Stinky Starfish...Help!

[J's Gal]

OK, ladies...I need a little help. We ordered our invitations early to take advantage of Michelle's Birthday Sale (mypersonalartist.com), they look fabulous by the way.:D But here is the problem, we ordered the starfish to tie around each bottle and boy, do they ever stink. The entire box they were in is just outrageous! I can only image the look on my guests face when they open the box and are completely overwhelmed with the smell! :eek: Any suggestions to help get rid of the awful smell?

[momofsamandeden]

I would try sticking them outside to air it all out since they were all packed together in a box. If that does not work then try something like febreeze. I use Renuzits kind all the time on things that my LO spits up on and the smell goes away after a few sprays.

[Irisheyeskb]

I was in your shoes not long ago! I went through batches of starfish to get rid of the smell. Finally, a friend gave me the best idea - and it worked, and it's so easy!

 

Clear spraypaint. A few coats and you're good to go.

 

I sent mine in boxes along with my invitations. I added a few drops of coconut scented oil from Bath & Body Works and it worked miracles! Our invitees opened the invitation with a nice tropical smell!

 

Good luck! You can do it!

 

Kelly :)

[SoonToBe]

I was looking at the bottle of invitations, but was worried that it was going to cost and arm and a leg to ship. Would you mind telling me what your shipping cost is on the average?

 

I have also used clear spray paint to get rid of the smell of shells and starfish.

[flygirl417]

Soaking them in bleach will get rid of the smell.

[ShedQueen77]

Febreze? ;) :D

 

Seriously, I have no idea. Curiosity prompted me opening this thread! :) I'm glad someone had some better suggestions than I did!

[Irisheyeskb]

Soaking them in bleach will get rid of the smell.

 

I tried the bleach thing, and the starfish actually made the bleach smell fishy! :eek:

 

Didn't work for me...I had to throw a couple dozen of them out and start over. I ordered my final batch of starfish from US shell dot com, and they say that theirs are "craft-ready", that might have made a difference too.

 

Isn't this stuff fun??? :rolleyes:

[ErinD92]

Did you search online for help? I looked and found a few sites that tell you to make a mixture of salt and some others to "pull the dead tissue" out of the shell. eww! I would have never thought about that!

 

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/36526/cleaning_and_preserving_sand_dollars.html

[J's Gal]

WOW! Thanks ladies, looks like I have a little work to do! :) Good thing we have plenty of time thanks to Michelle's sale. Thanks for all the fabulous ideas, although the thought of a mixture "pulling dead tissue out" does kind of creep me out!:o

For the poster who was inquiring about shipping costs, honestly, I have no idea. But we only have 30 to send out, so we said to heck with it and went all out on these!

[mandabear]

My neighbor made starfish favors and she soaked them in a mix of bleach and water and then hung them outside on a drying rack for a few days. I like the spraypaint and coconut oil scent idea! I think that's what I'll do. Good luck, and please let me know what you do and it it works!