Remove the Smell From Your Shofar

2 Nov, 2009

 

Arthur L. Finkle

 

 

 

 

The most common question we get has to be, “How do you remove the smell from the Shofar?” Here is the straight answer. There is no way to completely remove the smell from a real Shofar. A real Shofar is a natural product made from the horn of an animal. The smell will never completely go away.That being said, there are things you can do the reduce the smell quite a bit. Here is what we suggest:1. The Peroxide Method. The cause of the strongest smell in the Shofar is little pieces of marrow that cling to the inside. The first step in getting them out is to soften them up. We find that peroxide works quite well for this purpose.Plug up the small end of your shofar with a swimmers ear plug. Pour in peroxide. You don’t have to fill it up, you are going to shake it around. Plug the large end with a soft ball (Nerf for example) or use a tight rubber band and a torn balloon. Now shake the Shofar and turn it upside down and back again for a few minutes. Dump out the peroxide and you will see a lot of smelly pieces come out. Repeat this as many times as necessary until almost nothing comes out.2. The Gravel MethodIf you feel that the peroxide alone is not getting out the pieces enough, use a cup or so of gravel. Don’t use sand or coarse gravel. You want something about the consistency of what you put in a fish tank. Put the gravel together with the peroxide and follow the same instructions as in the first method. When you are done you can use the garden hose to flush out the gravel. This method will clean out a Shofar that has a lot of marrow inside.3. Ozone MethodWe have never actually tried this but we have heard people swear by it. If you have one of those fancy ozone air purifiers you can use it to remove the smell from your Shofar. Just put the wide mouth of the Shofar up against the machine and leave it there for for a few hours. Better yet, leave it overnight. We are told that this will remove most of the smell.Dry your Shofar and oil it.Whichever method you use, don’t leave your Shofar wet for too long. Liquid left in a Shofar will cause it to become brittle and eventually split or crack. To remove the liquid, use a coat hanger and a small piece of cloth and try to get in as deep as possible.After your Shofar is cleaned you should apply some oil to the inside and outside. Olive oil works very well for this. You also may want to use a fragrant oil that will give it a nice smell.SummaryThe techniques described above will remove most of the smell from your Shofar for some time. Eventually the smell is likely to return. You can of course repeat one of the methods above. In the long run though, just remember that this is what a Shofar is. Somehow I don’t think Joshua had an ozone purifier when he caused the walls of Jericho to crumble.

 

 

 

 

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