Do new iron plates smell?

[Detrus]

I had some fun times with CAP's stinking 50 lb standard plate here http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=144641571

Do any other metal paintjobs smell? Body Solid, York, Ivanko's hammertones? I'm talking about buying new, unused. And if there's any non-iron smell, how quickly does it pass?

[Stasher1]

The only new plates I've ever bought were CAP standard grip plates from Dick's, and while they did smell a bit like paint, the smell wasn't that strong, and it appeared to go away within a couple weeks.

[KBKB]

No odor from my cheap Apollo Athletics grip plates. Or, if there is, it's not discernible from the rest of the odors in my gym.

[smokeater]

A lot of them do smell at first. I've never had a plate that still smelled after about a week or so. Sometimes it's the paint, other times it's the packing materials, and some manufacturers put a very thin coat of oil on them to keep them from rusting. Give it time and the smell will pass.

[ProtienandIron]

Just like smokeater says, I have never come accross iron plates that smell, but my dumbbell plates did from the oil they had on them... a quick rub down with a rag and it was gone.

[Detrus]

So I got a bunch of new plates and they make me dizzy. They don't smell across the room like 50 lb CAP plate, but if I spend too long in the 11'x11' room I get dizzy. If I stand near the pile of plates for a minute, get dizzier. Can't feel much smell unless I sniff from an inch away. They leave smelly residue on hands. Very similar smell to 10 and 20 lb standard plates I got, except I got more at once here.

Got them five days ago. Only rubbed them down with paper napkins. Going to try some soap and water and leaving the wrapped outside for a few weeks.

20 lb standards actually smelled across room for a few weeks but never made me ill and dizzy.

[fishpat86]

Just like smokeater says, I have never come accross iron plates that smell, but my dumbbell plates did from the oil they had on them... a quick rub down with a rag and it was gone.

Machine oil gives me a ****ing hard on!!!

[KBKB]

So I got a bunch of new plates and they make me dizzy. They don't smell across the room like 50 lb CAP plate, but if I spend too long in the 11'x11' room I get dizzy. If I stand near the pile of plates for a minute, get dizzier. Can't feel much smell unless I sniff from an inch away. They leave smelly residue on hands. Very similar smell to 10 and 20 lb standard plates I got, except I got more at once here.

Got them five days ago. Only rubbed them down with paper napkins. Going to try some soap and water and leaving the wrapped outside for a few weeks.

20 lb standards actually smelled across room for a few weeks but never made me ill and dizzy.

My guess is that they were given a light coating of oil to prevent them from rusting during storage and transport. (Stuff that's been painted shouldn't rust, but I have some painted kettlebells whose bottoms rusted when someone spilled water or some other liquid on the floor and did not clean it up right away.)

Soap and water might work, provided you use the right kind of soap. I think a degreaser would work better, probably a lot better.

Leaving the plates wrapped up outside for a few weeks probably won't do much good since you won't give the oily coating a chance to dissipate.

[Detrus]

Leaving the plates wrapped up outside for a few weeks probably won't do much good since you won't give the oily coating a chance to dissipate.

So I should leave them unwrapped? Or poke holes in plastic wrap?

I really hope it's the shipping coating but doubt it. I wiped them down with a dry napkins and dirtied up a few with hammertone paint. It was definitely hammertone residue on the napkins.

Which degreaser should I use? WD-40? Simple Green? Something a crappy hardware or 99c store carries?

[KBKB]

So I should leave them unwrapped? Or poke holes in plastic wrap?

I really hope it's the shipping coating but doubt it. I wiped them down with a dry napkins and dirtied up a few with hammertone paint. It was definitely hammertone residue on the napkins.

Which degreaser should I use? WD-40? Simple Green? Something a crappy hardware or 99c store carries?

Don't use WD-40 as it'll leave its own residue. Simple Green should be safe enough. You could also try isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol).

It worries me though that you saw hammertone paint residue when you attempted to clean them. Perhaps contact the vendor and ask them about it?

[Detrus]

Also never degreased my 200 lbs of standard grey plates, they're almost a year old. They still stink if you sniff from inch away.

[Detrus]

Don't use WD-40 as it'll leave its own residue. Simple Green should be safe enough. You could also try isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol).

It worries me though that you saw hammertone paint residue when you attempted to clean them. Perhaps contact the vendor and ask them about it?

Last time I tried rubbing alcohol it left some residue too. Yea maybe I should be worried about that hammertone wiping off with pressure from a dry napkin. Never rubs off skin or clothes though, doesn't feel sticky anywhere, have to really force it. It's a brand with impeccable reputation, maybe I'm doing something stupid.

[KBKB]

Last time I tried rubbing alcohol it left some residue too. Yea maybe I should be worried about that hammertone wiping off with pressure from a dry napkin. Never rubs off skin or clothes though, doesn't feel sticky anywhere, have to really force it. It's a brand with impeccable reputation, maybe I'm doing something stupid.

Well, if your new plates stink to the point that they make you dizzy, and the paint rubs off, I doubt that it's you doing anything stupid. Talk to the vendor.

[Detrus]

Well, if your new plates stink to the point that they make you dizzy, and the paint rubs off, I doubt that it's you doing anything stupid. Talk to the vendor.

They don't stink. I can't smell them from a distance. I just get dizzy staying in the same room at same 90F temperature when I haven't before.

[Northernmoris]

My big question is what the hell are you buying and from where? Why not buy used? You have a good market. I have a nice York milled Olympic set or 12 50# standard pancake plates I could sell you, no smells. I'm 15 min from GWB.. Pm me..

[Detrus]

My big question is what the hell are you buying and from where? Why not buy used? You have a good market. I have a nice York milled Olympic set or 12 50# standard pancake plates I could sell you, no smells. I'm 15 min from GWB.. Pm me..

I got an Ironcompany discount code and bought a revolver set. Surely they can be cleaned up. So I'm looking for another two or four 45 lb olympics that are 450mm.

Before I bought standard CAP for $40 each on Amazon, not sure they can be cleaned.

[twodog]

I got an Ironcompany discount code and bought a revolver set. Surely they can be cleaned up. So I'm looking for another two or four 45 lb olympics that are 450mm.

Before I bought standard CAP for $40 each on Amazon, not sure they can be cleaned.

Even Ivanko makes their plates in China, like everyone else, and the quality control in Chinese factories are subpar. The difference is that the better plates are shipped with an oil to prevent any rusting. I've always used Simple Green to get rid of rubber smells and oils. If the oil is heavy, I will use WD-40 to knock it down and Simple Green to get rid of the WD-40, but usually I only need to do this on machine parts not plates.

Good luck.

BTW, congrats on the the plates !

[Detrus]

btw which Simple Green are we talking about here? Automotive or general purpose? How does a regular general purpose cleaner/degreaser compare?

[KeithTheSnake]

No odor from my cheap Apollo Athletics grip plates. Or, if there is, it's not discernible from the rest of the odors in my gym.

I haven't bought new plates in decades, so I don't suffer any "new plate" smell. This made me curious when I first read about the OP's experience. I know it sounds weird, but I went to Dicks and Walmart and smelled the plates just to see what the OP was talking about. They didn't smell too bad.

Me, personally, I've given up on worrying about new smells in my gym. Between my t-shirt that smells like a mule, the basement bathroom that contains the cat litter box, and my ancient dog who has to be kept out of the basement to prevent him from pissing on my gym floor, I quit worrying. What doesn't kill me makes me stronger. Kinda makes you want the smell of new plates, doesn't it?

[KBKB]

btw which Simple Green are we talking about here? Automotive or general purpose? How does a regular general purpose cleaner/degreaser compare?

Simple Green makes a lot of products. I was suggesting that you use the general purpose cleaner. You can read more about my adventures with Simple Green here:

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...#post660818663

Note, however, that I was cleaning stall mats, not plates.

(If you want something that's really aggressive, you could try brake cleaner. Do it outside, wear gloves and eye protection, and test it on a small portion of one plate before doing the rest. I don't think it'll take the paint off, but you never know...)

[Detrus]

Simple Green makes a lot of products. I was suggesting that you use the general purpose cleaner. You can read more about my adventures with Simple Green here:

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...#post660818663

But you have Simple Green Automotive pictured there

[KBKB]

But you have Simple Green Automotive pictured there

Yeah, that was for the experiment with the one mat where the water was beading up a lot. Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos of the more ordinary stuff that I used for the other mat. (My theory was that if the water was beading up a lot on the mat, it was probably still coated with some smelly oily stuff...)

It may be that the Simple Green Automotive degreaser degraded the mat that I used it on. I had a small piece of the mat break off when I installed it. Nothing like that had happened with any of the other (three) mats that I have.

[twodog]

I haven't bought new plates in decades, so I don't suffer any "new plate" smell. This made me curious when I first read about the OP's experience. I know it sounds weird, but I went to Dicks and Walmart and smelled the plates just to see what the OP was talking about. They didn't smell too bad.

Me, personally, I've given up on worrying about new smells in my gym. Between my t-shirt that smells like a mule, the basement bathroom that contains the cat litter box, and my ancient dog who has to be kept out of the basement to prevent him from pissing on my gym floor, I quit worrying. What doesn't kill me makes me stronger. Kinda makes you want the smell of new plates, doesn't it?

I agree with you about the new smells in the gym not bothering me, but 1) I'm not real sensitive and 2) i can leave my gym when I'm done. OP lifts in the same room that he lives (not uncommon in NYC), and has a sensitivity problem, I understand how the smell can be overwhelming.

[Detrus]

I haven't bought new plates in decades, so I don't suffer any "new plate" smell. This made me curious when I first read about the OP's experience. I know it sounds weird, but I went to Dicks and Walmart and smelled the plates just to see what the OP was talking about. They didn't smell too bad.

I'm going to visit a store again and see if their plates smell. When I first shopped for weights in stores I didn't notice any smell. I played with those ugly Marcy or CAP oly grip plates. Perhaps it was blocked by other smells in the store, like rubber and synthetic cloths.

It's not the scents per se that worry me. It's the underlying contents. I don't want to sleep in a toxic dump. Feeling ill from keeping weights in my room that I washed up is frustrating. I'd rather have piss and sweat instead of toxic shipping oils I can't seem to wash off or paint that comes with cancer warnings.

[KeithTheSnake]

...It's not the scents per se that worry me. It's the underlying contents. I don't want to sleep in a toxic dump. Feeling ill from keeping weights in my room that I washed up is frustrating. I'd rather have piss and sweat instead of toxic shipping oils I can't seem to wash off or paint that comes with cancer warnings.

I can appreciate that.

Here's an all-natural, time-tested solution that you should have learned from your grandmother:

Cast iron skillets, pans, pots all have one thing in common: New ones have to be seasoned. Granny knew how to do this.

Given this premise, the first thing that this project requires is the removal of paint from the plates. All of it.

Next, you'll need some olive oil and a paper towel. You'll rub the olive oil onto the plates.

Thereafter, place the thing in a 250-degree oven.

This will season the plates, preventing corrosion. It'll be non-toxic -- except for the caustic chemicals you'd use to remove the paint. You won't have any paint chips get in your eye while you're training, you'll never have to paint your plates again, and your plates will smell like a fajita. Problem solved.

[Accutron]

Thats bizarre, as I have about 1,000lbs in metal plates and they have literally no smell at all. None of my gym gear has any smell and I have a really sensitive nose.

Can you post a pic of what your plates look like? Id powerdrill with a wire cup brush, wipe with mineral spirits, then spray with the quick dry krylon. Ive used it in -10C weather and it dried fine.