Paste wax smell


JosephThomas

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Hey guys. Every time I use paste wax in the shop the strong odor takes days to dissipate...is there some trick to getting rid of it quicker? I applied a thin layer to some mdf for a torsion box bench I'm building, and I just have one rag I used to apply.  I turned on my overhead air cleaner on high before I started and have left it on for multiple hours since, and left the window open as well.  Any tricks/tips? Is it normal to take a couple days for the smell to go away?  Also, how soon can I toss the rag in the garbage? I'm always worried about tossing anything oil-based or petrol-based on the trash for risk of starting a fire, so it's just been rinsed and hung out in my slop sink.

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You could always store the rag in a mason jar with a metal lid on it.  If I apply BLO or something of the like I just leave the rags on the concrete floor in a open space.  I imagine the biggest flame possible on the rag and make sure it couldn't reach anything flammable.  So far I have not come back to a pile of ashes on my floor.  I do want to get a metal trash can with tight fitting lid for oily rags though as my current solution isn't the greatest. 

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46 minutes ago, midtnwoodworker said:

I have Johnson's paste wax and don't find the smell that bad. If you want to get rid of the smell put out some rat poison. Let the rat die in your shop somewhere that you can't find, and now your shop will smell terrible for a whole different reason. That's the smell I'm dealing with right now.

Ugh, I've got a mouse trying to move into my house right now.  Those critters are a PITA. 

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You guys are funny. I have ren wax, but was using Johnson's this time, as it was just to get a non-stick surface on some mdf.

Never thought of keeping the rag in a seal jar/bag or in the wax container itself. All good ideas.

I'd probably get reported if I burned anything, my neighbors all of 4 feet from me. The wife really hates the smell, and I share the shop space with the laundry, so I have to do something, otherwise she can't come in here on the days I open the wax container.

Thx guys.

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3 minutes ago, drzaius said:

I use Aerowax & I like the smell. The rag goes back in the can when I'm done & the smell never lasts more than an hour or so. BTW, your air cleaner will do nothing to remove the smell, unless it's got charcoal filters in it.

Yeah I thought it did when I bought it, bc I was glad it would remove solvent stink from the air, but it's been useless for this so I'm probably wrong. Thx for the reminder.

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Hopefully you're not talking about Johnson's? That stuff smells almost as good as the plastic bubble stuff in a tube back in the ..... well, back when I was a kid! In fact, when I finally get ac in my shop, I'm going to hang a rag soaked in it in front of the ac as an air freshener!

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There is a substitute mineral turpentine. That could be what you got. It's kinda in the same family as paint thinner/mineral spirits.

The odorless mineral spirits is highly refined to remove the aromatic hydrocarbons.

Real turpentine is pretty expensive ,around $18 a quart , $52 a gallon. If you paid a lot less you got a substitute .

 

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32 minutes ago, wdwerker said:

There is a substitute mineral turpentine. That could be what you got. It's kinda in the same family as paint thinner/mineral spirits.

The odorless mineral spirits is highly refined to remove the aromatic hydrocarbons.

Real turpentine is pretty expensive ,around $18 a quart , $52 a gallon. If you paid a lot less you got a substitute .

 

Thanks Steve!

It was cheap, I guess that explains it.

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There is a substitute mineral turpentine. That could be what you got. It's kinda in the same family as paint thinner/mineral spirits.

The odorless mineral spirits is highly refined to remove the aromatic hydrocarbons.

Real turpentine is pretty expensive ,around $18 a quart , $52 a gallon. If you paid a lot less you got a substitute .

 

Do the odorless mineral spirits work the same way for woodworking purposes?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

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