I was wondering if anybody has noticed a strange “fish oil”- like smell in their stars. This may seem off topic, but just handling the star for a few minutes, I have become nauseated, and sick, often getting headaches. I can’t seem to imagine being at a competition with a ton of these stars, as I often find myself having to step away from just one star for a few minutes. I realize that this is a problem with the type of foam used, and the foam can’t be compromised, as the density, weight, or size will have to change, but I was wondering if anyone faced this problem, or had a solution.
Febreeze.
Try a degreaser/cleaner on the outside, maybe it’s a release agent that wasn’t properly cleaned off. Test a small area to make sure it won’t affect the covering.
The smell will most likely go away after the stars have been out of the packaging for a few days.
Leave them outside undercover overnight, to let them air out while keeping them away from humans
we got it too
Wow, that’s pretty weird. Like Natty said, I would just keep them outside with “a bit” of cover. Something like your overhead deck or something alike that, would keep them from flying away in the wind or getting their paint scraped and lost by any rain.
Thank you, I will try that tonight.
How’d it work out?
We are having the same problem, the smell doesn’t bother me, but gave my son headaches and made my wife dizzy (and she didn’t know about it) so we sent her out of the room.
We have set them outside to air out, bringing them in at night. It is fading, but definitely noticeable. I can smell it walking down the steps to the “robot room” even with the door closed.
You could try cleansing them with Isopropyl Alcohol or even just wiping them with warm soapy water.
I think it is outgassing from the foam. Don’t want to get them wet with cleaning since I imagine it will still outgas.
Not sure what else would help
I’ve had mine for two weeks, I don’t really smell them unless I actually grab a star and smell it up close.
The stars are a flexible polyurethane foam and will outgas something post manufacture. What would be nice to know is what compounds are anticipated and should we be leaving them to sit for a period of time in well ventilated areas (especially if we’re dealing with VOC’s). Would be a great time for VEX Support to chime in.
Don’t do this. You’ll probably just damage the surface and do nothing to prevent offgassing.
My bad.
We ended up buying one of these cause the headaches have continued:
You need one that handles VOCs, so a carbon filter, not just HEPA.
Eventually, I would guess this will go away.
+1
With this type of foam you can be quite certain that we ARE dealing with VOC’s.
I actually left it in a well ventilated area for a while, and it faded, but it is still definitely noticeable. I’m assuming that it will completely fade after a while, but it is now somewhat bearable.