Rant: Why does my workshop always smell like a damp basement?

I was at a bike co-op in Portland last weekend helping fix up old Schwinns. The place was super clean and smelled like citrus degreaser. Got back to my garage and realized my own setup reeks of wet rags and rust. I think it's because I never wipe down my truing stand after using it. Anyone else have a musty smell problem and figure out a fix?

2 comments

2 Comments

sarah53129d ago

Wait, have you ever tried just wiping down the truing stand with a rag and some wd40 after each use? That alone cut my smell down by like half. I was in the same boat with the wet rag smell and it turned out I had a pile of old shop towels hiding behind a shelf that were basically growing their own ecosystem. The simple green and shop vac trick works but you gotta do it more than once a month if you're working on bikes every weekend.

the_evan1mo ago

Man, have you tried leaving a bucket of charcoal briquettes in there? Honestly, the damp rag thing is brutal - I had the same issue until I realized I was tossing oily paper towels in a corner and they just festered. Tbh, the truing stand thing matters too, all that sweat and lube just sits there. I finally just started spraying everything down with simple green and hitting it with a shop vac once a month. Ngl, it still smells a little funky but not like a wet dog anymore.