How do I get rid of rubber odour?

November 30, 2006 6:34 AM

Stinky balls. No, not that sort. I purchased a wine decanter that comes with a stand for drying. Unfortunately, the stand has a rubber ball on the end (to prevent scratching, I'd assume), and has a very, very pungent rubber odour. Is there some way of getting rid of that smell?
posted by dirtynumbangelboy to Grab Bag (6 answers total)

You can remove the odor by using an ozone generator. If you don't have time to buy one, just drop it off at a fire restoration service and tell them the issue. This will possibly result in a premature hardening of the rubber, but that probably isn't a big issue.
posted by torpark at 6:53 AM on November 30, 2006

...or seal the smell in. Try painting a coat of clear nail polish on the rubber.
posted by StarForce5 at 7:23 AM on November 30, 2006

In my experience, that smell tends to go away over time. If it's not driving you totally insane, you can probably just leave it alone and it'll go away on its own.
posted by occhiblu at 8:33 AM on November 30, 2006

Replace the stinky ball with a wood ball from a craft store.
posted by hortense at 9:47 AM on November 30, 2006

I don't have a picture of the device so my suggestion may be out of line. Try wrapping the ball in saran wrap before you use it. Seal off the open end with string or a rubber band if necessary.

It probably will go away eventually. Plastics and rubbers tend to give off solvent gases for a while when new. This effect may be responsible for the new car smell.
posted by chairface at 10:24 AM on November 30, 2006

Our company gave us a bag with some stinky rubber cup holder on it - I threw mine away but a co-worker says he put his out in the sun for a few days and the smell was gone.
posted by philad at 3:12 PM on November 30, 2006