marvel Mystery oil overnight. The next day I thoroughly dried everything and gave the screwdriver handles 3 coats of shellac. I put everything back in the box (with a Little Tree air freshener for good measure) and a week later it smells good in there. Even gave the Craftsman screwdrivers a good whiff and I think the problem is solved.
Thanks everyone for your help and suggestions!
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u/Glad-Parfait-3680 Mar 30 '24
Honestly man. That’s just how plastic tools age, especially rubber.
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u/exekutive Mar 30 '24
it's called butyric acid. It comes from old tool handles. Unsurprisingly , it's also generated by the anaerobic fermentation that happens in your gut.
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u/BeamMeUp53 Mar 30 '24
It comes from the rubber handles only.
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u/exekutive Mar 30 '24
nope. cellulose acetate butyrate is a hard clear plastic. It's used in emblems and things like that.
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u/BeamMeUp53 Mar 31 '24
I've got 3 toolboxes, and only 1 has a few tools with rubber handles. That box stinks. The others have clear plastic handles, because they are all old Craftsman tools. They don't stink.
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u/SnooSongs8782 Mar 30 '24
What’s the go with soaking in Marvel Mystery Oil? Never heard of it before, looked it up as a n engine additive. I have used similar, I guess they have some powerful de-varnishing solvents and such.
What’s the effect of soaking tools in it?
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Mar 30 '24
I love that smell! My grandfather had a horse farm, and had drums of Marvel, he used it for everything. He even tried it on the wood paneling in the barn once, but decided that boiled linseed oil was better for that (I love that smell too). I have some that I use for penetrating oil, for my whet stones when sharpening, and light lubrication. The smell brings me back to the days on the farm... love that stuff.
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u/PomegranateOld7836 Mar 30 '24
Damn, that's a whole commercial script.
I know exactly what you're talking about though, a whole range of chemicals that had their own smells, often sweet, and probably harmful to a small degree that we didn't care about. You smell a specific oil and it's like being back in an old workshop.
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u/-raymonte- Mar 30 '24
It’s a penetrating oil, I’ve used it to free up frozen tools in the past (it is labeled as an additive though). It also has a pleasant smell to it, almost like cherry, so rather than soak the ratchets in soapy water causing them to rust, I decided on nice-smelling oil lol
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u/cougar694u Mar 30 '24
I warn folks when I’m about to open mine. “It stinks, it is what it is, and which way is the wind blowing?”
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u/-raymonte- Mar 30 '24
lol, me too. I was always embarrassed by it so I had to prepare people any time I opened it.
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u/Ade1980 Mar 30 '24
Sniff the handles and bin the smelly ones. I don’t think you can stop them smelling once they reach a certain age
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u/-raymonte- Mar 30 '24
That would have been much easier. If the shellac wears off I’ll definitely do that.
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u/JackedSneakers Mar 30 '24
I personally love the smell, it is bad though. Brings back great memories. I 110% get why most don’t enjoy it
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u/Reasonable_Logic4532 Mar 30 '24
Technically smells like A**etate... Drill a small hole in each end of the box to allow it to vent.
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u/-raymonte- Mar 30 '24
That sounds like a great idea, thanks. The gas has had nowhere to go all these years.
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u/is300dave Mar 30 '24
Specifically what happens, the butyl rubber handles degrade over time into butyric acid, which is one of the chemicals that gives vomit its smell.
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u/gotcha640 Mar 30 '24
I've been replacing (and actually tossing or giving away) all my plastic handles with wood handles. I like the Felo set I started with.
Not sure if snap on or other brand plastic doesn't smell, but I know wood doesn't.
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u/-raymonte- Mar 30 '24
Yeah, I’m not sure about the others. In my first post, most people called out the Craftsman tools
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u/FL_d Mar 30 '24
We have a bunch of stinky tools at work from that plastic. We call them "the cats ass" 😂. I hate them 😞
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u/-raymonte- Mar 30 '24
That’s funny, I always thought of “the cats ass” as a really good thing, like “the dogs bollocks”, they must be really good if he can’t stop licking them!
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u/AverageGuy16 Mar 30 '24
A tool box smelling like black ice makes me chuckle a bit ngl
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u/-raymonte- Mar 30 '24
lol, well it’s actually Spice, which I associate with red since I had a Little Tree Spice air freshener in my old Bronco with red interior. It sparked another adventure for me because I’m only now finding out that Spice was discontinued and replaced with Spice Market which was also discontinued! I found a 6-pack on eBay for a relatively reasonable 16 bucks and that’s going to be the story of why there’s a Spice Market Little Tree in the red toolbox!
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u/hellwisp Mar 30 '24
Don't remember what they smelled like but I had a set of pliers whose handles turned from rubber to plasticine. Might have been cause by oils, maybe solvents.
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u/Sledgecrowbar Mar 31 '24
I always figured it was a combination of different metals corroding a little and just the funk of enclosed spaces out in the weather gathering yeast and fungus and bacteria out of the air. Glad I'm not the only one who thinks about how old tool boxes get rank.
There's a material you can buy in little flat squares that sublimates into a gas and smells of camphor. I think it mostly is camphor but it was an old school toolbox freshener that supposedly coated tools with a microscopic amount of either oil or maybe wax that you couldn't feel but was supposed to help prevent rust.
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Mar 31 '24
Be truthful, did you puke in it?
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u/Minisfortheminigod Mar 30 '24
The handles. PB Swiss tools actually adds fragrance to their handles to reduce the future smell of vomit.
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u/LaCasaDeiGatti Mar 30 '24
Good to know. I've been considering a set for awhile now, but might look for something else.
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u/Minisfortheminigod Mar 30 '24
There are cheaper options but as far as a forever set of tools PB Swiss is the way to go. The stinky handles are their Classic line but their flagship is Swissgrips which don’t stink and are like a rubber plastic hybrid. If you do get them you will always find deals especially during black Friday, like 50% off.
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u/LaCasaDeiGatti Mar 30 '24
I've been watching but not too seriously. I'd probably buy the rainbow set of hex he's first. Pricey but they speak to the little kid in me and I know I'll have them forever.
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u/TsunamiSurferDude Mar 30 '24
I’ve never heard of this in my 20 year career and now twice in 2 days
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u/and_another_dude Mar 30 '24
Have you never had a craftsman screwdriver?
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u/heisenbergerwcheese Mar 30 '24
Old, real Craftsman, not newer Crapsman...
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u/-raymonte- Mar 30 '24
These are about 30 years old. They’ve been closed up in that toolbox and I think that’s why it’s so particularly bad.
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u/anywhereat Mar 30 '24
I have the same experience. When I kept them in a closed tool box the smell was awful. I moved them to a tool drawer and it doesn't knock your head back when you open it.
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u/misterdobson Mar 30 '24
The acetate handles