How do you get rid of the sulfur smell?

[Tumbler]

Hi-
I’d like to display my rockets in my workshop but the sulfur smell after the launch doesn’t ever seem to go away. Is there anything that can be done to get rid of the sulfur odor?
Thanks!

 

[DAllen]

Deep breaths in and your olfactory receptors will eventually filter it out. You're welcome.

 

[cautery]

If it was my rocket, and near liquid-proof, I would alternate: <cycle>vinegar/vinegar solution, DI water, bleach solution, DI water...</cycle> repeat as necessary. Dry with compressed air if at all possible. It will speed the process and guard against nasties that errant water and dark make.

 

[lakeroadster]

Hi-
I’d like to display my rockets in my workshop but the sulfur smell after the launch doesn’t ever seem to go away. Is there anything that can be done to get rid of the sulfur odor?
Thanks!

Hey, Tumbler... to TRF!

On future builds, coat the inner surfaces of the body tubes with wood glue. That seals the cardboard and helps minimize the nooks and crannies for the smell to hang out in.

In my experience the sulfur smell goes away pretty quick. I place the rockets out in the garage for the 1st couple days after launch... then they come back into the house with the rest of the family

.​

 

[cls]

Yeah, a couple wipes with a cloth dampened with white vinegar, and one wipe with plain water after.

 

[tsmith1315]

Welcome to the forum, Tumbler!

I thought that’s what rockets were supposed to smell like. It helps you re-live the launch!

 

[NateB]

This should help you acclimate to the scent.

https://bccandle.com/mancans/mluj3c4ommfm82e68ee7f9wj3376yy

 

[lakeroadster]

​

 

[Steve Shannon]

Welcome to TRF. Eventually you just learn to love that smell.

 

[prfesser]

The odor is a feature, not a bug. A quote, well over a century old and quite popular in the pyrotechnics community:

"He who hath once smelt the smoke is ne'er again free."

Yes, it stinks...but it stinks really, really good!

 

[Donnager]

I think I arrived when someone on the ground asked me "You think you used enough black powder, that main ejection was loud".

I thought.....Probably not.

 

[mh9162013]

What @lakeroadster said: just let the rockets sit somewhere to air out, as the smell goes away pretty quickly (at least as far as my nose can tell).

For rockets I really want to keep "smelling pretty," I don't launch them and they become shelf queens.

 

[DragonRocketry]

That is aroma therapy.

 

[bschultz32]

"but the sulfur smell after the launch doesn’t ever seem to go away" - Tumbler, you say that like it's a bad thing!

During construction, I wipe the inside diameter of my cardboard & phenolic rockets with BSI 20-minute Finish Cure epoxy. Smear on a thin coat, then walk away until the following day. Creates a nice hard plastic-like surface that cleans up well. As it permeates the porous material, it might even increase strength.

Time fixes a lot of things. I'll add my voice to others: when you come home from the launch, leave your rocket disassembled in the garage or outside on a covered patio. Within a few days, the stench will be considerably reduced.
Bob Schultz

 

[dhbarr]

Fly composite motors.

Remove spent motors promptly.

Store chutes separate from airframes.

 

[Biodragen]

Wipe them down, over time you wouldn't notice. Put them in the garage for a week and then display them. Mine are in the garage. After a few days I can bring them in and do what I need and that smell is no where near what it was.

 

[ksaves2]

Yup,
Let the BP rockets sit out in the garage awhile. The longer the better. The stink will go away until one has to "sniff" the open tube to just detect it.
After launching, I attend to the rockets that day. Get the spent engine casings out, wash the reusable casings and air out the rockets and cloth type chutes in the garage. Can bring them back inside in a couple of days. I do like the sulfur smell as long as it's mild. My late XYL would have killed me if I stunk up the house with the odor. Well, she went nuts when I mixed my own propellant too.
Kurt

 

[mrwalsh85]

Forget all that. What we need to know is how to funnel that smell into air fresheners that we can hang about our spaces...

 

[KenECoyote]

Forget all that. What we need to know is how to funnel that smell into air fresheners that we can hang about our spaces...

 

[bschultz32]

On the topic of cleaning parachutes: after many flights, sometimes my chutes get so gnarly even I have to admit something needs to get done about it. Into the laundry they go. Shock cords and recovery harnesses too. The key is to put them in a "laundry bag" first. See the photo below. These mesh bags are sold at home goods stores (Bed Bath & Beyond, etc.) for the purpose of laundering delicate clothing. In the case of a parachute, they prevent the shroud lines from becoming a hopelessly tangled mess. Especially important in the case of chute (like the ones sold by LOC/Precision) that have many small-diameter shroud lines.
Bob

 

[Hobie1dog]

to the forum.

 

[rcktnut]

Hi-
I’d like to display my rockets in my workshop but the sulfur smell after the launch doesn’t ever seem to go away. Is there anything that can be done to get rid of the sulfur odor?
Thanks!

In time you'll appreciate how wonderful that smell is.

 

[Tumbler]

Wow thanks for all the great replys!!! I launched rockets as a kid, then spent the last 25 years doing RC airplanes and helicopters and just got back into rockets with my kids. I forgot about the smell. My wife wasn’t happy about the smell in a 2 week old car a couple weeks ago lol. As several people mentioned, I I actually did leave them in the garage for a couple weeks and they still smell even though I took the engines out right away. I like the idea of coating the inside with epoxy or wood glue making everything easier to wipe down so I’ll certainly give that a try. Thanks again!

 

[cbwho]

I set up a display area in my garage. I have a peg board and have the rockets hanging out horizontal.

 

[Bowman]

The stink will go away until one has to "sniff" the open tube to just detect it.

I do like the sulfur smell as long as it's mild.

Kurt

I've found that moisture will revive the lost smell, kinda like sanding cedar to restore that aroma.

 

[Cape Byron]

Avoid Brussel Sprouts and cauliflower.

 

[Tumbler]

I set up a display area in my garage. I have a peg board and have the rockets hanging out horizontal.

Well I currently having my basement and basement worshop finished so would

I set up a display area in my garage. I have a peg board and have the rockets hanging out horizontal.

i am currently having my basement redone which includes a workshop with 3D Printed marvel and starwars stuff, so was kinda hoping to display some rockets, particularl an Iron Man Jericho Missle I am working on.

 

[prfesser]

Seriously: I recall reading that talcum powder--NOT cornstarch, but "baby" scented---applied liberally to a chute would provide both a puff of dust at ejection, and a reduced....okay, I'll say it....stink in the rocket. Anyone found that to be true?

 

[cautery]

Seriously: I recall reading that talcum powder--NOT cornstarch, but "baby" scented---applied liberally to a chute would provide both a puff of dust at ejection, and a reduced....okay, I'll say it....stink in the rocket. Anyone found that to be true?

I bet it would. We used it a lot in the service.

But didn't they remove it from the market?

 

[teepot]

Welcome to the Forum. What smell. I don't notice an unpleasant smell. Mine hang out with me in the garage. Heat and AC.