Bringin' that thrift-store smell home


For the past few months I've been avidly (my friends say compulsively) searching the local thrift stores for LPs. I've found some great recordings, but as I accumulate more and more of them I'm finding that my house is smelling more and more like a thrift store. I expect that many of the LPs I've bought have been stored in damp places and have become moldy, even though they look fine.

Has anyone else faced this problem? Any ideas for deodorizing LP jackets? Thanks.
abysmillard
while you're at the thrift store, buy some clothes while you're at it, then as you wear them and become accustomed to the smell, you won't notice the smell of you're records as much.
Try this. Go to your local wal-mart and pick up those bags of cedar wood pieces[they come in different shapes and sizes]. Pick the ones you like and place them among the offending lps. You could also try fabric softener sheets[bounce] that you use in the dryer....good luck. It is hard to ignore those .99cent gems. Seasons' greetings...
there is very expencive tweak could be bought call "Rainbow" vacume cleaning and filtering machine made by GE. all you have to do is to place it next to the smelled area, turn it on and it will filter the air arround.
costs about $1.7k.
if you're using record-cleaning machine you might ask for some scentic from the record cleaner manufacturer:-)
Buy some moth Balls and spread them around. That should eat it up the smell...:-).
Now that I've finally stopped laughing at Basements post, here is a product that I find works well at eliminating this problem.

http://www.punati.com/Page.bok?file=Orig12.html

After you have a look at it, typing the name at Google gets lots of hits for retailers.
I had this problem with rugs I purchased in India recently. The smells seem to be the result of bacteria and oils. I spread baking soda on the rugs and let them stay in the sun for a day or two, where they could get a good blast of UV light. Then I vacuumed the powder off, reapplied, and waited another couple of days. The smell is 95% gone. I'm going to try again next weekend...

If the smell in the house bothers you, you could look at room air filters. ConsumerReports.com has a really good article on the subject and rate the Whirlpool models far, far above the awfully performing sharper imagine "Ionic Breeze" type-products.
I consider the "Thrift Store Smell" to be a kind of status symbol, that lets visitors know I have a large vinyl collection. I have heard that it is thought to have an aphrodisiac effect on certain female audiophiles. I'm still waiting to find out.
If it's the smell I think you mean - mildew, musty - just get the album covers in a hot place with lots of air circulation for a bit. Alternately, get a bunch of those plasic sleeves...
Twl, what they failed to tell you, the female audiophiles they refer to aren't human.
My first recommendation would be to try some of the commercially available citrus oil cleaners/deodorizers. You can simply spray them around the area that smells, and they'll kill most odors. I'd try Basement's awesome rec second.
I like the Alpine Air air purifiers. Ozone makes all smells disappear. The Sharper Image makes one that would work well also.
perhaps a wipe-down inside & outside of the jackets with lemon Pledge?
Whatever you do don't import a bunch of mothballs - they emit toxic gasses.
Basement: you might be on the right track. My roommate, at least, thinks my fashion sense stinks--I never thought he might be speaking literally, though.

Thanks to all who offered advice--serious or otherwise. I'm most interested in deodorizing the cardboard, not clearing out the smell once it is already in the room.

I'll give some of these suggestions a try, take a shower, and see what happens. Thanks again.
Obviously it's not the vinyl. Yes, the jackets got damp & since they are paper based there is only one thing that will work. Remove the vinyl, then place the jacket out in the hot sun!! a low humidity day is best & lay flat on a raised rack surface, 1 hour per side should do it!!
Air cleaner(one that does not use filter) from Sharper Image works great in my listening room.
So Jenney your post speaks for itself:
What if there is no sun? I believe that gas or electric oven can be used on that sence to bake it with some cinnamon probably wha would'ya say? Or it's also possible after taking out records to bring jackets to the dry cleaners! There are still so many ideas!
I talked to two members of our local listening group who have large (5000+) vinyl collections. One recommended the same product endorsed by Albert, above. The other uses Fabreze, spraying it lightly over the album covers inside and out, then allowing to dry before replacing the vinyl in fresh sleeves. I've never noticed any stink in their record rooms so both approaches must work well.

will
Albert's recommendation reminds me of a pet deodorant spray that we buy at our local pet store. It's intended use is for kennels & cages, etc, not for spraying on the animals themselves. And it is very effective.
whatch out folks and don't rush!
there will be soon Nitty Gritty or some Discwasher jacket deodorizer on the market!;-)