How to Get Gasoline Smell Out Of....

**many houseapes** · 07-18-2009, 08:14 PM

a 33 gallon Rubbermaid barrel?? Dh used it to temporarily hold the gas from our van when he repaired the fuel line. I really don't want to throw it away & could really use something like this to store things...but I don't want everything to smell like gas. I've already tried washing with soap & water & it didn't work.How can I get the smell out??Thanks

**savvy_sniper** · 07-18-2009, 08:19 PM

Put some charcoal in it, close it, and leave it for several days. If that doesn't work, just open it and leave it outside in the sun and see if that helps.

**starsapphire** · 07-18-2009, 11:26 PM

I would try leaving it out opened in the hot sun to bake for several days.

**zakity** · 07-18-2009, 11:54 PM

I was thinking some baking soda maybe.

**pollypurebred39** · 07-19-2009, 12:41 AM

Febreeze laundry additive to get rid of strong odors in the wash. This is some powerful stuff. Put a few capfuls in container fill with water and let soak for a week or so. I've used this stuff for odors that were so offensive they hit you like a brick wall and it took away all malodors.

Note: This is NOT the same stuff that's in the febreeze fabric refresher bottles. This is a laundry additive.

**frugalfranny** · 07-19-2009, 01:17 AM

Wash it with some soap and regular coffee.....just scrub it like normal. Any old cheap coffee will do...but not instant. I would make about a 1/4 cup of paste and try it.

I make a melt and pour 'garden soap' that has coffee and ground almonds in it and is for cleaning hands. I have it on my kitchen sink. I grabbed it one day 'experimenting' to get a sauce stain (red, of course) and garlic smell out of a plastic container......it worked. Now when all else fails for a smell I use coffee. (I keep a 'cheap' can downstairs. I don't use my 'good stuff')

**Grainlady** · 07-19-2009, 05:07 AM

Plastic is a porous material and I doubt that you'll ever remove the smell of gas. I have 50-gallon recycled barrels, we use for rain barrels, that had some sort of pickled something-er-other (maybe olives) in them at one time, and after cleaning with soda/water and a pressure washer at the end of each season, these rain barrels still smell like it after several years of use.

**Greebo** · 07-19-2009, 05:15 AM

Originally Posted by Grainlady

Plastic is a porous material and I doubt that you'll ever remove the smell of gas.

That was my thinking too - especially since the plastic is quite possibly a petroleum derivative just like gas...

**Contrary Housewife** · 07-19-2009, 11:55 AM

I think you're unlikely to get the smell out, as others have pointed out plastic is a petroleum product, the gasoline molecules have bonded with the molecules in the tub. No scrubbing will remove that.

Plain charcoal might help, the kind made from charred wood. Don't use briquettes with lighter fluid on them.