i know
@MustBeJewel cleaned up some really stinky ponies, maybe she can share
Oh gosh, THOSE stinky ponies! Be careful what you buy site unseen, folks! I had to drive home with all my windows down because of the cigarette smell, even after I tied the plastic bag shut!
That was a big opportunity to try a number of different techniques, and these were my best results:
1)
Airing out
I left the ponies out of direct sunlight on my porch for about a week, so they wouldn't be sealed in a container with the smell just... marinating.
2)
Standard cleaning
I cleaned each pony with Dawn dish soap and hot water, really working in the soap and rinsing and re-soaping a few times, inside and out where possible, to try to remove any smoke residue on the actual plastic/hair that was retaining the smell.
3)
Vinegar soak
I sealed the ponies in a storage bin with a 1:1 vinegar and water solution, and weighed them down with a tray and some glasses on top to stay submerged. Normally I NEVER submerge ponies, but this case was extreme. I left them there for several days. This was probably the single most effective treatment aside #4.
NOTE: Vinegar does weird things to ponies!
- It will turn Sparkle Ponies, Glow N Show's, or any translucent ponies foggy and opaque, but this WILL wear off as they dry.
- It may fry the tinsel on Princess Ponies and may strip the color. Skylark and the SHS were fine, Princess Dawn was not.
The acid in vinegar may damage some features or discolor some paint--I can't say exactly what since this wasn't a diverse enough group.
4)
D-Stinker
I used this product with no adverse effects on ponies. I sprayed them generously, let them sit overnight, then repeated step 2 above.
Environmentally safe and effective odor control.
www.twinpines.com
Results:
By the time all was said and done and they had dried for over a week, you could only get the tiniest whiff of the original odor if you held them right up under your nose.
Other techniques I have tried and my personal results:
1)
Dryer sheets
My personal result was ponies that smelled like both cigarette smoke AND flowers.
2)
Cat litter
Same result as dryer sheets, pretty much.
3)
Baking soda
I covered the ponies in baking soda, left them for a week. Did not seem to do much in the end.