Mass cleaning - Sega Genesis and Master System cases

[Lady Jaye]

Last week, I got from my best friend her entire Sega Master System and Sega Genesis collection. All her SMS and half the Genny games are in their original plastic cases, but the problem is that the whole set has been exposed to years and years of cigarette smoke. We've started to try to reduce/remove the smell via different methods found online (ie. fabric softener sheet and eventually coffee grounds and baking soda -- the latter two NOT in direct contact with the games and consoles, obviously!)

Does anyone know whether we can safely do a mass washing of the plastic clamshell game cases (after removing the paper sleeves, of course!) in soapy dishwater, or would that kill the plastic sheet that hold the sleeves into place? It'd sure speed up the massive cleaning process if that were possible!

[FABombjoy]

Works fine, no worries. I've soaked many a tubful of Genesis and SMS cases with Dow foaming cleaner and/or dish washing soap.

After they're rinsed, I slide some paper towel in the insert location. Otherwise they trap water and take forever to dry.

[MaxWar]

I like to put stuff in the dish washer

Never tried with game cases but I would be game.

The other day i put a grimmy snes case in there and it came out perfect.

[xelement5x]

I find exposure to vinegar helps really remove the smoke smell that seems to bind to items. Activated charcoal supposedly has a similar effect but I've never used that. I had some stinky 32x boxes I stuck in a container with an open bowl off vinegar and closed it off for a week, then came back later and pulled them out. The cardboard smelled of vinegar for maybe another week, but that smell dissipates and took the smoke odor with it. Just to be sure I stuck a dryer sheet in there though for the long term.

[Koa Zo]

I like to put stuff in the dish washer

Never tried with game cases but I would be game.

The other day i put a grimmy snes case in there and it came out perfect.

Some detergents may accelerate the decomposition process of plastics or their coloring dyes.

I'd think dish soap would be mostly benign. Though it likely isn't sufficient to really get the penetrated cigarette smell out of the plastic.
I believe what works best is taking the games out to a mountain meadow during the full moon following the Vernal equinox. Have them lay out all night absorbing moon beams and mountain mist, that should do the trick!

[APE992]

Plastics and paper products will naturally emit that smell for some time. I had a copy of Enemy Zero for the Saturn that reeked of the stuff for months but eventually the smell dissipated and all was good.

Problem is the smell is horrid when you notice it and it can leech into other items nearby. Not the best solution by any means.

[Niku-Sama]

the dishwasher works ok but if they are super bad and to the point of being kind of sticky you'll either have to do it a few times to get the grime off and then burry it in sawdust for a while to get the smell out.

I don't know why I thought of it but I remember needing to salvage a remote for something I had and it was really bad, sticky with cigarette tar and everything, after I got the tar off it still smelled like ass and dad was working on the hardwood floors and there was a decent pile of sawdust so I grabbed a bit buried the remote and let it sit for weeks. as the sawdust dried and became stale in a sence it leeched the smell out of the remote greatly reducing the smell so it didn't make the whole room reek and it even pulled some more tar out of the plastic and discolored the sawdust a little bit. it was odd.

thinking about it I probably wouldn't use cedar or any type of red wood because they tend to be a bit oily and not recommended for direct prolonged contact with clothes because the raw wood can discolor them

[Polygon]

I would imagine the heat from the dish washer would melt and distort the thin plastic that cover slides under.

[Guy767]

It's not Hardcore Collector Kosher but have you considered buying Universal Game Cases (http://www.mediashelving.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=W&Product_Code=USCG)? Perhaps you can salvage the original paper inserts and use new cases?