Effective ways to remove cigarette smoke odor from a game?

Baking soda is cheap, so I'll try that first. On the other hand, I have used coffee ground every day so might give that a go also.

#9 4 years ago

DAV

Ozzy

Pinside member

7y 51,800 193

Bag of charcoal

#10 4 years ago

ZOD

Hazoff

Inactive member

Unknown

10y 112K 8,542

Start Smoking.

#11 4 years ago

WOT

Atari_Daze

Spd

Houston, TX

7y 141K 10,053 7

Quoted from Hazoff:
Start Smoking

Damn, beat me. I was going to add cigars to it though!

#12 4 years ago

DJR

Drickey86

Pinside member

Lucasville, OH

7y 52,800 148 10

Put a bowl of white vinegar inside game in cashbox area let it sit 2-3 days with game closed it will draw the odor out into the vinegar

#13 4 years ago

MJA

Mitch

Pinside member

Wellesley, ON

10y 131K 5,030 18 38

Ozone generator off amazon.
Put it inside machine with machine in garage.

That's how they get smoke smell out of used cars.

#14 4 years ago

CRD

chad

Game Guy

11y 140K 15,206 9 4

Baking Soda!!

#15 4 years ago

ART

OLDPINGUY

Arts Arcade

12y 171K 12,507 7

All of the above.....Start simple, then Charcoal bags off of Ebay work great, last is ozone generator....

#16 4 years ago

MTS

MSLONEKER

Pinside member

4y 30,050 118

Ozone generator. I use it for everything. Avoid vinegar, its acetic acid. Dont introduce acid into any electronic device. Yeah i know its a weak acid, but still why do it. There are better options. Incidently, what does a strong acid and a good woman have in common? -Any old chemists out there. U probably cant tell that joke anymore.

#17 4 years ago

MTS

MSLONEKER

Pinside member

4y 30,050 118

I have this one and it has worked very well for the past several years.
https://www.costway.com/commercial-5000mg-industrial-ozone-generator-air-purifier.html?fee=8&fep=8069&utm_source=connexity&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=connexity

#18 4 years ago

NEO

CaptainNeo

Playfield restorations

Burlington, WI

11y 148K 22,440 37 77 1

Quoted from Mitch:
Ozone generator off amazon.
Put it inside machine with machine in garage.
That's how they get smoke smell out of used cars.

yes, Ozone machine will take the smell out of almost anything.

#19 4 years ago

SpookyKT

Pinside member

Unknown

8y 44,800 156

honestly activated charcoal is awesome. works for smoke smells musty orders and stinky teenagers lol

#20 4 years ago

PUN

punkin

Pinside+ Frequent

Woolgoolga

4y 109K 11,061 7

Pressure wash it.

#21 4 years ago

QUY

FatPanda

Pinside member

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/cracking-rubber-and-ozone-generators

I've got a shallow dish with baking soda in the cabinet right now. I'll let it sit in there for several days to see if it makes a difference, then I may try the activated charcoal next. I've read mostly positive reviews, but then there are always a few that say it doesnt do anything. Hoping the baking soda will do it!

#22 4 years ago

XZR

_xizor

Inactive member

11y 69,050 232 43

Quoted from CaptainNeo:
yes, Ozone machine will take the smell out of almost anything.

If you do ozone, remove any rubbers / plastics you can first and do a little at a time. Ozone will probably work well, but it can oxidize many types of rubber and other plastics quickly.

Preferably get some tips from someone who has used an ozone machine for restoration before going too far. Different machines have different output levels, so you want to know how much could cause issues before you start.

#23 4 years ago

JWJr

Pinside+ Frequent

6y 61,300 765

I left two of the 3" twist-open air freshener disks in my closed-up smoke machine for two weeks. Smell all gone.

#24 4 years ago

LER

Lermods

Lermods Pinball Co.

11y 201K 10,856 58

OP
Quoted from FatPanda:
I've got a shallow dish with baking soda in the cabinet right now. I'll let it sit in there for several days to see if it makes a difference, then I may try the activated charcoal next. I've read mostly positive reviews, but then there are always a few that say it doesnt do anything. Hoping the baking soda will do it!

It takes more than a few days. What I’d do is get two boxes, open them up and put them in the cabinet. Come back in a month.

#25 4 years ago

QUY

FatPanda

Pinside member

Quoted from Lermods:
It takes more than a few days. What I’d do is get two boxes, open them up and put them in the cabinet. Come back in a month.

I have a second box. I'll put a second dish in there.

#26 4 years ago

QUY

FatPanda

Pinside member

Quoted from JWJr:
I left two of the 3" twist-open air freshener disks in my closed-up smoke machine for two weeks. Smell all gone.

Did it just cover up the smell or eliminate it? I don't particularly care for the scented air fresheners either. they give me headaches. The plug-ins, aerosols etc. I can do essential oils in diffusers, which is what I do currently when the game is open, but it just covers up the smell with something more pleasant as opposed to eliminating it.

#27 4 years ago

TIM

ralphwiggum

In my early days of collecting (late 90s), a lot of machines I bought were from bars. My wife and I are super sensitive/allergic to smoke. These are the bees knees- https://www.amazon.com/Bad-Air-Sponge-Absorbing-Neutralant/dp/B001SBMLAM

I have done charcoal, coffee, baking soda, etc..... I now only use the Bad Air Sponge.

I buy and sell a lot of cars for fun, and my daily driver now was owned by a smoker, only I didn't know it because when I bought it, I had a severe cold. I parked it in the garage and my wife asked me why I bought a smoker's car.... Because of all the fabric and air vents, it took me two bad air sponges (about 3 months of treatment) to get rid of the smoke completely, but now it is completely gone.

YMMV.... Good luck!

#28 4 years ago

DTS

DanDanDAN

Inactive member

Woodridge, IL

4y 34,050 323

Quoted from ralphwiggum:
Because of all the fabric and air vents, it took me two bad air sponges (about 3 months of treatment) to get rid of the smoke completely, but now it is completely gone.
YMMV.... Good luck!

the smell would have naturally aired out in three months any way no?

#29 4 years ago

TIM

ralphwiggum

Quoted from DanDanDAN:
the smell would have naturally aired out in three months any way no?

Nope... I have bought a few vehicles that still smelled like smoke even after sitting for a few years...

#30 4 years ago

NEO

CaptainNeo

Playfield restorations

Burlington, WI

11y 148K 22,440 37 77 1

Quoted from DanDanDAN:
the smell would have naturally aired out in three months any way no?

cigarette smoke sucks donkey balls. So destructive to everything. Even if you get rid of the smell, you still have the brown tar like shit to deal with thats caked on everything.

#31 4 years ago

TIM

ralphwiggum

Quoted from CaptainNeo:
cigarette smoke sucks donkey balls. So destructive to everything. Even if you get rid of the smell, you still have the brown tar like shit to deal with thats caked on everything.

You aren't lying.... I have a friend that is a car detailer and he has a really kick-ass steamer he uses for the vents to remove a lot of that shit. It is some nasty stuff.

I rarely use gloves for anything, but when I was cleaning pins, I would use them on the smoked up machines because the grime would make my skin itch like crazy.

#32 4 years ago

NEO

CaptainNeo

Playfield restorations

Burlington, WI

11y 148K 22,440 37 77 1

yup, spraying mean green on a cabinet, you just see the brown sludge ooze down the side of the cab. It amazing people don't die just from clogged lungs from that shit.

#33 4 years ago

???

RTS

Pinside+ Frequent

12y 94,050 3,129 17 1

Quoted from CaptainNeo:
yes, Ozone machine will take the smell out of almost anything.

Ozone machines will do it. They also suck oxygen out of the room so be careful when using.

Crime scene cleanup companies use it to remove the smell from dead bodies that absorb into walls. I can verify it works.

#34 4 years ago

GEM

hocuslocus

Pinside+ Pro!

8y 81,800 1,797 13

Quoted from CaptainNeo:
yes, Ozone machine .

Quoted from SpookyKT:
honestly activated charcoal is awesome.

both of these and clean all the surfaces really well. I pull some machines and they usually have that smell for like 4-6 months if I don't do anything. its.... mostly unnoticeble after a couple weeks unless you go into the cabinet.

#35 4 years ago

QUY

FatPanda

Pinside member

Quoted from ralphwiggum:
In my early days of collecting (late 90s), a lot of machines I bought were from bars. My wife and I are super sensitive/allergic to smoke. These are the bees knees- amazon.com link »
I have done charcoal, coffee, baking soda, etc..... I now only use the Bad Air Sponge.
I buy and sell a lot of cars for fun, and my daily driver now was owned by a smoker, only I didn't know it because when I bought it, I had a severe cold. I parked it in the garage and my wife asked me why I bought a smoker's car.... Because of all the fabric and air vents, it took me two bad air sponges (about 3 months of treatment) to get rid of the smoke completely, but now it is completely gone.
YMMV.... Good luck!

I'll try this next if the baking soda doesn't work after a couple months.

I noticed in the description that it works on "human decay" lol

#36 4 years ago

TIM

ralphwiggum

OP
Quoted from FatPanda:
I'll try this next if the baking soda doesn't work after a couple months.
I noticed in the description that it works on "human decay" lol

I have been to several Pinball shows where “Human decay” seemed present in the air....

#37 4 years ago

QUY

FatPanda

Pinside member

https://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Air-Purifiers/17332/subcat.html?featuredproduct=10670639&featuredoption=16459897&kid=9553000357392&track=pspla&ci_src=17588969&ci_sku=17735269-000-000&cnc=US&cid=269846&targetid=pla-293946777986&gclid=Cj0KCQiA2ITuBRDkARIsAMK9Q7PRqFnrgYYK18uA06MnV1ZhLJ4oPEj-T7GDr4mNCChIjr2CMTzYpzwaAlSxEALw_wcB

Anyone ever use Ozium? Sounds like a good aerosol spray.
https://smile.amazon.com/Ozium-Air-Sanitizer-Oz-Spray/dp/B07B66KHXM/ref=sr_1_4

Also comes in vanilla or citrus scents. It claims to neutralize odors, not just cover them up temporarily.

Having the game open is helping to air it out, but the basement has this lingering odor to it too. I'm thinking this might work to clear the basement air. My dogs also stay in the basement during the day when I'm gone, so it would serve double duty.

#38 4 years ago

CKA

ryan1234

Pinside member

11y 82,550 1,004

Simple Green the outsides and vacuum the inside is a great start.

#39 4 years ago

MAR

marspinball

Pinside+ Frequent

San Diego, CA

13y 66,800 626 30

Ozone machine and wiping down all surfaces.

#40 4 years ago

Madmax541

Pinside+ Frequent

11y 110K 2,059

Any recommendations for ozone machine large enough to do a room?

#41 4 years ago

PAL

ruralcollector

Pinside member

Alexandria, MN

6y 66,550 326 9

Quoted from Madmax541:
Any recommendations for ozone machine large enough to do a room?

This is similar to the one that we have used at work for years and continue to use. Works very effectively at removing strong odors. And I’m talking S T R O N G odors.

#42 4 years ago

Madmax541

Pinside+ Frequent

11y 110K 2,059

Those of you who have ozone generator machines. How do you use them.

Use as needed?
Runs periodically?
How long is there life?

Seems like many many different options out there.

#43 4 years ago

QUY

FatPanda

Pinside member