pick handle smell?

[gjusername]

So, I did a little searching and saw the threads about old screwdriver handles smelling bad, idk if this is the same issue or something different.

I just received a set of these ullman picks - https://www.tooltopia.com/Ullman-Devices-ULLCHP8-L?custcol_is_variable_options_amount=F. First thing I noticed when I opened them is that a couple of them already have a little rust on the shafts, and then I notice a weird smell. takes me a minute to realize it's coming from the soft grip handles on these picks. I wouldn't say it smells like vomit though, to me this smells like formaldehyde. I like the picks but idk I think I will return them, I don't want to stink up my box with this ****.

I read here that these picks are the same ones that are rebranded by matco and a lot of other companies. Just wondering - has anyone else noticed this issue with the smelly handles?

 

[Farleyfan]

Its the chemical in the make up of the plastic handle.
Cellulose Acetate Butyrate
My experience is it doesn't go away.

 

[rlitman]

I own the Craftsman branded version of that set. My handles are plastisol based, so it wouldn't be the same vomit smell as the acetate screwdriver handles.

 

[Jacobs976]

Try washing them and see if they still have an odor. If they do then no harm done and they can still be returned. The acetate handles can be worked around with wax encasement but soft handled wouldn't have a fix I can think of beyond seeing if some degreaser and water nullifies the smell.

 

[gjusername]

yeah these handles have more of a rubbery texture so I don't think it's the same as the vomit smell that the hard plastic handles get. but idk I'm not a chemist

 

[65ranchero]

Don't ya just love the smell of the old tool carry boxes?
To some people that brings back memories

 

[mark-NJ]

To some people that brings back memories

My immediate reaction to this thread is the smell of my dad's old Stevens-Walden 1/4" sockets that he used (and removed ) from the USS Doyle in WWII. From my earliest childhood, opening that box greeted the olfactory senses with the unmistakable smell of freshly-churned puke.

I have those sockets now, and to this day they smell like someone just hurled lunch into the box....and I wouldn't have it any other way! That aroma reminds me of learning how to "fix things" as a young boy working alongside my dad, and those memories are too precious to lose. Fixing the washing machine, working on the car, assembling a swingset...all were done to the stench of vomit. Good times with dad. Some of my best memories.

 

[rustyzman]

I have had many Ullman (and other) screwdrivers with various "smells". So far in experimenting, cleaning, polishing, buffing, cleaning in solvents (alchohol, mineral spirits, acetone - carefully) does not get rid of the smell, just cleans up the plastic. The smell comes back.

Some of them start to get a white powdery efflorescence and feel slippery/waxy. That is part of the plastic binder I believe, leaching out and failing. It does clean off with buffing/polishing carefully, but it comes back as well. A bit of odor seems to come with it too as I recall.

My last test was on my Xcelite mini nut driver set. Smell was really really bad. I dipped each handle fully in clear satin polyurethane and let them dry. Worked really well. Sealed the odor, now they just smell like polyurethane instead of vomit. Even the torque multiplier handle still slips on easily after coating.

This set is very sentimental to me, so I really needed a solution. They were so bad it was almost too much stink to open the case at all.

If they are important to you, clean/buff them to your liking and give some polyurethane a try.

 

[Bubba Fett]

I believe it's the butyrate that actually causes the smell. I had a set of Xcelite nut drivers that smelled horrible. Stunk up the entire work room. I snuck them down to the Maintenance guys' tool box for a good laugh.

I've also read somewhere that spraying the handles with hairspray, and letting them dry might work, but I've never tried it.

 

[RTM]

I use clear de waxed shellac, seems to be encapsulating the smell on the ones I find. Unfortunately, new to me ones take a week or more to start stinking, and then I have to start sniffing them to find the offensive one.

 

[richfinn]

Tool Sniffers

 

[Jan Koenig]

I've got some "stinky" tools myself. This is all helpful!