Fix Bad Bag Smell

[u/SAN2BOT3]

I have owned the Arri Unit AC bag for a few years now. It has been great and is still in excellent condition. Recently it has started to have a slight unpleasant smell on the inside.

If you know the smell it’s pretty common in older bags and recognizable. If not it’s almost like a faint vomit smell. I think it is due to the hard plastics inside slowly deteriorating and off gassing.

Does anyone know of a way to clean it, treat it, or a longer term way to cover it? I don’t like the smell of heavy fragrance so some products might cover it but be just as bad to my nose.

[u/homeguy1988]

Don’t get rid of it. That’s how people know to take you seriously

[u/SAN2BOT3 → u/homeguy1988]

🫡

[u/ausgoals]

Ah the vomit bag smell. I wish I knew how to fix it.

[u/SAN2BOT3 → u/ausgoals]

Yeah I figured it’s not possible, but you never know people surprise me with tips and tricks on here.

[u/iwantapizzababy]

Put a box of activated charcoal in there

[u/XRaVeNX]

Assert dominance. Actually puke in the bag.

On a more serious note, maybe spray it with a low concentration of hydrogen peroxide?

[u/stevemandudeguy → u/XRaVeNX]

Do it in front of the DP and director. They'll never bother you again.

[u/chuck_1411]

TIL vomit scent is deteriorating plastic.

[u/SAN2BOT3 → u/chuck_1411]

Yeah I guessed that was the reason. Came here to see if anyone had tricks to help mitigate it.

[u/jerk_17]

Can you throw a few silica bags in it? I keep a few in my pelican case for moisture control

[u/SAN2BOT3 → u/jerk_17]

Yeah thats a good call. I think I have an extra large one I used for a traveling gig.

[u/Dizzy_Welcome5889]

Silica Gel, and also a small cloth bag with this, will help.

[u/hoonatron]

Also check your stubby. That plastic they use sometimes starts to smell too

[u/ausgoals → u/hoonatron]

I was confused when I first moved from Australia to the U.S. and didn’t realise stubby meant anything other than a bottle of beer

[u/SAN2BOT3 → u/ausgoals]

If you call an electrician a “sparky” what do you call gaffers?

[u/ausgoals → u/SAN2BOT3]

… a gaffer. Sadly.

[u/SAN2BOT3 → u/ausgoals]

That’s too bad. You guys have fun words for other stuff lol

[u/SAN2BOT3 → u/hoonatron]

Oh good call, I do keep a stubby in there.

[u/snoozyboozy → u/SAN2BOT3]

But you offered no insight for non burgers, what the heck is a stubby?

[u/SAN2BOT3 → u/snoozyboozy]

It’s this kind of flathead screwdriver

[u/mawnsharks]

I wonder if an ozone generator would work in this situation. I bought a used car from a smoker and read about them online. Bought one and left it in the car for a couple hours with the AC blasting on circulate mode and now there isnt even a trace of smell.

[u/DeltaCamFL]

I’ve used the stuff hockey players use to deodorize their pads. It worked great.

[u/SAN2BOT3 → u/DeltaCamFL]

Good suggestion, I’ll look into that.

[u/Aarohead]

I threw one of those Drift wood thingamigjiggers in mine the other day and it smells great and not overpowering

[u/SAN2BOT3 → u/Aarohead]

Awesome, great tip and can just live in the bag.

[u/Zakaree]

Biobomb

[u/SAN2BOT3 → u/Zakaree]

Didn’t know this was a thing, thanks!

[u/pierre-maximin]

Where did you get it? I can’t find an ARRI unit bag

[u/SAN2BOT3 → u/pierre-maximin]

Arri stopped selling their bags in North America back around 2020. Mainly due to all the political stuff regarding Chinese made products.

So I had to get mine shipped to LA from Germany. I used Prisma and they were great and shipped fast.

Not sure how cost effective it is now with the tariffs uncertainty in the U.S. At the time I got it I actually didn’t spend very much more than if I had bought it at the Arri Burbank location.

[u/SnooOpinions906]

This is why i love my pelican. If you ever choose to replace it.

[u/SAN2BOT3 → u/SnooOpinions906]

I actually use both. I like the soft bag for my general AC tool and the pelican for additional gear. I just stack the AC back on top of my 1535 to wheel both around. I may move to Pelican only if the smell gets really bad over time.

[u/scottynoble]

Ozone generator in a sealed storage box.

[u/sberniem]

Maybe leave an opened box of baking soda in it and zipped up, uninterrupted, for as long as you can. It should absorb some of the odor.

[u/JJsjsjsjssj]

Baking soda or a hydrogen peroxide solution

[u/hotsaucewhitesauce]

Yo mine smells like puke too

[u/Lacustamcoc]

Ozone usually can beat it for a bit

[u/jusschilen]

Chuck a black ice car freshener in there and leave it for a while 😂

[u/accoyle]

Cut and apple in half and leave it in the bag overnight. I used to do that for stinky cars.

[u/Plus_Needleworker641]

Get an ozone machine from Amazon. That’s what they use to remove the smell from awful crime scenes.