Long story short, bought MP-13 Soundwave secondhand and it was not disclosed that previous owner smokes. SW arrived stinky as hell.

The guy promised to send a Maketoys Gundog which I was considering buying from him to make up for the smell.

Is there a way to remove the smell without ruining the paint on an MP figure? I don’t want to just mask the smell with a dryer sheet (as recommended on YouTube videos for normal toys).

TIA for you pro tips!

 

Only way your going to remove the smell is to wash the figure and get the nicotine residue off of it. You can let it sit around and eventually the smell will go away but the nicotine will still be there. So, get some dawn dish soap, some warm/hot water, and wash the figure. If you have the balls throw it in the dishwasher. If it wasn't a MP and it has no stickers I wouldn't think twice about throwing it in the dishwasher since the normal toys are meant to be played with by kids and get wet and take bathes and play in the mud, a dishwasher won't hurt it. However seeing as it is a Masterpiece, I wouldn't put it in the dishwasher but I would take it apart and use a toothbrush, dawn dish soap and some hot water, for both washing and rinsing.

 

use a lot of incense... like forever

 

If you put Lego bricks in the dishwasher, it is known to warp some of them due to the heat. I wouldn't risk it on any Transformer.

 

I wonder if a milder soap might be advisable, at least for a first attempt. Dawn is actually fairly strong stuff. You aren't supposed to use it (or any other dish soap) to wash a car because it will strip the wax off the paint.

If you have car soap available, I would suggest trying that first.

 

Don't use the heating option after wash, the option that is supposed to dry the dishes. If you just use water, it can only get as hot as your sink / hot water heater. That is, unless your dishwasher has some sort of option to make the water hotter than it comes into the washer. IDK... I've washed several "standard" Transformers in the dishwasher. I would never use it on a MP, though.

 

mp soundwave has chrome so i wouldnt use a dishwasher.

you can try leaving it in a bag of oder absorbant kitty litter, see if that helps.

 

It probably is the heating that does the damage, but I would still be hesitant to wash them above 40 celsius (over 100 fahrenheit).

 

I recommend just letting it sit somewhere for several months after you've washed it in warm water and soap. That's the only solution I've ever found for getting cig smell out of plastic. Be aware that whatever damage has been done to the plastic won't be reversed, and that means the toy is at a much higher risk of yellowing, greening or other types of photodegradation.

Kitty litter will scratch up the figure to hell and back. I'd only do that if I:
-didn't submerge the figure in it
-partially wrapped the figure in a small towel
and
-placed the bag somewhere it would never be moved from or jostled BEFORE I carefully set the figure inside with no litter touching it

 

frebreeze maybe?

i would leave it outside for a few weeks and let it air out, and get some of your money back because you did technically get a damaged figure

 

Put in a bag with dryer sheets. Maybe 2 or 3.

I found in my experience that you could simply let air out for a bit. Then it'll be fine.

 

To avoid warping, put it on the top rack and if your dishwasher has the settings turn off the heated dry and high temperature wash.

 

Never going to get it out

 

put it in a sealed tupperware with dryer sheets for an extended period

 

I sprayed a CW Rook with Lysol and wiped it down with a paper towel and the smell eventually went away. But, with an MP, I don't know.

 

How about Clorox wipes? I mean they don't have rubbing alcohol, so no paint should be removed. At least that gets off the nicotine.

 

I was thinking about trying him in alt mode in a gallon bag and a box of baking soda to see if it could absorb the smell

 

I've helped with cleaning figures for the local shop to resell and the best thing we've found is to dillute about 1/3 Windex (the real stuff with amonia) to 2/3 water to get the tar and sticky residue off. I call it the juice. Used paper towels dipped in it and wrung out well and q-tips. Wear gloves cause that cigarette stuff is nasty. You'll see how yellow and gross the gloves get. It typically took about an hour+ for an Alternator. I'd imagine MP Soundwave would take longer. For the really bad smelling ones letting it sit in tupperware with dryer sheets for quite a while after cleaning was the best solution we had too. Good luck!
-G

 

Dunno if it works if the toy *lived* in a smoke-filled house, but I had a friend who lived in a house with parents who smoked and when I came back my figures and clothes would often smell that way.

I live in Minnesota so it's easier to find cold areas of the house, but I found that one night left out in the cold (on our patio with the heat turned off) got rid of the smell pretty quick.

The only downside there is finding a place that's cold and also secure, and then making sure once the figure comes inside you let it come back up to room temperature before messing around with it.

 

Wash it and wipe it with warmto hot water. Then dry as much as you can and leave in a box of rice for 3 months.