Need help: How to get PERFUME smell out of headphone
Feb 16, 2012 at 3:12 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 18

Flumphy

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Hi,
 
Friendly as I am I lend my Fa-003 to a girl at school for 2 hours.
She wanted to work but other guys in our group where making a lot of noise. 
 
I got bad luck because her perfume was so strong that my headphone smells like it now.
And I DONT like the smell...
 
Please, any tips???
 
The pads are the worst but also the headband.
I could lay it in the sun for a while except that it's winter...
 
 
Greetings,
 
Feb 16, 2012 at 3:14 PM Post #2 of 18
Maybe try a light spray of febreze? Just be sure to get one with a scent that you like. haha
 
Feb 16, 2012 at 6:36 PM Post #5 of 18
Put some 4711 on a rag and wipe them.  I wipe all my headphones down with 4711, it smells great and it's also really cheap in the US for the most part.  I get 400ml bottles for $25 in Poland I paid $30 for 40ml!  So don't bother if it's overpriced where you are.
 
Feb 16, 2012 at 9:20 PM Post #7 of 18
isopropyl alcohol might help. it helps clean up build up dirt and oils on handbands and pads,especially useful on absorbing materials like leather.
 
Feb 16, 2012 at 10:51 PM Post #8 of 18
I remember a thread a while ago about getting a cigarette smell out of headphones, and the general consensous was to put the headphones into a bed of baking soda overnight and then clean them off (vacuum or air duster will help). I'm skeptical of this approach because baking soda is like fine sand and it may get everywhere (you might spend hours and hours cleaning them). You could do just the pads alternately. I don't know much about the FA-003; does it have leather or velour type pads? 
 
If they're velour type, you can wash those by hand with either your own shampoo or laundry detergent (I prefer laundry detergent because I use the "HE" stuff that doesn't have a surfactant in it, so it's easier to manage when hand-washing); it will suck to dry them back out though (if you have a clothes dryer, this is much easier). Basically get a bowl or some other vessel (I use the lid from a CD-R spindle), put a small amount of detergent/soap in, with warm-ish water, put the pads in, and massage them for a bit. Then rinse them a few times (you need to make sure you get all of the soap back out). Then dry (And here's where a clothes dryer helped; I wrapped my pads up in an old t-shirt and put them on one of those "shoe dryer" shelves (with a piece of foil between the shirt and the shelf mostly for cleanliness) and let it go for an hour or two (on the lowest possible setting above "air only"). I'm sure if you really wanted it "right now" you could crank the heat up, but since I was working with probably $130 in pads (I did all of my headphones at once), I wasn't in the mood for screw-ups.
 
If they're leather type, all sorts of detergents and cleaners can be used on them - basically anything that can treat leather (or vinyl) would be suitable; a lot of products will probably leave a coating though (so I'd avoid things like ArmorAll). Alcohol might work, but it might also dry them out and leave them smelling funky (I don't know). Try babywipes - they'll remove leather rot (which is RANCID) from your hands, but don't dry your hands out in the process - they also generally smell pleasant and mild (you can probably find unscented ones, they may be marked "for sensitive babies" or something like that). Should be cheap too; I believe the off-brand packages are only a few dollars each (and you'll find all manner of uses for the 90-some-odd wipes you don't use on your headphones).
 
 
 
Feb 17, 2012 at 12:30 AM Post #10 of 18
it depends on the alcohol. rubbing and isopropyl are different. isopropyl works better but if it's higher then 50% and afraid of drying out the leather you can dilute the alcohol with tap water. i have a whole gallon jug of diluted isopropyl alcohol cause i like to keep my headphones clean and sometimes i loan them out or i get loaners so i try to keep things clean and neat as possible since i treat mine and others equipment very respectfully and want it to last long as possible(i have headphones over 30 years old and still look brand new cause i like to keep them clean).

i haven't tried other things for cleaning since all headphones i have use leather/vinyl padding. alcohol seemed to work for me getting rid of funky smells from older headphones i would collect and buy from people and getting rid of build up oils that gets absorb over time of use(this is what really ruins the pads is skin oils and so forth). it may work or not though for the op. alcohol is only thing i can think of without discoloring the pads and the plastic of the headphone.
 
Feb 17, 2012 at 4:37 AM Post #15 of 18
Store it in an airtight box with some charcoal or dry tea leaves and leave them overnight. I think that's what my friend does for odd smells on items, seems to work for him. 
 

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