Off gassing the “new camper” (formaldehyde) smell!

[MMouse]

Thought I’d add the steps I took for accelerated off gassing in my 2021 1800BH as it seems to have helped a great deal!

I’m super sensitive to chemical smells (I’ve returned furniture deliveries with less smell than my camper had). I did a number of things, and almost 4 weeks later I’m proud to say I can *almost* no longer detect any smell at all in it, and what smell there is is limited to a faint “new plywood” smell vs that sweet formaldehyde smell from the beginning. And mine is parked in the shade! So there’s definitely hope for you owners in hot climates as ours is pretty temperate.
I did the following:
- aired the thing out all day and night for a few days
- heated it up with the furnace, then aired it out again (you may have the sun on your side for this)
- kept a big room fan plugged in and running all day and into the evening every day for at least a week, with all the doors and windows and cabinets open
- ammonium hydroxide! *remove all bedding and mattresses, cushions, etc first* I bought a 10% ammonium solution from the hardware store, and poured some into 2 shallow paint trays. Then I locked it up, all windows and doors closed but cabinets open inside, and waited 48 hours. Formaldehyde gas is neutralized by ammonia gas. When I opened it back up, it smelled faintly of ammonia. Then I wiped everything down, and turned the fan back on for a couple days to air it again.
- I took all the upholstery out, curtains (not shades) and dinette pieces (partly because they are covered in flame retardant chemicals) and once I got them out of the trailer, I realized how strongly THOSE smelled. I took all the foam out and sat those in the sun for a week, and machine washed the covers and then put those in the sun too. Those are all now smell free!

If you want to test the effectiveness of all of this, get a formaldehyde test on Amazon ($10).

Oh, and I added plants Boston ferns. Hung from the cabinet hardware. But don’t put them in before the ammonia experiment… they will die. Oops.

[deany]

Thanks MMouse,
Your process is super helpful! We just picked up our 2036BHS and spent half a week in it. My wife is also sensitive to smells and was quite bothered by "new car smell" and has been feeling a bit dizzy ever since. I'll try baking out the fumes, and airing out trailer.
Was it difficult stuffing the foam back into the covers after washing all those pieces?
dean

[MMouse]

Originally Posted by deany

Thanks MMouse,
Your process is super helpful! We just picked up our 2036BHS and spent half a week in it. My wife is also sensitive to smells and was quite bothered by "new car smell" and has been feeling a bit dizzy ever since. I'll try baking out the fumes, and airing out trailer.
Was it difficult stuffing the foam back into the covers after washing all those pieces?
dean

I’m glad it helped! It is a big bother in my opinion to camp and smell anything other than the great outdoors.
I actually machine washed the dinette covers twice with oxyclean and dried in the sun for a couple weeks while the foam cushions baked in the sun and no damage to either. Took maybe 10 minutes of finagling to put them back in the covers. Definitely worth it. I’d also recommend unclipping or unhanging any fabric curtains and either replacing them or giving them a couple of good machine washed too. If you’re in a warm climate a couple of weeks with a fan and the windows open will do wonders, I’m sure.
I also replaced the main mattress with a new one, and washed the fabric on the bunk mattresses a couple of times.
I sure wish there was some sort of off gassing package the dealer could do before pickup for those with sensitivities!
Enjoy it and let me know how your efforts work out!