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Need help removing odor.


Stet123

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 I have a plastic Yeti cooler that has a really bad, lasting smell from dead fish and bait that got left in there for too long. The smell is extremely hard to remove, I’ve tried ozone generator, bleach, baking soda, vinegar, etc. These seemed to help a little bit but the smell always comes back. Seems like the smell has seeped into the pours, so I need to somehow get it out of that. 

 

Is anybody able to tell me what’s going on here from a chemistry standpoint and is there any hope for salvaging this or should I just pitch and get a new one? (I’d really like to try any route possible to save it as it’s a customized cooler and very expensive) 

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43 minutes ago, Stet123 said:

 I have a plastic Yeti cooler that has a really bad, lasting smell from dead fish and bait that got left in there for too long. The smell is extremely hard to remove, I’ve tried ozone generator, bleach, baking soda, vinegar, etc. These seemed to help a little bit but the smell always comes back. Seems like the smell has seeped into the pours, so I need to somehow get it out of that. 

 

Is anybody able to tell me what’s going on here from a chemistry standpoint and is there any hope for salvaging this or should I just pitch and get a new one? (I’d really like to try any route possible to save it as it’s a customized cooler and very expensive) 

I suspect some of the hydrocarbon-soluble species, perhaps amines etc., have become adsorbed or even partly dissolved into the plastic material. I've always found this sort of thing very hard to remove.

You may have to get a new one. Or you could try leaving it out in the sun for a month or something, to see if sunlight can break down the odour-creating species. But I don't have any suggestions for a quick fix if you have tried both ozone and chlorine based bleaches...unless possibly hydrogen peroxide might help. But I'm just guessing. 

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You could try filling up with warm water and biological washing powder and leaving a day or two to see if it can decompose the noxious residues. Likewise use a non-biological powder in a quite hot mix with water as an alternative.

Edited by StringJunky
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7 hours ago, exchemist said:

I suspect some of the hydrocarbon-soluble species, perhaps amines etc., have become adsorbed or even partly dissolved into the plastic material. I've always found this sort of thing very hard to remove.

You may have to get a new one. Or you could try leaving it out in the sun for a month or something, to see if sunlight can break down the odour-creating species. But I don't have any suggestions for a quick fix if you have tried both ozone and chlorine based bleaches...unless possibly hydrogen peroxide might help. But I'm just guessing. 

This seems to be the case. I've heard citric acid makes the amines become soluble. Maybe that is something to try? Just very frustrating that a outdoors/fishing cooler could get ruined from... fish. Lol

7 hours ago, iNow said:

Would sanding off the surface layers expose lower levels not impregnated with the odor (without ruining the insulative effects)?

How would I go about this? With plain sand paper?

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I have no experience sanding coolers nor if it would help remove smells, but yes. That’s what I had in mind.

Start with a rough low grit paper like 80 for majority of material removal… maybe 1/32 or 1/16th inch. Vacuum it off with a brush attachment and wipe it down with a wet rag too, then repeat with 120 grit. Vacuum and wipe again then do 150, 180, 220… 330/400. You could even then hit it with 600 then 1000 grit and even a polishing wheel with some rubbing compound to make it smooth like new again, vacuuming and wiping between each progression.  

It works with wood. No idea how the interior of a Yeti would fare. I’d personally never use a yeti for fishing. It’s like using a Ferrari to haul loose compost. 

Edited by iNow
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23 minutes ago, Stet123 said:

This seems to be the case. I've heard citric acid makes the amines become soluble. Maybe that is something to try? Just very frustrating that a outdoors/fishing cooler could get ruined from... fish. Lol

How would I go about this? With plain sand paper?

I'm not sure about citric acid. With free amines you may get ammonium citrates I suppose,  but then you would have got ammonium acetates with vinegar. I've a feeling whatever is creating the odour - and it may not just be amines - may have penetrated into the plastic. Some of these things smell very strong so your nose may detect even traces. (I once had to get rid of an old fridge that had failed 6 months previously, with some frozen shellfish in the freezer compartment! It was in a family holiday house on an island in Brittany, that was not used in the winter months. I had to talk to myself about the chemistry of amines all the time I was cleaning it out, just to avoid gagging.) 

Edited by exchemist
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1 hour ago, iNow said:

I have no experience sanding coolers nor if it would help remove smells, but yes. That’s what I had in mind.

Start with a rough low grit paper like 80 for majority of material removal… maybe 1/32 or 1/16th inch. Vacuum it off with a brush attachment and wipe it down with a wet rag too, then repeat with 120 grit. Vacuum and wipe again then do 150, 180, 220… 330/400. You could even then hit it with 600 then 1000 grit and even a polishing wheel with some rubbing compound to make it smooth like new again, vacuuming and wiping between each progression.  

It works with wood. No idea how the interior of a Yeti would fare. I’d personally never use a yeti for fishing. It’s like using a Ferrari to haul loose compost. 

Interesting, I may just give this a shot when I am bored one day.

 

What about sealing the inside of the cooler with a plastic finish or something? Would that "lock in the smell"?

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5 hours ago, StringJunky said:

You could try filling up with warm water and biological washing powder and leaving a day or two to see if it can decompose the noxious residues. Likewise use a non-biological powder in a quite hot mix with water as an alternative.

I had a similar problem with an esky, and filled up with diluted  bleach and left for more then a week. It worked! 

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1 hour ago, beecee said:

I had a similar problem with an esky, and filled up with diluted  bleach and left for more then a week. It worked! 

I just let mine sit in bleach for 48 hours and its outside airing out right now. Not sure if it worked yet...

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