Recommendations for getting bro-spray smell out of a lacquered archtop?

[wintermoon]

worst I can remember was picking up a 1935 Super 400 to deliver to a friend and it smelled like someone dumped a gallon of old man cologne on it. the second you opened the case it punched you in the nose.
great guitar, but......

[sgosnell]

I generally use Mitchum unscented deodorant, readily available. It's not completely unscented, just barely scented, close enough for me. I also use aftershave that has low scent. By the time I shower with scented soap/bodywash (it's hard to find unscented, and my wife doesn't like it if it is available), use scented deodorant and aftershave, all those smells get mixed up and just stink. I suppose I could just go with Axe everything like many seem to do, but I don't like that stink, and it's orders of magnitude too strong.

[jzucker]

It should come as no surprise that it is almost impossible to buy an unscented men's deodorant in local stores. Mennen unscented is great but you have to buy a 5 or 6 pack from Amazon. Arm& hammer makes an unscented which will leave you with white powder inside any clothing you wear, including underwear, bed sheets and furniture. Stick with the mennen.
You have to wonder if Jack is better off with the deodorant funk vs the funk deodorant is supposed to combat?

in over 50 used guitars, I've only had 3 that had this issue. This is not a run of the mill deodorant issue. This is axe-body spray which is a men's cologne with male hormones in it designed to drive the ladies mad...

[Cunamara]

According to the commercials anyway. I've never tried it, but I suspect at my age it wouldn't drive any of the ladies mad. Annoy them, perhaps. Maybe even inspire them to relocate to a table a little further away.

[whiskey02]

I don't know what to say Jack, except I think over 50 guitars would drive all the ladies I've ever known mad without a pheromone intervening.

in over 50 used guitars, I've only had 3 that had this issue. This is not a run of the mill deodorant issue. This is axe-body spray which is a men's cologne with male hormones in it designed to drive the ladies mad...

[Litterick]

I use Yves Saint Laurent's Jazz, which at least is appropriate.

[JWMandy]

Here's an idea.... maybe no better than what you've tried, but came to mind and then googling it, I'm seeing folks use it... so I must have heard it from somewhere: Try tea bags. Hang them all over the place.

Maybe... as in emphasis on "maybe".... try wiping down the outside of the instrument with a wet rag soaked in tea... 'cause it certainly can't be as harsh as nappa. It might work and is full of fragrances and the leaves absorb. Check with a luthier.... ahead of time!!! so you don't inadvertantly get too much moisture into the instrument somehow, but folks wipe down wood finishes all the time with stuff that isn't harmful... I'd imagine this wouldn't be harmful especially if followed with a dry rag.

Not sharing my rare book story where the previous owner's cat confused a bookshelf with a litter box... resulting in a strange fragrance emission upon opening the pages. Needless to say, I tried a number of your solutions to no avail, and got rid of the rare book - unread. Eventually I refound and rebought a good copy years later that I still have and treasure. Never too late to trade that thing out to someone who knows how to cure the problem.... or doesn't care... 'cause there just might be another teenager with an Axe confusion. And yes, I'm asuming playing with a gas mask might not be a solution that gets you gigs.

[jzucker]

i've been regularly wiping it down with feed-n-wax which is what a lot of the oil finish luthiers recommend for polishing and cleaning. Doesn't really make any diff though. I think the smell is embedded into the nitro.

Here's an idea.... maybe no better than what you've tried, but came to mind and then googling it, I'm seeing folks use it... so I must have heard it from somewhere: Try tea bags. Hang them all over the place.

Maybe... as in emphasis on "maybe".... try wiping down the outside of the instrument with a wet rag soaked in tea... 'cause it certainly can't be as harsh as nappa. It might work and is full of fragrances and the leaves absorb. Check with a luthier.... ahead of time!!! so you don't inadvertantly get too much moisture into the instrument somehow, but folks wipe down wood finishes all the time with stuff that isn't harmful... I'd imagine this wouldn't be harmful especially if followed with a dry rag.

Not sharing my rare book story where the previous owner's cat confused a bookshelf with a litter box... resulting in a strange fragrance emission upon opening the pages. Needless to say, I tried a number of your solutions to no avail, and got rid of the rare book - unread. Eventually I refound and rebought a good copy years later that I still have and treasure. Never too late to trade that thing out to someone who knows how to cure the problem.... or doesn't care... 'cause there just might be another teenager with an Axe confusion. And yes, I'm asuming playing with a gas mask might not be a solution that gets you gigs.

[st.bede]

Maybe a refinish could work.

[Gabor]

I get acne if I use cologne!

:-)

It is funny how this thead shifted to men hygeny. Poor guitar. I would try ventillator, after deep clean with naphta, as changing fresh air sounds intuitive. Still question, who has patience to ventil weeks...
Regarding inside wood, active charcoal probsbly unbeatable.

[jzucker]

Maybe a refinish could work.

not gonna spend $700+ on refinishing the instrument.

[Gabor]

Maybe a refinish could work.

OMG, this reminds me Mr Bean and Whistler's Mother

[st.bede]

not gonna spend $700+ on refinishing the instrument.

That would most likely by my approach… I do not think you mentioned the guitar in particular. (Maybe you did)? Here are my (most likely useless) thoughts. I would ask myself, since I am not really willing to commit a good amount of money into the guitar, and it is not working for me, then why would I keep it?

There are many great reason ls why not to drop money into anything… you have one of those great reasons. I guess and with humility, the question is, “is your reason to keep the instrument out weighting the reason to sell”?

I always think, that if I wait long enough the very guitar I want will end up in my hands for a price that works for me. Granted I only desire guitars within a certain price range.

I have let two excellent guitars at great prices go, and one excellent guitar at a small level of pain price go. I have a total of 16 guitars. Three out of 16 loses, feels painfully, but in reality it is not a bad ratio. I just wait until I find what I want. It can take years.

[Woody Sound]

Japanese Bamboo Charcoal? Supposed to work great. We leave a bunch of them lying around the house, especially the bathrooms and closets. But I don't know how they'd work for such a focused, intense smell.

https://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-...pc/21579650011

[DRS]

Ozone generator?
When I was a kid I worked at a dry cleaning plant that treated smoke damaged clothing from fires for insurance companies. We had a room with racks and an ozone generator. We'd hang the clothes up, turn it on, and leave them there for a few days. It worked.
You can buy small ones for under $100
Just put it and the guitar in closet, seal it up with some painter's tape, and wait.

[jzucker]

Ozone generator?
When I was a kid I worked at a dry cleaning plant that treated smoke damaged clothing from fires for insurance companies. We had a room with racks and an ozone generator. We'd hang the clothes up, turn it on, and leave them there for a few days. It worked.
You can buy small ones for under $100
Just put it and the guitar in closet, seal it up with some painter's tape, and wait.

O3 is highly corrosive. Not good for rubber, plastics, paints/finishes, metal

[TedBPhx]

Used to serve on submarines. No colognes or scented after shaves, deodorants, shampoos or anything else that smelled allowed. Got used to it and can’t stand those smells 50 years later.

[Woody Sound]

I generally use Mitchum unscented deodorant, readily available. It's not completely unscented, just barely scented, close enough for me. I also use aftershave that has low scent. By the time I shower with scented soap/bodywash (it's hard to find unscented, and my wife doesn't like it if it is available), use scented deodorant and aftershave, all those smells get mixed up and just stink. I suppose I could just go with Axe everything like many seem to do, but I don't like that stink, and it's orders of magnitude too strong.

My wife is a health nut, so we use this.

[Zigracer]

Naptha. Flashes off quickly, won’t harm the finish. Repeat over a period of a few weeks with the guitar left in an area where the odor can dissipate. Everything has a half life.

[jzucker]

Naptha. Flashes off quickly, won’t harm the finish. Repeat over a period of a few weeks with the guitar left in an area where the odor can dissipate. Everything has a half life.

already tried that and mineral spirits. Doesn't seem to have any effect.

[AllanAllen]

leave the case open somewhere with a fan blowing at the guitar. The air will eventually take the smell away. If you don't have the patience for that, sell it.

[jzucker]

leave the case open somewhere with a fan blowing at the guitar. The air will eventually take the smell away. If you don't have the patience for that, sell it.

the smell is not in the case. Leaving the guitar in the case wouldn't expose the waist which is where the smell emanates from but the fan on the guitar seems like a good idea.

[wintermoon]

do you have a room that gets a lot of sunshine?
on a stand it'll eventually de-stinkify

[DawgBone]

Just liberally douse the instrument and case lining with Brut 33 or English Leather and be done with it.

Fight fire with fire.

[jzucker]

do you have a room that gets a lot of sunshine?
on a stand it'll eventually de-stinkify

just our screened in porch. When it gets a little warmer i'll put it out there.