new fiberglass smell

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:sad Any suggestions on what to do to reduce the smell? It seemed ok for sleeping, but very unpleasant when you welcome someone in. Somewhat like wet dog mixed with dog pea.
Jean:sad

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When your trailer is at home you might wish to run
something like a Honeywell Air Cleaner for several weeks.
These type of machines often have two and even three
filters (carbon, hepa, etc.) and they do remove gases
such as formaldehyde along with the tiniest particles.
You can get the smaller Honeywells for around $100 US
and you're looking at approximately $30 per year in filter
replacements depending on how much you use it. Before
buying anything like a Sharpe Ionicbreeze I would urge
you to search the web for reviews first. Several highly respected medical organizations claim they do more damage than good.

Good luck! I love your trailer's lines!

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just leave the windows open for a week or so and it'll be gone.

It's possible the smell is in the curtains/cushions so it might take a while to air out. I generally do fiberglassing with all fabrics removed from the area so it really only takes overnight to air out.

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It's an 02 trailer??????????, should be old enuf to be rid of the 'fiberglass smell'.

Are ya sure it's not the grey or black tank. Even if 'empty' or sometimes especially when they're 'empty', it'll burn your eyes and smell like......well you know, THAT smell.

Might rinse out the tanks good.

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Off-gassing in new homes has been an important
topic in the construction business for the past 10 years. Numerous gasses called VOCs (volatile organic compounds) have been measured
coming from the following building materials: carpet, carpet padding,
carpet adhesives (really bad!), cabinetry (specially MDF etc.), paint, countertops, cushion foam, fabrics. Our fiberglass trailers all have these in abundance relative to the incredibly small square footage. As well, our trailers are air tight. Tighter than the best made homes! Off-gassing has put countless people in hospitals and has led to lots of kids developing asthma and other allergies. The construction industry has responded with so-called "greener" materials and many state building codes now require new homes to be equipped with high velocity exhaust fans which must be hardwired to run so many hours per day for the first year etc.

If you have a new trailer you should consider this. If you have children staying in your trailer you really must consider this. Run your fantastic fans or better yet, clean the air with a filtering system. Sorry for the sermon but I've got a friend who is chemically sensitive and he wasn't born this way. Seeing how much he suffers and how severely restricted his life is makes me take this seriously.

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Thanks for the warnings. So disguising the smell is not the answer.

PineCone Don
re 2002.This past week was the first time anyone had slept in it. We bought it new off the lot in Dec. So I do think it is not the tank,unless the mfg or dealer put anything in the tank. We saw it at the end of season sale in Nov. in T.O. The people who were lokking at it at the same time said it had the same smell as their new f/g boat.
Jean

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Hi
I agree totally with all who have mentioned the off-gasing. It can be unbearable for those with chemical sensitivities. Why not remove all the cushions and curtains and lay them outside to air out. See if the smell remains.

When we got our 75 Trillium 4 years ago it smelled horrible inside. Very much like fiberglass with something undetermined added in. We were certain that 25 years later the thing couldn't possibly still smell like fiberglass and eventually discovered the smell was from the plastic cutlery tray that goes under the edge of the table. It was unbelievable how bad that thing smelled. Luckily Rubbermaid still makes the identical sized tray.

Maybe your trailer has something similar causing the smell.
Nancy

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Jean,
It took our trailer weeks to finally become mostly free of the smell. We brought it straight home without spending the night in it and removed the cushions the next day because we were starting a conversion to twin beds. We did not have carpet on the floor. So ours had to mostly be carpet on the walls and the fiberglass. I am not chemical sensitive but the smell we had was offensive to say the least. It was Feb. when we did all this and to me I would think the heat of Texas in the summer would have made it worse for us. We opened everything we could and left it that way all day unless it was raining. I guess time was the answer to our smelly egg because there was no cleaning that I could do to make it better.

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Norm or Jean,

When I inspected an o2 that was close to our home I noticed that they do have a heavy smell of fiberglass. I also noticed that there was no insulation or barrier between the walls and the occupants so the occupants would be exposed to the construction materials.

Perhaps yours is different. If not, that smell may be something you'll have to adjust to.

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Surely if that was the problem, they could just paint, or insulate, or carpet the walls. whole new spin on the problem; a chance to redecorate. :jump-r

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If the smell is indeed coming from fiberglass (polyester resin), then ventilation is key. As others have mentioned.

The gases produced when fiberglass is curing, which can take weeks, is heavier than air. So there may be areas in the camper, under seat storage, closet, or others depending on your layout that have accumulated the odor. Some forced ventilation to all compartments would be what I tried first.

You can't store food in the bulkhead of your new fiberglass sea kayak for the same reason.

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:conf

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A Nomad (anomad): Yes you're exactly right. The bit about not storing food in a new fiberglass bulkhead is extremely interesting. Never thought of that! The good thing about using a Honeywell (or similar) is that you're supposed to use them with the windows closed or open just a crack. That way the unit is continually drawing the contaminated air into its filters and cleaning it. If your windows are wide open you're just wasting time cleaning the outside air. I ran my honeywell 12 hours a day day for about two months and every few days I'd run the Fantastic fan with the honeywell off.

Cheers!

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oh no anotherthing to worry about, i almost had my mind made up to order new but after reading these post now i dont know , smells give me migraines... is it n all fiberglass like a scamp? i guess i better spend time reading more on this website , usually i just check trailers for sale post, but when i have time im going to read read read..before i buy..my husband says this will be our last r.v that we buy so i dont want any regrets..:wave

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I know it's easy for me to say because I'm not the one who gets migranes from different smells. But I would really encourage you to
go with a fiberglass trailer. They are the absolute best. Off-gassing
takes place in any trailer, not just fiberglass trailers. If you use
a Honeywell or similar type filter (Honeywell is the cheapest of
all the filters that consistently receive high ratings in various consumer
tests) everyday for a few weeks (24 hours a day) I really doubt you'll
have any probelms. Keep all your cabinet doors wide open so, as
Anomad suggests, you'll get forced ventilation everywhere. After two weeks try sleeping in the trailer at your residence or close by if that's not possible. If all's well take off on a trip! If not try it for two weeks more. Once it's okay just run you filter every now and then--particularly just before you head out. After a year there will be
such minimal off-gassing that it shouldn't be an iussue.

When I brought the off-gassing topic up I was only trying to help. The last thing I want to do is steer anyone away from these fantatsic RVs.

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Most construction products outgas something undesirable, whether it be resin smells, formaldehyde (plywoods,...) or plastics. RVs are particularly bad about it because they are a fairly confined space, and experience more heat gain than a home, due to less insulation. The things that will cause outgassing include: fiberglass (including the insulation used in stickbuilts), plastics, plywood, carpet, vinyl and adhesives. A fiberglass egg isn't any worse than a stickbuilt about this. If you get an air filter, you want one with activated charcoal, not just a particle filter. The charcoal actually absorbs the gasses that are causing the problem.

Shaklee Corp makes an air purifier that is very successful at the elimination of smells. It isn't actually a filter - it treats the air electronically. It's called AirSource, and it comes in sizes for the home and for the car/rv. I have one of each, and love them! (Yes, by the way, I am a Shaklee distributor, but no, I'll not try to sell you one. That's not why I'm here. Go to www.airsource.com or www.shaklee.com if you want more info). They aren't cheap, by the way, but they aren't just a blower with a paper filter, which most of the filtration systems are.

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I just bought a new 2003 17’ Casita. It has a fiberglass smell (mostly in the bathroom).

This is the second new Casita for me. The smell lasts about a month or so.

Some of the folks that know Roland, know that he has extreme chemical sensitivities. It has caused him problems with his work situation. He thinks these Fiberglass trailers are great. He owns a 16’ Casita.

My experience is that the odor is a very short term thing with new trailers.

I hope this helps.

:wave

Linda, I see you live in California too. If you like to come visit Lori and me to see a new one, please email me. We live about three hours south of you.

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Nathan's wife Daisy has multiple chemical sensitivities and allergies.

He's written lots about how they can only camp in a molded fiberglass rig.

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>>come see a new trailer

Michael, I'd like to come see your new trailer!

How about posting some pictures!

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It is so hot here, and I haven’t washed it since I got home. It has road tar on the front - OUCH!

Also, I would be too embarrassed to let Suz see it without a new waxy shine.

It has been sitting idle for 4 days. We are repacking for another trip this weekend to “The Lake;” waterski trip with the kids and grand-kids. Yea!

:wave