Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Odor control

Steam - 26-3-2014 at 15:46

Lately I have been doing a lot of work with metallic acetates and glacial acetic acid, and despite working in my fume hood and being careful not to spill any substance, there is a lingering smell of vinegar in my lab. I have tried leaving a window open for a few days to no avail. I have turned on my ozone generator to try to remove the smell but no dice. (in fact, my ozone generator just made it turn into a much fouler smell) I don't know what to do to remove all of the smells with in my lab! Any thoughts or suggestions would be much appreciated! :)

HgDinis25 - 26-3-2014 at 15:49

The old Sodium Bicarbonate trick should work. Just fill a few cups of Sodium Bicarbonate powder and spread them around your lab. The Sodium Bicarbonate is going to absorb the Acetic acid from the air. This also works for many other odors. In fact, many people place a cup or two filled with Bicarbonate in the frige, to absorb the odors from food and fish that spread everytime you open the fridge.

Steam - 26-3-2014 at 15:51

The old arm & hammer method? ;)

Steam - 26-3-2014 at 15:54

What about controlling the smells of chloro-organic compounds?

Oscilllator - 26-3-2014 at 16:12

Why get rid of the smell? Acetic acid smells terrific!

DraconicAcid - 26-3-2014 at 16:15

Quote: Originally posted by Oscilllator  
Why get rid of the smell? Acetic acid smells terrific!

Because one can only spend so long craving french fries.

TheChemiKid - 26-3-2014 at 16:33

Quote: Originally posted by Oscilllator  
Why get rid of the smell? Acetic acid smells terrific!

Not when it's glacial!

Steam - 26-3-2014 at 16:36

When you smell glacial, its like getting punched in the nose with a vinegar soaked hand!

bismuthate - 26-3-2014 at 17:12

You think that's bad try SO3/H2SO4 (but don't really try it) or even just SO2 a good bit of it can knock you over. That aside I've had the smell of H2S in my bathroom/glassware cleaning station for months.

Paddywhacker - 26-3-2014 at 17:16

Ammonia fumes are useful to neutralise acidic fumes and the ammonia smell doesn't hang around for long, either, but maybe acetic acid is too weak an acid for that to work.

[Edited on 27-3-2014 by Paddywhacker]

cyanureeves - 26-3-2014 at 17:31

make oil of wintergreen,my garage smells great and it is easy to make,cheap too.

Steam - 26-3-2014 at 18:08

Thanks for all the help guys, I just put out some trays of baking soda and I think that methyl salicylicte is next on my weekend projects!

Steam - 26-3-2014 at 18:11

Sorry for double posting but just so people can learn from my mistakes...
The reason the odor wasn't going away was because my trash can had a paper towel from cleanup which had a healthy amount of glacial acetic on it.

Now I know to do what my mom's been telling me for years and "take out the trash!"