Smell

[mikeownzu]

Any tips on how to get rid of the must smell on helmets. equipment, etc.

[Gunbunny]

I've read that placing them in a box with wadded up newspapers works. The smell is apparently absorbed by the paper. I've never tried it. Be careful not to get ink from the paper on your nice mint field gear!

[mikeownzu]

Thank you very much.

[101combatvet]

I've read that placing them in a box with wadded up newspapers works. The smell is apparently absorbed by the paper. I've never tried it. Be careful not to get ink from the paper on your nice mint field gear!

Or acid.....

[Adrian]

I actually kind of like the 'old' smell about my collection. Obviously, if the smell is tainting the air in a room its not so good but if the items in question are behind glass or in a cabinet my preference would be to leave the items with the smell of history about them....

[Jareth]

Place object in a lg tupperware or plastic bin with an open box of baking soda. Easiest thing yet.

[History]

I got an SS relic helmet that was sopposed to be found on a corpse in a hedgerow in normandy. The corpse was sopposed to have been found in the 60's ,the helmet then stored backroom in a museum in france ,then sold to a collector, then sold to me. I had to take this helmet and leave it at my shop as the smell was overtaking my house. It's not like a rotten flesh smell it's like a relic smell only 100xs stronger. Has anyone else had this experience before? As to the helmet being found on a corpse that wasnt buried, I dont care and dont want to argue about that , just the odd strong relic smell please

[Stahlhelm]

Hmmmmm...Well, I like all the ideas about how to remove that old helmet smell, but I must admit that I never even thought about doing that before. I also agree that I just happen to like the smell of an old helmet. To me, it just seems to add to its authenticity. Quite frankly, I just expect an old helmet to smell like an old helmet. Removing the smell to me is almost like altering it in some way--like removing the nice patina on a well-aged SS Dagger or oiling (and shining up!) a nice combat helmet. To me the olfactory sensations are just as important as the visual. That's just the appropriate smelll of 60+ years worth of history.

In regards to the topic question, I think these ideas are great, if you really want to remove the smell. I just had to throw in my two cents worth of agreement with the earlier comment about actually preserving the smell.

However, I must admit that I could not tolerate a helmet smelling like a corpse. That's a very interesting situation you have there. Good luck with that...

[History]

MIne doesnt have a corpse smell , it's the same smell as all my other helmets only 1000s times stronger.

[Stahlhelm]

Sorry History,

I must have misunderstood that. I think maybe I just read it too quickly. However, I must say that, as much as I do love the old helmet smell, I also don't think I could tolerate the smell thousands of times stronger! Wow, let me know how you get rid out that. I hope one of the above-described methods works for you. Good luck again...

[PZIV]

I have two ground dug helmets. One of them I used WD40 to help in my work to get rust off. It doesn't exit into my room too much, but if I open my display case I get a huge wiff of it. I love it though. For people passionate about history it's nice to see, feel and also smell it. As many senses as possible!

P.S: I wouldn't lick the rust either.

[Stahlhelm]

K98 man,

I agree with the value of those sensory details 100%. I'll give you another peculiar example, which may be a little extreme or unusual, but here goes...

Last year I bought a helmet reference book at an outdoor machine gun show, where they fire machine guns regularly every 30 minutes. Since this book has been outdoors in this environment for considerable time (maybe even a few such shows before selling), it has the distinctive and appropriate smell of fresh gunfire. Yes, each time I open that book to ID a new collectible, I am hit by the distinct waft of fresh gunfire--that unique aroma of the battlefield, no doubt. Oddly enough, I even enjoy that olfactory bonus on a reference book. It seems to set just the appropropriate atmosphere for what I am looking at. I think only collectors of militaria can understand what I'm talking about.

So, on second thought, I'm thinking maybe that helmet that smells 1000 times stronger than the average old helmet, might instead be a nice thing to strategically plant somewhere in your display room. (I was going to post a laughing smiley right here, but I couldn't find one). You know I'm really only kidding, but it is, I suppose, an appropriate thought for all those sensory buffs out there....