[Jewelry making - Article 00400] - Re: [Orchid] Smoke smell

[Wayne M Schenk]

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    Many years ago while setting in a Chemistry class (chemical
    separations if I recall correctly) the subject turned to smoke
    damage. the professor noted that he had a student pay his way
    through college restoring smoke damage by boiling a large quality of
    vinegar into the room, then ventilating for several days until the
    vinegar smell went away. 

    The operating theory was that the smoke consisted of a large quality
    of very small carbon (Read Activated Charcoal) particles which had
    absorbed the chemicals which give a smokey smell. These chemicals
    were slowly becoming airborne (out gassing) once more, The
    overwhelming amount of vinegar (acetic acid) displaced these other
    chemicals (partition coefficients and all) resulting in the vinegar
    slowly out gassing instead of the smoke odor chemicals. 

    now there is a psychological effect working here also, smoke smells
    bad while vinegar is perceived as a 'clean' smell hence a mild
    vinegar odor is far more acceptable than a smokey odor. 

    I also agree with Peter Rowe in that cleaning with a general purpose
    ultrasonic solution is the place to start, and in my experience for
    metal findings and jewelry this is all that is needed. However you
    will need to change the solution frequently as combustion products
    really make a mess of the cleaning solution. 

WMSchenk 

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