For the past 2 years, my toolbox and all my tools became so smelly that I thought some animal must have pooped in there. I recently bought a Trinity 27" toolchest on sale in Costco. I decided to put all my tools in the dishwasher before I transfer all tools to the chest. After I washed everything, I realized the vomit smell remains on some of my tools. I separated out all of them by sniffing them and shortly I could see that all of them are the Craftmans screwdrivers with the clear plastic handles. Apparently, the plastic emits that odor and stinks up whatever near it. For the longest time I could not figure out where the smell came from and was really contemplating donating all my tools and get a new set. Now I finally found the cause. I did a google search and there are many entries that describe the same vomit smell. So please don't buy any of that stinking screwdrivers. I will be bringing my set back to Sears to see if they can offer a solution.
BTW, the Trinity toolchest is a steal at $599 and please get one before the sales end.
Steve

 

Steve, you might try soaking the handles in a warm solution of sodium percarbonate or sodium perborate. These are the active ingredients in many of the color safe bleaches (they bleach using oxygen).

It could be that the handle plastic is porous and has soaked up skin oils which are now turning rancid.

The above products are used in many industries/products as a fragrance free way to deodorize areas.

 

OMG That happened to me also. Thanks for the info.

 

Snap-On's did that years ago, the handles also get smaller.

 

Shaving money with cheap plastic selection.

Kellogg just allowed something similar to happen on innerliner of ceral boxes, hence this week 28MM boxes recalled.

 

Tool sniffer thread.

 

I going to sniff my tools right now!

I've noticed a light smell from my Craftsman screwdrivers. Then again they're all 10+ years old. If I'm working hard I wear painters gloves so no hand contamination and often wipe the tools down with lacquer thinner after a job. Nice to grab a tool that isn't oily or, worse, slimed with ATF. Maybe that helps, or maybe it's older/newer parts that smell.

You put your tools in the dishwasher? Didn't they come out rusty?

 

My tools are too dirty to smell.

 

HAHAHA!!! This is funny! I thought I was the only one with this Craftsman stinky tool problem! I had a set of Craftsman nut drivers that were probably 20+ years old. They smelled so bad, they were to give me a headache when I used them! They had a strong putrid sour smell to them! I finally exchanged the set in to Sears for a new set. The employee asked what was wrong with them, so I told him to smell them. The look on the his face was priceless!! Nothing more needed to be said though........I got my new set of nut drivers!

 

I regularly wash my tools after a project. Not in the dishwasher but that's not a bad idea. Just be aware that dishwasher detergent is not real friendly to non-stainless metal parts, so find a different -- non-foaming -- detergent to use if you decide to machine-wash them. Mine get degreased/brushed/scrubbed in Simple Green or maybe the Orange Clean stuff. They get rinsed, hand-dried, and further air dried before they get put away. Exceptions are ratchets, GearWrenches, impact guns and impact screwdrivers, anything with metal moving parts floating around inside. I like to be able to reach into the toolbox and grab a tool without worrying about getting my hands or my project dirty. And I really don't care to work on dirty cars if I can help it; Too much work required cleaning tools and hands I guess.

 

Finally... I was wondering why my tools were so stinky!

 

Last time I purchased a screwdriver set from Sears, there were three types on the rack:

1) High quality clear polycarbonate (Made in Canada by Fuller) set that had the colored stripes on the handles
2) Cheap (Made in China) rubberized handles that feel to your skin like you're scraping the inside of a dirty septic tank with your finger nails
3) Cheap (Made in China) clear polycarbonate set that smells like the after-effects of a bad pasta primavera

You most likely bought the last set.

 

Soak them in a mixture of used gear oil and some diesel fuel. This will make them smell like they were purchased at Harbor Freight. Paint them with lead based paint to complete the transformation.

 

LOL! After the lead-based paint application, give them to your infants so that they can soak them in their mouths and wash off the balance of the carcinogenic gear oil and diesel fuel...

What's worse is that we continue to buy their junk.

 

I don't go around sniffing my tools... geez (haha)