The most effective technique I've found is to place the materials outside on
a nice warm and sunny day, preferably in direct sunlight. Of course, it may
be a while before we see those conditions around here - like late August
year after next. Nevertheless, simple airing out is still probably your
best bet. The stuff in mothballs has fairly high vapor pressure and will
evaporate pretty quickly at room temps. I would not recommend doing this
indoors under any circumstances, since mothball chemical are highly toxic to
humans (and maybe even carcinogenic).
Evaporation of the smell may be retarded by the absorption of the mothball
compound (naphthalene or dichlorobenzene) into the organic material of the
hair or feathers. Tying materials that have been stored in high
concentrations of moth ball vapors may take weeks to lose the chemical odor
completely. Washing the materials in water may not be effective, since the
mothball chemicals are not very soluble in water.
One technique that might be worth trying would be placing the materials in
large, black plastic bags, with the ends loosely folded and laying the bags
in direct sunlight. The black plastic should absorb heat from the sun,
raising the internal temperature and accelerating the evaporation and
dissipation of the mothball odor; leaving the bag loosely sealed will allow
the mothball gas to escape.
BTW, plastic is not a good material for sealing mothball odor in or for
storing mothball 'protected' materials in. Mothball chemicals readily
permeate most plastics (and will ultimately pass right through). When
repackaging your ventilated materials, its probably wise to use new plastic
bags since the original ones probably will retain the mothball odor.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Sean Ransom [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Sent: Tuesday, February 13, 2001 11:00 AM
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: The Stench...
>
>
> Hey Guys and Gals,
>
> I bought a ton of fly tying materials from a retired tier who kept all
> his stuff in what must have been a bathtub full of moth balls. Which I
> guess is good to keep the bugs away but I cannot handle the smell. I was
> trying to catalog everything last night and after 30 minutes I starting
> feeling drugged.
>
> Next thing I know I wake up in the morning wearing a tye dyed shirt with
> the words "Let Love Rule" on it and visions of dancing bears in my head.
>
> Anyway, enough of my personal problems but I am curious if anyone has
> any tips on safely getting rid of the smell. I have tried leaving the
> stuff out for a few days but was worried the bugs would get at them.
>
> Any tips would be appreciated.
>
> -sean
>
>
