What's your DIY cautionary tale?

[Logocracy]

I spilled 4mls of undiluted Sauvignone100 today... probably the biggest mistake I've ever made doing this hobby.

Bumped it over with a pipette, but didn't realise until it had made a large puddle on the table and floor. The entire work station now smells overwhelming of the worst kind of body odor. It lives so deep into my nose that I'm going slightly insane after running two showers! Screw you Takasago for creating this monstrosity.

Surely I'm not the only one to have such a story, what's yours?

 

[Emanuel76]

I'm using a crocodile clamp especially for the small 4 ml bottles from Perfumers Apprentice.

 

[crefella]

I am feeling for you! I spilled a (not at all good and now abandoned) Verbena trial I'd been working on which contained PADMA on my scales and it is so overwhelming, the whole house smells like it days later. It seems to have taken on an aquatic quality and feels like it's EVERYWHERE. Have tried to clean the scale about 10 times. If anyone knows a way to clean the scale better than alcohol and paper towels, please let me know!
The next day, being super careful, I started working with some geosmin 1% from Pell Wall, discovered that the lid didn't do up properly (undoubtedly my fault; not a criticism of Pell Wall). Got so freaked out by the smell, I have just put it inside a jar inside another jar until I can work out how to decant it into a bottle that does up properly! At least I didn't get that on the scale I guess. 🤷‍♀️

 

[Italian pigeon musk]

Sotolone, opened the bottle and my apartment smelled like maple for 2 weeks, I got some on my fingers and everywhere I went I was smelling maple, it got on my phone case, was 3 days before I could get it off my fingers.
Crazy strong stuff.

 

[pkiler]

1. I had a one gallon bottle of Cetylia rose base spontaneously crack and break sitting in a lower shelf. My lab was then in my living room. spilled about half the bottle. Into the wood floor for the lab, the shelving, but also the carpet and padding underneath. Smell actually never came out of the carpet and padding.

2. My 32 oz bottle of Grey Flannel cologne/EdT was dropped into the bathroom sink by my wife. Broke the bottle and the sink.

 

[tensor9]

I spilled several mL of expensive rose absolute all over my shirt. It smelled of rose for weeks and took at least 5 washings for the smell and stain to complete come out.

 

[Nkoflan]

I have psoriatic arthritis. When the situation was deteriorating I noticed I would randomly drop things more and more, and it was (and is) extremely frustrating. I've become very good at catching things in mid air after dropping them.

So when working on perfumery, I'm always very careful and deliberate with my handling of materials. I've had a few little spills but nothing major.

That said, the amount of carnage in the Kiler household is dizzying. It's like Geoffrey Beene destroyed your bathroom with a Grey Flannel bomb.

 

[PeeWee678]

I used to place 10ml beakers or bottles (without the cap) in the microwave every now and then to reliquify solidified materials.
Just a few bursts for just 3-4 seconds... What could go wrong?

Until one day the contents exploded and my microwave (after thorough cleaning) smelled of musk for several months.
Not the worst smell and not nearly as catastrophic as some of the above but not really compatible with a heated meal either...

Since then it's au bain marie and au bain marie only for me.

 

[jsweet]

For some variety besides spills, my cautionary tale is in smelling certain materials at full strength. There was no educational value in my decisions to smell amber xtreme and indole at full strength, only lingering sinus pain.

 

[jkhuysmans]

Sauvignone 100 is what taught me to never sniff a material directly from the vial. It is shockingly persistent. Like very high pitched grapeskin and BO. I immediately closed the vial, sealed it in a Ziploc, then another Ziploc, and took it out to the trash. I forget why I decided to experiment with it but whatever it was, not worth it.

Incidentally indole, in crystal form, almost always gave me nosebleeds when I was creating dilutions to use. Not sure if it's indole itself or the fineness of the powder. Now when I have to make more dilutions I put on a few face masks and wrap a silk scarf around my face like a ninja.

 

[pkiler]

I used to place 10ml beakers or bottles (without the cap) in the microwave every now and then to reliquify solidified materials.
Just a few bursts for just 3-4 seconds... What could go wrong?

Until one day the contents exploded and my microwave (after thorough cleaning) smelled of musk for several months.
Not the worst smell and not nearly as catastrophic as some of the above but not really compatible with a heated meal either...

Since then it's au bain marie and au bain marie only for me.

You just have to loosen the cap, though, when microwaving. It exploded because you left no expansion space or escape

 

[Gadgets82]

In my very short experience, the forst shipment of ac's came in and i was so excited to try the amber xtreme, i turned suddenly to grab a blotter, my arm bumped the wall and spilled all 10 ml on my kitchen floor. Ive got to say, not the worst smell for a kitchen 🤷

 

[PeeWee678]

You just have to loosen the cap, though, when microwaving. It exploded because you left no expansion space or escape

No Paul, I mentioned I had no cap on them. The bottle itself didn't explode but the material erupted forcefully with a poof ("the contents exploded")

I think this happens if heating of the material is not evenly distributed. That can create a bubble forcing its way out of the bottle and the material evenly distributed to the walls of the microwave.

 

[jsweet]

No Paul, I mentioned I had no cap on them. The bottle itself didn't explode but the material erupted forcefully with a poof ("the contents exploded")

I think this happens if heating of the material is not evenly distributed. That can create a bubble forcing its way out of the bottle and the material evenly distributed to the walls of the microwave.

Yeah it sounds like you are describing boiling. The lack of temperature control is why I stay away from the microwave, although I'm sure it's fine for a good amount of thick or solid materials. Plus it seems like ignition is a risk in a microwave for volatile/combustible materials.

 

[pkiler]

Yes, it boiled.

 

[RSG]

Sauvignone 100 is a really lovely material however, I use it diluted to 1%. I bought it in small amounts 1 or 2 MLS and experimented with it so heavily that I've already bought more.

 

[papadooku]

My small but way-too-regular cautionary tale is smelling vials too close and touching them slightly with my nose. Literally the worst place to have even the tiniest trace of material of course

The worse tale in my so-far-quite-short experience was simply opening a vial of 1% furfuryl mercaptan I bought from Perfumiarz. I was warned that even at 1% it was one of the most diffusive materials ever, however I didn't think of closing the door, opening the window or even telling my SO who was at the other end of the house that I was gonna make a dilution.
We had to vacate the house for a good half-hour... Lucky that the weather was nice outside!
Now I have the 1% vial and the 0.1% dilution vials sitting in a perfectly-sealed jam jar, and I dread the day I'll have to get back in there and dilute it further 100 or 1000 times. It has to be done someday to make it useable.

 

[juanjulio0000]

My small but way-too-regular cautionary tale is smelling vials too close and touching them slightly with my nose. Literally the worst place to have even the tiniest trace of material of course

Same Here! Hahaha.. I ordered my fisrt batch of AC and as soon as they got here i smelled them directly form the bottle at 100%. First one was Hydrocarboresine and second was Sandalore and then i opened a sample of ethyl maltol. Not the worst thing! The smell was so good that im working on a formula with them