Deodorizing Skunky Mugs

I recently bought a set of 4 mugs off of ebay. As I was opening the box I was struck by how funky everything smelled: the newspaper padding, the bubble wrap and the mugs. I dutifully washed and dried the mugs. Nope, they still smell. I've tried soaking them for days in water, but they always emerge smelling the same. Is this what mugs from a cigarette smoking household smell like? Oh right, silly me, you can't smell them as the smell feature has been disabled in this forum...

Anyone have good tips on deodorizing these suckers?

Thanks,

• SV

Well..... ceramics don't usually hold an odor. Usually.

You can try this:

Hot soapy water. Very hot.

Then, some bleach water. About 1 part bleach to 4 parts water.

If that doesn't do it, try soaking in vinegar. Then rinse in hot soapy water to remove the vinegar smell.

Beyond that, I don't know what to offer.

I don't think I've every come across a persistently smelly mug - are they unglazed bisque like a Paul Marshall mug, or fully glazed?

If Chip and Andy's recommendations don't work, consider leaving them outside in the sun for a few days.

If nothing works, you'll have to add more rum to anything you drink out of the mugs. They'll still have the smell, but you won't care.

On 2007-09-23 22:33, Koolau wrote:

• are they unglazed bisque like a Paul Marshall mug, or fully glazed?

They're Paul Marshall Bamboo mugs, but glazed (so you're at least partially psychic.) :)

On 2007-09-23 20:09, Chip and Andy wrote:
Well..... ceramics don't usually hold an odor. Usually.

Yeah, I was surprised how tenacious the odor is. I'll try the suggested remedies and see how they work out. Thanks gang.

• SV

On 2007-09-23 22:33, Koolau wrote:
If nothing works, you'll have to add more rum to anything you drink out of the mugs. They'll still have the smell, but you won't care.

Really bad eggs! Drink up me hardies! Yo ho!
— Cap'n Jack Sparrow

Here are some techniques used to remove odors from books - they might work well with mugs too.

Submerge mug in dry deodorized (unused) cat litter for a week or two in an airtight container (plastic bag or a box sealed with tape).

Instead of cat litter, you could also try using baking soda, or a rag doused with fabric softener (i.e. Febreze) or even lots of crumbled newspaper will absorb some of the odors.

Be warned, that even if the above works, odors will often return when the item becomes wet again, so it might be better to display the mug on a shelf, rather than actually use for drinks.

Add more Rum! :)

If the smells don't come out using the suggested methods, you can try soaking them overnight in a baking soda bath.I used this method to clean a ton of ceramic/ chalkware, etc. which came out of a heavy smoker's home.

Step 1: fill the skunky mugs with hot water from the tap and let sit for about 10 minutes(this warms up the ceramic to prevent cracking.)
Step 2: Fill a stock pot halfway full of water, heat to almost boiling, remove it from the heat, stir in 1/2 cup baking soda & stir intil dissolved.
Step 3: Dump the tap water, and submerge the mugs in the solution overnight.

FYI: this also works on plastic food containers and mason jars that have been used for steeping herbs in alcohol or vinegar. Hope this helps!

Yet another approach...

Here's what I think I'd try.

First, a soak in Oxalic Acid.

Oxalic acid is used by rock hounds and people who mine their own quartz to clean the crystals that have been extracted from clay. Between the clay and the crystal a layer of yellow iron forms. To clean that off you let it sit in a bath of oxalic acid, sometimes two baths. I don't know what kind of crud is coating the inside of your mugs, but I have a feeling that oxalic acid might give it a run for its money.

Oxalic acid, BTW, occurs in tea leaves, spinach, black pepper, and lots of other things you consume on a daily basis. Of course, you wouldn't want to be directly exposed to it at the concentration necessary for use as a cleaner. It is also used as a rust remover, sterilizer, bleaching agent, purifying agent, and a host of other things, including cleaning ceramic tiles. That's why I think it would be safe to try it on a cermic mug. Wear gloves. Do this outside unless you want the inside of your house to smell skunky after your mugs are clean and sweet. The irony of it all. Are rust jokes considered irony?

Any cleaning products you find in the grocery store that specialize in rust removal probably contain oxalic acid. Anything that is a wood bleach/rust remover is probably oxalic acid. Crystal miners make up 5 gallon buckets of the stuff to soak their finds. A one pound bag of the stuff miners use (± $10-15) mixes with 2½ gal. of hot water.

Second, a soak in Sea Salt Brine.

I would do this regardless of whether or not I did an oxalic acid bath first. I'd rinse the mugs thoroughly, fill them to the rim with coarse sea salt, fill them to the rim with warm water, and let them sit for a few days adding water as it evaporates. If I didn't do the oxalic bath first, I'd let them sit for a week replacing all of the sea salt and water about halfway through.

Considering all you've done so far, I'm not sure a week's worth of soaking in salt will do the trick. Soaking for months probably would. Salt has a very cleansing effect. Good luck anyway.

it could be in your head. if you smelled it when you open the box ,the packing and all ,now you just may think you still smell it. just a thought. ask some one who has not smelled them before. TD

Au contraire, mon frère. If only that were the case. These mugs are skunky like funky monkeys. None of my 200+ mugs have an odor save these.

There are some great ideas here. I'll start with the easier ones and work my way through them until I find some success.

Cheers,

• SV

Good luck - those are terrific mugs and kind of scarce; wishing you success. Please let us know what works and what doesn't.

I think I would be more concerned drinking from those mugs having high lead levels than high stink levels, old mugs=lead, put em on the shelf and drink from new safe mugs.

Hows about Polident or some other fizzy denture cleaner?
Aloha,
:tiki:

I'm looking forward to hearing about how well the various techniques work. I have a pair of Mark Thomas outrigger Moai that are also really skunky. I tried soaking them in warm soapy water for several hours when I first got them. When that did nothing to alleviate the odor, I got lazy and just put them on the shelf. Perhaps there is hope for them yet. Keep us posted on what happens with your mugs.

Keep us posted on what happens with your mugs.

Will do!

-SV

I had some smelly ones a few years back - same thing where everything reeked like stale cigarette smoke the minute the box was opened.
If I remember right, soaking them in venegar worked for me.
Good Luck!!!