How to get rid of bad smell

[Fastbrit]

My camper got out of hibernation this weekend after a long winter in Montreal. The warehouse had a very strong moisture odor that got impregnated in the camper.
Can you please give me advice on how to get rid of that smell? Every orifice in the Tc has been let open for the last 48 h without any major improvement.

Thanks Steve

[Ski_Pro_3]

BTW, that little ozone generator will do a great job in bathrooms, basements, garages and any place else that has a damp odor. We have one in our bathroom and another in the laundry room. No odors. Our washer is a front load, notorious for making smells. Ours is now fresh as a daisy.

[Ski_Pro_3]

Hey! That was my recommendation! Ha!

Yup! Gives the camper a 'new car smell'.

As far as any harm to your body; if you start to feel a sore throat, it's too much so turn it off.

Here's how ozone works; It's chemical formuala is O3. Oxygen is O2. The extra atom of oxygen is easily stripped away from the more stable O2, turning O3 into O2. It's stripped away because it is short one electron and is looking for a molecule that has an extra electron. When it bonds to that molecule, it's a chemical reaction, changing the original into something else.

The most familiar is Iron, or, chemically written as Fe and called ferris. When Fe picks up the extra Oxygen, it turns into Ferris Oxide. Also known as rust. In this case, your stink picked up the oxygen atom out of the Ozone and chemically changed into something else. It's not masked, it is a new molecule altogether. One that doesn't smell to your human nose any more.

Also, ozone kills many types of plants. If the odor is from a plant, like mold, then ozone will kill it and you no longer have a source for the odor. Ozone generators are used in hot tubs to kill algae and other plants and micro organisms that produce bad odors.

Hope that makes sense.

[Fastbrit]

Just a little update. Well, we have tried everything mention in the previous post to eliminate the smell of moisture with no success but this little gizmo



After 24H in the camper at max power the smell is gone! We now have an after rain fresh sent in the camper. The only thing is that you can not be in the camper whiles it is plugged in at max level. Maybe at the minimum, but I wouldn't do it. To much conflicting report about the long term effect on human an pet.
Something to try if you tried everything else.

Cheers, Steve

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

And I'll caution on the use of ozone: it's an oxidizer, just like bleach (chlorine)/bromine. If left too long, it will fade fabrics, make vinyl/plastics brittle (including the insulation on wiring) and rust iron/corrode aluminum. I would use it as a last resort.

I agree with cleaning hard surfaces, (but would use a good detergent instead of bleach); wash anything that can go in a clothes washer; febreeze anything that can't - and open it up and blast a fan for several days if possible. The fan and fresh air offer "dilution". This is what we do when we get a used car that has funky smells....LOL!

[rockhillmanor]

Fastbrit wrote:
Thanks for all the good suggestions. I think that will start with a mix of everything. First clean everything with a mix of bleach and water, fabreze on fabric, and baking soda on carpets. Let everything breathe for a week and at last if we still have odor, will try the ozone machine.

Thanks again, Steve

Just a note if you have any family member with even a bit of allergy or breathing problems do NOT use Fabreeze on the fabric inside the RV.

[kayco53]

Dryer sheets in the camper help.When I rebuilt our old camper you could still smell old camper.They made it go away/

[Fastbrit]

Thanks for all the good suggestions. I think that will start with a mix of everything. First clean everything with a mix of bleach and water, fabreze on fabric, and baking soda on carpets. Let everything breathe for a week and at last if we still have odor, will try the ozone machine.

Thanks again, Steve

[Ski_Pro_3]

This ozone generator works great for a camper;

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008CQO62W/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1



Runs on AC power, but I have batteries, solar and a small inverter that plugs into a cigarette lighter outlet. I leave it set up all winter.

[Campfire_Time]

How annoying!

The odor is embedded in the porous surfaces. Clean all solid surfaces like counters, sink, etc. with a mixture of 1 part bleach to 10 parts water. Clean wood surfaces with Murphy's Oil Soap. Use Fabreeze on cloth surfaces.

Open everything up and gas it out for a week. 48 hours isn't enough.

Hope you can get this worked out!

[JumboJet]

Kennedy64 wrote:
I heard a 5 gal bucket of charcoal. I'm going to be sticking it in my camper to rid the overwhelming mothball stench

Be sure the charcoal is kept away from combustible objects! 🙂

[Vet_Man]

Fabreze everything everyday for a week.

[rockhillmanor]

bowl of ammonia and lock up the vehicle for a day or so if possible.

Kills ALL smells. Trick of rod and custom restorers of very old cars found in deplorable conditions. I've seen it work firsthand.

[ScottG]

X2 on the Ozone generator.
I used one to get the cigarette smell out of a TT and it worked great.

[Kennedy64]

I heard a 5 gal bucket of charcoal. I'm going to be sticking it in my camper to rid the overwhelming mothball stench