A few years ago, I used to be part of a Facebook group themed on photography. It is there where I gave people advice about taking better photos using my granny as an example. Maybe, someday I will post here some of those advice. Today I want to tell you about a different advice coming from a granny. Not my granny but a granny. Which granny? I don’t know but it doesn’t matter.
Pictured here is my beloved Zeiss Ikon Colora, a 35mm film camera, with fixed lens, no light-meter incorporated and manual focus. It is a 1962 model, lovely camera which (with a bit of practice) can give one very good results. I love it. I bought this camera together with a 1965 Voigtlander (also 35mm) and a 1965 Zeiss Ikon Nettar (120mm folding camera) from a very young guy who found them in his grandparents’ attic after they passed away. Each one of them came with an amazing leather case, something that you don’t see anymore. The one for the Colora is pictured bellow.
The guy who sold them didn’t know for how long the cameras were in the attic, and didn’t know if they are working or not. I just bought them, took care of them, and now I’m very proud to have them and very happy also. But the time spent in the attic had its toll: the cameras were smelly; a musty smell and I didn’t like it.
I sprayed the leather cases with Febreeze a few times and I got rid of the smell. But I couldn’t get rid of the smell from cameras. Ok, the cameras weren’t as bad as the cases but still bothered me. So, I asked and I searched the internet and I asked again and nobody could give me a solution. Oh, I even bought a UV box, treat the cameras with UV light (based on the presumption that the smell is coming from a bacteria) and still nothing. Until a few weeks ago when during a chat with my friend, I told her about my problem. And she goes:
“Why don’t you pull a granny job on them?”
“Huh?! What the heck are you talking about?”
“Go old school, a granny solution”
“I will go any school if I know any”
“Here: put your camera in a plastic bag together with bicarbonate of soda and a few leaves of a plant with strong smell like coriander or mint and tie the bag. Leave it there for 2-3 days and the smell is gone”
“Are you serious?”
“Sure I am, I did it myself with a lovely lady’s leather purse and it’s working perfectly”
And I did. The bellow photo is the proof that I did. Left the camera in the plastic bag for 4 days and now the musty smell is gone. At the moment the camera smells of mint but I don’t know for how long that smell will last. But I know for a fact that some of the granny solutions are the best!
I learnt something new! Thank you! A dry cleaning service for the camera.
I'm guessing I can't use this solution on teenagers?