From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

I've noticed that some corrugated cardboard boxes (the outer box used by
a mail-order company with your address on, as opposed to the inner box containing a product) smell strongly of vomit. I presume it's something
like butyric acid (*), but is that used in the manufacture of corrugated cardboard? I dread to think what the dispatch department must smell
like, with loads of flat-packed boxes waiting to be unfolded and have
the goods added to them.


(*) I worked in a chemistry lab in my year off before university and
someone was doing some work with butyric acid in a fume cupboard. He
spilled a bit, and despite the inward airflow of the fume cupboard some
of the smell escaped. It was evil! What made it all the funnier was that
the head of department was showing some visitors around at that moment
and he called out "Is everybody... all right? Has anyone been... ill?"
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

On Sat, 10 Jan 2026 20:47:18 +0000, NY <me@privacy.net> wrote:

I've noticed that some corrugated cardboard boxes (the outer box used by
a mail-order company with your address on, as opposed to the inner box >containing a product) smell strongly of vomit. I presume it's something
like butyric acid (*), but is that used in the manufacture of corrugated >cardboard? I dread to think what the dispatch department must smell
like, with loads of flat-packed boxes waiting to be unfolded and have
the goods added to them.

(*) I worked in a chemistry lab in my year off before university and
someone was doing some work with butyric acid in a fume cupboard. He
spilled a bit, and despite the inward airflow of the fume cupboard some
of the smell escaped. It was evil! What made it all the funnier was that
the head of department was showing some visitors around at that moment
and he called out "Is everybody... all right? Has anyone been... ill?"

Don't bring that up again!
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

On Sat, 10 Jan 2026 20:47:18 +0000, NY <me@privacy.net> wrote:

I've noticed that some corrugated cardboard boxes (the outer box used by
a mail-order company with your address on, as opposed to the inner box >containing a product) smell strongly of vomit. I presume it's something
like butyric acid (*), but is that used in the manufacture of corrugated >cardboard? I dread to think what the dispatch department must smell
like, with loads of flat-packed boxes waiting to be unfolded and have
the goods added to them.

(*) I worked in a chemistry lab in my year off before university and
someone was doing some work with butyric acid in a fume cupboard. He
spilled a bit, and despite the inward airflow of the fume cupboard some
of the smell escaped. It was evil! What made it all the funnier was that
the head of department was showing some visitors around at that moment
and he called out "Is everybody... all right? Has anyone been... ill?"

You had a fume cupboard with inward airflow?? Someone fucked up badly
there, then!
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

On 10/01/2026 20:47, NY wrote:

I've noticed that some corrugated cardboard boxes (the outer box used by
a mail-order company with your address on, as opposed to the inner box containing a product) smell strongly of vomit. I presume it's something
like butyric acid (*), but is that used in the manufacture of corrugated cardboard? I dread to think what the dispatch department must smell
like, with loads of flat-packed boxes waiting to be unfolded and have
the goods added to them.

(*) I worked in a chemistry lab in my year off before university and
someone was doing some work with butyric acid in a fume cupboard. He
spilled a bit, and despite the inward airflow of the fume cupboard some
of the smell escaped. It was evil! What made it all the funnier was that
the head of department was showing some visitors around at that moment
and he called out "Is everybody... all right? Has anyone been... ill?"

American Chocolate flavouring?

https://www.whitakerschocolates.com/blogs/blog/why-does-american-chocolate-taste-bad?srsltid=AfmBOor1AsFooibsSicuw5HMC74ygrA-C7_j-7pxbTfWJ3x6JiA1h_cW
--
Adrian C
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

On 11/01/2026 in message <rbt6mk1jnu73qibbd7olbvrn3i5vo6fep9@4ax.com>
Cursitor Doom wrote:

(*) I worked in a chemistry lab in my year off before university and >>someone was doing some work with butyric acid in a fume cupboard. He >>spilled a bit, and despite the inward airflow of the fume cupboard some
of the smell escaped. It was evil! What made it all the funnier was that >>the head of department was showing some visitors around at that moment
and he called out "Is everybody... all right? Has anyone been... ill?"

You had a fume cupboard with inward airflow?? Someone fucked up badly
there, then!

We had an extraordinarily arrogant chemistry teacher who was nonchalantly leaning on a pillar with a lit Bunsen burner under his elbow. Boys put
their hands up to tell him but he waved them off with the other arm.

We just sat there until his lab coat burst into flames.
--
Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
It may be that your sole purpose in life is to serve as a warning to others. --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

On 11/01/2026 10:13, Jeff Gaines wrote:

On 11/01/2026 in message <rbt6mk1jnu73qibbd7olbvrn3i5vo6fep9@4ax.com> Cursitor Doom wrote:

(*) I worked in a chemistry lab in my year off before university and
someone was doing some work with butyric acid in a fume cupboard. He
spilled a bit, and despite the inward airflow of the fume cupboard some
of the smell escaped. It was evil! What made it all the funnier was that >>> the head of department was showing some visitors around at that moment
and he called out "Is everybody... all right? Has anyone been... ill?"

You had a fume cupboard with inward airflow?? Someone fucked up badly
there, then!

We had an extraordinarily arrogant chemistry teacher who was
nonchalantly leaning on a pillar with a lit Bunsen burner under his
elbow. Boys put their hands up to tell him but he waved them off with
the other arm.

We just sat there until his lab coat burst into flames.

How do we know it is water? Said ours one day.

Suck it and see Sir, said Carcass Stevens from the back row.


--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

On 10/01/2026 20:47, NY wrote:

I've noticed that some corrugated cardboard boxes (the outer box used by
a mail-order company with your address on, as opposed to the inner box containing a product) smell strongly of vomit. I presume it's something
like butyric acid (*), but is that used in the manufacture of corrugated cardboard? I dread to think what the dispatch department must smell
like, with loads of flat-packed boxes waiting to be unfolded and have
the goods added to them.

(*) I worked in a chemistry lab in my year off before university and
someone was doing some work with butyric acid in a fume cupboard. He
spilled a bit, and despite the inward airflow of the fume cupboard some
of the smell escaped. It was evil! What made it all the funnier was that
the head of department was showing some visitors around at that moment
and he called out "Is everybody... all right? Has anyone been... ill?"

Have you ever smelled Copydex?
--
PA
--


--
This email has been checked for viruses by AVG antivirus software.
www.avg.com
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

On 11/01/2026 11:02, Peter Able wrote:

On 10/01/2026 20:47, NY wrote:

I've noticed that some corrugated cardboard boxes (the outer box used
by a mail-order company with your address on, as opposed to the inner
box containing a product) smell strongly of vomit. I presume it's
something like butyric acid (*), but is that used in the manufacture
of corrugated cardboard? I dread to think what the dispatch department
must smell like, with loads of flat-packed boxes waiting to be
unfolded and have the goods added to them.


(*) I worked in a chemistry lab in my year off before university and
someone was doing some work with butyric acid in a fume cupboard. He
spilled a bit, and despite the inward airflow of the fume cupboard
some of the smell escaped. It was evil! What made it all the funnier
was that the head of department was showing some visitors around at
that moment and he called out "Is everybody... all right? Has anyone
been... ill?"

Have you ever smelled Copydex?

I must have but I cannot recall it being especially vile.

There is that ammonia/latex stuff used to glue cloth and leather though...

oh...that IS copydex isn't it? I liked the smell.
--
Those who want slavery should have the grace to name it by its proper
name. They must face the full meaning of that which they are advocating
or condoning; the full, exact, specific meaning of collectivism, of its logical implications, of the principles upon which it is based, and of
the ultimate consequences to which these principles will lead. They must
face it, then decide whether this is what they want or not.

Ayn Rand.

--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

Cursitor Doom <cd@notformail.com> wrote:

On Sat, 10 Jan 2026 20:47:18 +0000, NY <me@privacy.net> wrote:

I've noticed that some corrugated cardboard boxes (the outer box used by
a mail-order company with your address on, as opposed to the inner box
containing a product) smell strongly of vomit. I presume it's something
like butyric acid (*), but is that used in the manufacture of corrugated
cardboard? I dread to think what the dispatch department must smell
like, with loads of flat-packed boxes waiting to be unfolded and have
the goods added to them.


(*) I worked in a chemistry lab in my year off before university and
someone was doing some work with butyric acid in a fume cupboard. He
spilled a bit, and despite the inward airflow of the fume cupboard some
of the smell escaped. It was evil! What made it all the funnier was that
the head of department was showing some visitors around at that moment
and he called out "Is everybody... all right? Has anyone been... ill?"

You had a fume cupboard with inward airflow?? Someone fucked up badly
there, then!

I imagine all fume cupboards suck air in from the room through the working opening. A bit pointless otherwise.

Tim
--
Please don't feed the trolls
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

On 11/01/2026 12:20, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

On 11/01/2026 11:02, Peter Able wrote:

On 10/01/2026 20:47, NY wrote:

I've noticed that some corrugated cardboard boxes (the outer box used
by a mail-order company with your address on, as opposed to the inner
box containing a product) smell strongly of vomit. I presume it's
something like butyric acid (*), but is that used in the manufacture
of corrugated cardboard? I dread to think what the dispatch
department must smell like, with loads of flat-packed boxes waiting
to be unfolded and have the goods added to them.


(*) I worked in a chemistry lab in my year off before university and
someone was doing some work with butyric acid in a fume cupboard. He
spilled a bit, and despite the inward airflow of the fume cupboard
some of the smell escaped. It was evil! What made it all the funnier
was that the head of department was showing some visitors around at
that moment and he called out "Is everybody... all right? Has anyone
been... ill?"

Have you ever smelled Copydex?

I must have but I cannot recall it being especially vile.

There is that ammonia/latex stuff used to glue cloth and leather though...

oh...that IS copydex isn't it?-a I liked the smell.

Cats' Urine - IIRC !
--
PA
--


--
This email has been checked for viruses by AVG antivirus software.
www.avg.com
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

On 11 Jan 2026 10:13:57 GMT, "Jeff Gaines" <jgnewsid@outlook.com>
wrote:

On 11/01/2026 in message <rbt6mk1jnu73qibbd7olbvrn3i5vo6fep9@4ax.com> >Cursitor Doom wrote:

(*) I worked in a chemistry lab in my year off before university and >>>someone was doing some work with butyric acid in a fume cupboard. He >>>spilled a bit, and despite the inward airflow of the fume cupboard some >>>of the smell escaped. It was evil! What made it all the funnier was that >>>the head of department was showing some visitors around at that moment >>>and he called out "Is everybody... all right? Has anyone been... ill?"

You had a fume cupboard with inward airflow?? Someone fucked up badly >>there, then!

We had an extraordinarily arrogant chemistry teacher who was nonchalantly >leaning on a pillar with a lit Bunsen burner under his elbow. Boys put
their hands up to tell him but he waved them off with the other arm.

We just sat there until his lab coat burst into flames.

For a few months in 1969 I worked in the technology library of the
Leicester College of Art & Technology (it became Leicester Polytechnic
while I was there and De Montfort University subsequently). The
chemistry labs were nearby; the smells that emerged from them were
appalling.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

On 11/01/2026 10:04, Cursitor Doom wrote:

(*) I worked in a chemistry lab in my year off before university and
someone was doing some work with butyric acid in a fume cupboard. He
spilled a bit, and despite the inward airflow of the fume cupboard some
of the smell escaped. It was evil! What made it all the funnier was that
the head of department was showing some visitors around at that moment
and he called out "Is everybody... all right? Has anyone been... ill?"

You had a fume cupboard with inward airflow?? Someone fucked up badly
there, then!

I mean that air from the lab was drawn into the fume cupboard by an
extractor fan in the "ceiling" of the cupboard to keep it at a slight
negative pressure so fumes *in theory* didn't escape into the lab. Isn't
that how all fume cupboards work?

It was a great year that I spent in the lab. My lab supervisor was an
ageing hippy with leathery, lined skin like Keith Richards. Under his anonymous lab coat he often wore a Stones or Def Leppard teeshirt. I
remember trying to reproduce a reaction described in a paper by a guy
with the memorable name of Hnatowich, and some of the details of
quantities were a bit vague, so Tony said "Oh, just add smidgen." And
then he burst into song "It just takes a smidgen / To poison a pigeon" -
and so he introduced me to the satirical songs of Tom Lehrer.

One of the other gap-year students was a crazy guy who was always
boasting that he was the nephew of Lord <Someone> and he used to go up
to "The House" [of Lords] to meet his uncle. He had been to Marlborough,
which he pronounced Mawlborough, and was the epitome of the expensively-educated twit. One weekend he was driving back from
Mawlborough after a school reunion and came over a bit drowsy so he
stopped his car on the hard shoulder and "found" an open Winchester of
ether in the boot. Yeah, right! How he didn't pass out or blow the car
up (ether is highly flammable) is a miracle. He would often pick up one
of the squeezy bottles of ethanol (for use as a general solvent, so
probably not very pure and maybe with a bit of methanol [*] in it as
well) and squirt it into his mouth. Because we occasionally worked with cyanide compounds in the lab, there was an antidote kit which consisted
of amyl nitrite. Our friend The Twit had heard that amyl nitrite gave
people a fantastic high, so he took a few ampoules home and tried them.
He described, in more detail than the rest of us cared to know, the
fantastic stiffy and orgasm that it caused him to have. I wonder if the
guy is still alive...


[*] Methanol (aka wood alcohol), unlike ethanol, is poisonous and causes people to go blind.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

On 11/01/2026 11:02, Peter Able wrote:

On 10/01/2026 20:47, NY wrote:

I've noticed that some corrugated cardboard boxes (the outer box used
by a mail-order company with your address on, as opposed to the inner
box containing a product) smell strongly of vomit. I presume it's
something like butyric acid (*), but is that used in the manufacture
of corrugated cardboard? I dread to think what the dispatch department
must smell like, with loads of flat-packed boxes waiting to be
unfolded and have the goods added to them.


(*) I worked in a chemistry lab in my year off before university and
someone was doing some work with butyric acid in a fume cupboard. He
spilled a bit, and despite the inward airflow of the fume cupboard
some of the smell escaped. It was evil! What made it all the funnier
was that the head of department was showing some visitors around at
that moment and he called out "Is everybody... all right? Has anyone
been... ill?"

Have you ever smelled Copydex?

It has a very recognisable smell, but I wouldn't say that it smelled
anything like vomit.


--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

On Mon, 1/12/2026 12:02 PM, Peter Johnson wrote:

On 11 Jan 2026 10:13:57 GMT, "Jeff Gaines" <jgnewsid@outlook.com>
wrote:

On 11/01/2026 in message <rbt6mk1jnu73qibbd7olbvrn3i5vo6fep9@4ax.com>
Cursitor Doom wrote:

(*) I worked in a chemistry lab in my year off before university and
someone was doing some work with butyric acid in a fume cupboard. He
spilled a bit, and despite the inward airflow of the fume cupboard some >>>> of the smell escaped. It was evil! What made it all the funnier was that >>>> the head of department was showing some visitors around at that moment >>>> and he called out "Is everybody... all right? Has anyone been... ill?"

You had a fume cupboard with inward airflow?? Someone fucked up badly
there, then!

We had an extraordinarily arrogant chemistry teacher who was nonchalantly >> leaning on a pillar with a lit Bunsen burner under his elbow. Boys put
their hands up to tell him but he waved them off with the other arm.

We just sat there until his lab coat burst into flames.

For a few months in 1969 I worked in the technology library of the
Leicester College of Art & Technology (it became Leicester Polytechnic
while I was there and De Montfort University subsequently). The
chemistry labs were nearby; the smells that emerged from them were
appalling.

In the chem lab, there are various reasons for doing
labs as a demonstration of something. Some labs, do result
in an output compound which smells nice <inserts table showing
how nice smells are possible, as a P.R. move for chemists>.

https://jameskennedymonash.wordpress.com/2013/12/13/infographic-table-of-esters-and-their-smells/

When chemists fart, it's pure Sparkle Pony. I assure you.

When I got the chemists magazine, one of the first things that caught my
eye, is how weird all the chemists look. They would look like the Hunchback
of Notre Dame. None of the people looked suitable for the inevitable "pictures-with-dyed-liquids" article :-) Did I look like that ? Yes! You should see the lump on my back, and how much I drag one foot when I move
around the lab...

If I know you are in the vicinity, then I will move to the fume cabinet
and make tear gas. Just for laughs mind you.

Of all the undergraduate chemists, only two of them, went on to do more advanced work in chemistry. Both did analytical work, and both did
Nuclear Activation Analysis. The rest of us changed disciplines and
did other things. Two of the smart ones became medical doctors.
One went on to train other doctors. The other one shouldn't have been
a doctor, but they let him be a doctor anyway. Not a bad sort, but I
doubt he would be very satisfied with how mind-numbing the work
of being an MD is. He has an IQ of 140+ and is mostly non-verbal,
perfect to be a doctor. You'll never find out what you've got,
if he sees you, but... he will know.

You should read the story of the guy who worked at the Glidden paint
company. That at least, puts a chemist in a good light. I read a longer
account somewhere, and this is a summary.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percy_Lavon_Julian

Paul
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

On Sun, 1/11/2026 12:12 PM, Tim+ wrote:

Cursitor Doom <cd@notformail.com> wrote:

On Sat, 10 Jan 2026 20:47:18 +0000, NY <me@privacy.net> wrote:

I've noticed that some corrugated cardboard boxes (the outer box used by >>> a mail-order company with your address on, as opposed to the inner box
containing a product) smell strongly of vomit. I presume it's something >>> like butyric acid (*), but is that used in the manufacture of corrugated >>> cardboard? I dread to think what the dispatch department must smell
like, with loads of flat-packed boxes waiting to be unfolded and have
the goods added to them.


(*) I worked in a chemistry lab in my year off before university and
someone was doing some work with butyric acid in a fume cupboard. He
spilled a bit, and despite the inward airflow of the fume cupboard some >>> of the smell escaped. It was evil! What made it all the funnier was that >>> the head of department was showing some visitors around at that moment
and he called out "Is everybody... all right? Has anyone been... ill?"

You had a fume cupboard with inward airflow?? Someone fucked up badly
there, then!

I imagine all fume cupboards suck air in from the room through the working opening. A bit pointless otherwise.

Tim

Fume cupboards are not very sophisticated.

They're not intended for you to spill things :-)

If they were for spilling things, there would
have been a better scheme for gathering
the spilled fluids so they could be cleaned up.

Paul
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

On 13/01/2026 03:51, Paul wrote:

In the chem lab, there are various reasons for doing
labs as a demonstration of something. Some labs, do result
in an output compound which smells nice <inserts table showing
how nice smells are possible, as a P.R. move for chemists>.

https://jameskennedymonash.wordpress.com/2013/12/13/infographic-table-of-esters-and-their-smells/

When chemists fart, it's pure Sparkle Pony. I assure you.

Alternatively they can make some evil smells. Methyl mercaptan (and all mercaptans) is VILE. It's the stuff that is added, a few
parts-per-million, to natural gas as a "stenching agent" so gas leaks
can be detected. It smells of dogshit in higher concentrations. My A
level chemistry teacher had us in hysterics when she described how she accidentally spilled a bit of the liquid on one of her fingers when she
was at university and the fume cupboard couldn't cope. She said the
sight of people puking all around her was not one she ever wanted to see again. She was almost frogmarched to the yard outside and a hosepipe was sprayed on her to try to wash the smelly liquid off her.

Chemistry teachers at school try to ham it up a bit to create memorable
scare stories. The one who took us for O level had worked "in industry"
before become a teacher. When he was showing us how to use gas cylinders safely, he told us of a colleague who learned the hard way... He had
been using a fairly innocuous gas (maybe CO2 or N2 - something
non-flammable) and it is thought that he tried to unscrew the pressure-reducing valve and pressure gauge unit from the cylinder. The cylinder went through an upper floor and buried itself several feet in
the concrete ground floor. The valve unit pierced through several floors
above and disappeared through the roof. There wasn't much left of the
chemist. The valve unit was found some weeks later by a security guard patrolling a fence at Heathrow Airport - four miles away. Moral "don't
mess with these cylinders".
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.d-i-y

On 13/01/2026 03:51, Paul wrote:

In the chem lab, there are various reasons for doing
labs as a demonstration of something. Some labs, do result
in an output compound which smells nice <inserts table showing
how nice smells are possible, as a P.R. move for chemists>.

https://jameskennedymonash.wordpress.com/2013/12/13/infographic-table-of-esters-and-their-smells/

Interesting about some esters such as benzyl salicylate being ones that
only some people can smell.

The substance that is excreted in the urine when you eat asparagus is
one such chemical. I'm never sure whether only some people secrete it or
only some people can smell it, because you don't go round smelling each other's wee so you can't work out whether the people who secrete it are
the same ones who can smell it. But I do both. "Asparagus wee" is a
well-known condition.

There's something (I forget what) which can only be smelled by one sex -
men can smell it and women can't, or vice versa.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2