I have a Camphorwood chest made in the 1970’s. I have such a strong recollection of opening it and getting the lovely smell wafting up! I wondered if any of our more learned members might know the correct way of restoring the smell?
Camphor chest
dfk41 It was an episode of red Dwarf called “Marooned”
To keep warm during their stories, Lister burns Rimmer’s collection of books and a sizeable amount of money he saved up in life. When the fire burns low, Lister suggests using either Rimmer’s collection of 19th century war figures or his camphor wood chest, to which Rimmer refuses to let them be used and recommends that Lister’s guitar be burned instead. Lister reluctantly agrees and asks for a moment alone, whereupon he secretly cuts out a silhouette of his guitar from the trunk, burns it, and hides his guitar in a locker. When Rimmer returns, he commends Lister for his assumed sacrifice, noting how much their personal belongings each mean to them. Shortly afterwards, Kryten and Cat arrive, having searched for the pair for the past two days, revealing that Holly mistook grit on the ship’s scanner-scope for black holes. As the group prepare to leave, Rimmer discovers Lister’s deceit when he recovers his guitar, and advises Kryten to grab a hacksaw as he prepares to make him a eunuch
As you might guess, I have watched every episode of Red Dwarf, many many times and they still make me laugh.
DavecUK Excellent series was Red Dwarf! But, still trying to work the answer out!
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You can’t restore the smell - once it’s gone it’s gone - the volatile oils that cause the smell eventually diminish.
If you want to smell it one last time, you could saw it in half - exposing fresh grain will release the smell briefly but you’ll no longer have a chest; you’ll have two half chests! :-)
Gagaryn I have heard of folks lightly sanding it down to achieve that……silly old me thought that you could simply buy some oil and apply!
Vicks Chest Rub?…..🙈🤣
Platypus Funnily enough, I thought of that. Not to treat the wood with but to impregnate something and place it in the chest
dfk41 Funnily enough, I thought of that. Not to treat the wood with but to impregnate something and place it in the chest
There is no camphor oil product for wood though
DavecUK Would something like cotton wool balls smeared with Vicks work? The chest is sealed 99.99% of the time so it is justs to give you that aroma on opening it
I seem to recall small balls made of camphor wood being used to give the smell to chests and linen cupboards.
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You could try the Vicks on a piece of timber or a cloth.
That way, if it was foul you could just remove it.
Bath shops do have products with camphor scents including camphor oil.
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dfk41 Would something like cotton wool balls smeared with Vicks work? The chest is sealed 99.99% of the time so it is justs to give you that aroma on opening it
I would buy this https://naturallythinking.com/camphor-essential-oil
and put some drops inside, you might have to spread it out, but I personally would put a drop or 2 in each corner. Get it from here and not Amazon as it’s almost impossible to get genuine products like this from Amazon. I once bought some so called genuine essential oils from Amazon and they were so dilute you could hardly smell them…never again.
Vicks has very little camphor in it and other things that don’t smell like camphor.
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DavecUK Many thanks……I have bought a 30ml bottle and cannot wait for it to arrive. There is a story to the chest. My father was a lawyer and back in the 70’s he had a client who opened the first sit down Chinese restaurant in Newcastle. It was called The Sunrise, next to what is now The Monument Metro station. It was enormous and set in a basement of The Emmerson Chambers, a rather grand building. Same gentleman also opened a smaller one at the same time in North Shields 50 yards from my fathers offices in Howard Street. My father used to take me to the restaurant on a lunchtime when aged about 10 on the odd day I went in with him. I can remember the menu was 3 courses for 2 shillings and 6 pence.
Anyway, one Xmas, shortly after the New Years break, unannounced, a van pulled up outside our home. Some Chinese men got out and brought into the house this hand carved chest, that when you opened it (it was brand new) you were hit with the smell on camphor. That is some 50 odd years ago now and it has been a long time since I smelt it! I might add a photo of the chest tomorrow as quite a few have said it is one of the nicest carved ones they have seen!
dfk41 Beautiful old building, shame we have lost the ability to design and build like this any more.
