2-stroke "stink"

[CincyBurner]

Recently I've used VP fuel and have noticed that the exhaust smell seems much less acrid than when using Stihl fuel mix.
Heavily used chainsaw clothes don't go into regular hamper. If late night/early morning chainsaw use, cloths usually dropped or soaked in basement laundry, and l'll I take a shower to eliminate exhaust smell before crawling back into bed.
I've left my clothes air outside and that gets the worst.
My wife usually pre-treats and soaks my nasty dirty work clothes in wash tub or sink overnight before washing them, which eliminates the exhaust smell.

(Laundry detergent rant) I can't stand smell of imputed scents (only use no-scent wash detergent). In my thinking that's one of reasons why clothes were washed, to eliminate smells, not to then pollute clean clothes with more smells (imaginary scents like 'spring rain' 'mountain fresh' which just smells artificial).​

 

[Ashful]

If late night/early morning chainsaw use, cloths usually dropped or soaked in basement laundry, and l'll I take a shower to eliminate exhaust smell before crawling back into bed.

You know, this creates more new questions than it answers! Late night chainsaw use? I gotta ask...

 

[ABMax24]

I've got some Ipone brand oil for my sled that smells like strawberries. No joke. Like not actual fresh strawberries, but that artificial strawberry smell, mixed with the beautiful smell of 2-stroke oil and gasoline. But it's Jaso FD rated so probably not good for an air-cooled engine.

I don't get complaints on my chainsaw gear, I only burn a liter or so of fuel in a day so they don't smell that bad. I do however get the gears on the sledding gear, 60 liters of AvGas and a couple liters of AmsOils Dominator Race Oil leaves my bibs pretty smelly at the end of the day, and washing them just breaks down the waterproofing in the fabric. Hanging them to dry somewhere works pretty good (usually in front of the wood stove), especially if a fan gets some ariflow over them, it's surprising how constant airflow pulls the smell out of the fabric.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

You could always not wear anything under the chainsaw chaps/PPE.

 

[rwh63]

wear a zipper jumpsuit.

 

[brenndatomu]

I always wear azzless chaps when I use the saw...

 

[EatenByLimestone]

It’ll stop that neighbor from coming over to chat while you’re working!

 

[Ashful]

You could always not wear anything under the chainsaw chaps/PPE.

Just wearing my chaps would help, but most of my 2-stroke is actually a string trimmer or hand-held blower, both which get used every 4th day for more than half the year. Chainsaws are really only frequently used during the winter, and I honestly probably don my chaps only once per year, as I hate being too warm.

I was out sawing and splitting for two solid days in single-digit temperatures last week, wind chills well below zero, and I still forgot to wear my chaps both days!

 

[tlc1976]

It’ll stop that neighbor from coming over to chat while you’re working!

Depends on what kind of neighbors you got 😲

 

[fbelec]

i agree with rwhite a cup of white vinegar we used to have a mold type of smell with towels when they got wet from use until we started to use vinegar. i used it when a cheap dri wear type of material got b/o smell that would not wash out so i tried it again with vinegar and gone. and it really doesn't smell after it. ah maybe a little but who doesn't like smelling like a salad

 

[semipro]

I'm with your wife on the smell - I hate it. I've never noticed it persisting in my cleaned clothes though.
I 2nd the vinegar suggestion. My wife uses it for stinky wash items.
Hydrogen peroxide might work. It works well to remove the skunk smell from clothes and dogs. Unfortunately, it is an oxidizer and may also degrade your clothes as bleach does.

 

[peakbagger]

I will take the two stroke stink over heating oil stink anytime.

 

[brenndatomu]

I will take the two stroke stink over heating oil stink anytime.

Or even worse, used gear oil...that can hang around for days!

 

[Ashful]

I have spent so much of my life steeped in all of these oils, that none of them really bother me. Heck, heating oil reminds me of dad's shop when I was a kid, which was located in our old boiler room. Gear oil reminds me of my 20's, wasted working on offroad trucks and drag racing. This decade's flavor is 2-stroke oil.

 

[semipro]

Batteries don't smell unless they catch on fire.

 

[Ashful]

Batteries don't smell unless they catch on fire.

... which a casual perusal of the news would make it appear they do with somewhat alarming frequency.

I know stat's get distorted by the spotlight, and the actual numbers must be very low. But at the same time, I've never had a gas-powered chainsaw spontaneously combust after days sitting on a shelf in my barn.

 

[gthomas785]

If it bothers her that much keep your work clothes outside until ready to wash and then do a separate load.

 

[farmwithjunk]

Have you tried offroad ethanol free fuel? I use AVGAS (mixed for ultralight) often with Amsoil Dominator and prior Saber and it doesn't have that stench that road fuel has. I don't like the stench that road fuel leaves on everything it touches. I've heard from others that Stihl oil specifically gives them headaches.

 

[Ashful]

If it bothers her that much keep your work clothes outside until ready to wash and then do a separate load.

If my work clothes weren't ready for wash after each and every use, I wasn't working hard enough!

 

[gthomas785]

If my work clothes weren't ready for wash after each and every use, I wasn't working hard enough!

Yeah lol I guess I meant when you have a big enough pile to fill the machine

 

[Scott from Akron]

I second the Klotz. It has an interesting smell. Used it in my old Honda TRX250R and now my power equipment because I didn't like the smell of what came with it.

 

[rwhite]

If my work clothes weren't ready for wash after each and every use, I wasn't working hard enough!

Did the vinegar work?

 

[yooperdave]

Reminds me of the years that the iron mines were open. Talk about contaminated washing machines, everything that went in them came out red

 

[Ashful]

Did the vinegar work?

I had recommended it to my wife, but she said she had just picked up some new odor eliminator that she wanted to try on the next load. I'll see if she's had a chance to do that.

Of course, I haven't run much 2-stroke equipment the last two weeks, either. To cold to need a string trimmer, to wet and warm to work on firewood. Spent the weekend doing oil changes, vacuuming vehicles, checking tires, changing fuel filters, greasing a tractor...