60-PC Esports Cafe Refit: Team Can't Practice for 12 Days, 90 Regulars Gone, All Due to Faux Leather and Glue Smell

The best-looking gaming venue in the neighborhood became a place nobody could sit in for more than an hour, all because of the air trapped inside a windowless, air-conditioned room.

A strong faux leather and glue smell from brand-new gaming chairs and glued-on acoustic wall panels is a problem many gaming cafes run into after a refit, especially venues with no windows and air conditioning running all day. This article explains where the smell comes from, why the usual fixes fall short, and why WHD's Ozone Paint Odor & Chemical Residue Removal service with the Master Ozone Generator is a fast, measurable way out.

See the ozone odor removal service

60 New Chairs, New Walls, New RGB Lights and Nobody Wants to Stay

This story is a composite based on situations we commonly see; names and places are fictional.

Om (Supakorn), 32, runs Nexus Esports Hub on the second floor of a community mall near a university in Pathum Thani, just north of Bangkok. The venue covers about 210 square meters with a 2.8-meter ceiling and houses 60 tournament-spec PCs: 50 in the main hall and 10 in a closed bootcamp room reserved for competitive teams.

The cafe is open from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. It has no windows at all, because it sits deep inside the building, so every breath of air comes from a ducted air-conditioning system running 16 hours a day. Most customers are university students, and about 230 regulars drop in almost every day.

Om also manages the house team, the Nexus Rangers: five players aged 17 to 21 who are preparing for a regional qualifier just five weeks away. They practice six hours a day, and a local gaming-gear brand sponsors their jerseys and headsets.

Days 1 to 9: closing for a big upgrade

In early June, with two rival cafes opening within two kilometers, Om committed 920,000 baht to a full refit. The job had two main parts. The first was lining the walls with about 160 square meters of fabric-wrapped acoustic panels to cut echo and keep shouting in the main hall from reaching the bootcamp room.

The second was replacing every seat with 60 new faux leather gaming chairs, black with red trim to match the new RGB strips along the ceiling. The installers used a solvent-based contact adhesive, spread across the full back of each panel, to fix the acoustic boards to the gypsum walls. The chairs arrived on day 8, still tightly shrink-wrapped.

The contractor shrugged it off: "That's just the new smell. Run the air-con for a couple of days and it'll go." Om assumed that was normal.

Day 10: a reopening everyone photographed, but nobody stayed for

On reopening day, customers queued to take photos against the glowing RGB walls and the sleek new chairs. But by 8 p.m., with all 60 PCs running and their heat building up in the room, the smell grew steadily stronger.

Customers described it in almost the same words: "like a new-car smell times ten, mixed with something sweet and sharp, like glue." Chairs that had been sat in for a while warmed up and smelled worse than empty ones, and the back corner, where the acoustic panels were densest, was the worst spot of all. That night most players left well before midnight.

Days 12 to 23: a bootcamp room nobody could train in

The 28-square-meter bootcamp room was the most tightly sealed space in the venue. On the afternoon of day 12, Fluke, the team's 19-year-old support player who suffers from allergic rhinitis, started sneezing non-stop, and his eyes turned red within an hour. Ice, the team captain, complained of a pounding headache at his temples after the third match.

Players kept pulling off their headsets, because the faux leather ear cushions on the new sponsored headsets smelled just like the chairs. Coach Golf finally cancelled all scrims for 12 days and moved the team to a rented room at another cafe for 1,800 baht a day.

On day 16, the sponsor sent a crew to shoot launch content for the new team jersey in the bootcamp room. About 40 minutes in, the photographer asked for a break because his eyes were stinging. The brand representative postponed the rest of the shoot and politely asked, "Is this room actually safe for the kids on the team?"

The numbers Om didn't want to see

Within two weeks, daily visits dropped from around 230 to about 140. That is 90 regulars gone. Daily revenue slid from roughly 16,000 baht to around 9,500 baht. In a student Facebook group, one review summed it up: "Gorgeous place, but after two hours my head was spinning."

The message that hit hardest came through the cafe's LINE account from the mother of a 16-year-old member. Her son had come home with a headache and nausea, and she wanted a straight answer about what the smell was. Om couldn't give her one, because he didn't know either.

Faux Leather and Glue Smell in a Gaming Cafe Costs Far More Than Comfort

It's easy to dismiss "new stuff smell" as a minor annoyance. But for a business that sells hours of seat time in a sealed, air-conditioned room, a faux leather and glue smell hits every part of the operation at once, from customers' bodies to sponsors' confidence.

1. Health: gamers stay put far longer than most customers

• Airborne chemical vapors can cause headaches, dizziness, eye, nose and throat irritation, and nausea in some people.
• People with allergies or asthma may find their symptoms flare up more easily after long exposure.
• Gaming cafe customers often sit for three to six hours straight, and many are teenagers under 18, a group that deserves extra care. Children, older adults, pregnant women and people with health conditions are generally more sensitive to poor indoor air.
• Health agencies worldwide treat long-term exposure to indoor VOCs as a genuine concern, so waiting for the smell to fade on its own is not a great plan.

2. Money: every empty chair is lost revenue, every hour

• Roughly 6,500 baht a day in lost revenue adds up to almost 90,000 baht in two weeks.
• An outside practice room at 1,800 baht a day, while the cafe's own rent and electricity still have to be paid in full.
• A 920,000-baht investment that hasn't started paying for itself, now losing money in what should be its strongest weeks.

3. Reputation: gaming communities talk fast

• Reviews on Facebook groups, Discord servers and live streams can reach thousands of players in a single night.
• Once "it gives you a headache" sticks to a venue's name, new customers simply choose a rival without trying it.
• A house team whose form slumps during qualifier prep also dents the cafe's standing in the local esports scene.

4. Relationships and trust

• Parents start asking whether their kids should keep coming.
• Players feel the venue isn't looking after their health, and some start talking to other teams.
• Sponsors hesitate to use the room as a backdrop for their brand.
• Neighboring shops and mall management may start fielding questions too if the smell drifts into the corridor.

What Is That "New Car Times Ten" Smell, Really?

The smell customers noticed doesn't come from a single source. It is a mix of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released by several materials brought into a closed room at the same time. The process of a material slowly releasing vapors into the air is called off-gassing, and it is usually at its strongest shortly after manufacture or installation.

PVC and PU faux leather on gaming chairs

Most gaming chairs are upholstered in synthetic leather, either PVC or PU. PVC leather needs plasticizers and other additives to stay soft and flexible. PU leather is made by coating fabric with polyurethane, and some production methods use solvents that can remain in the material in small amounts.

When a chair warms up from body heat and the hot air around a gaming PC, those compounds evaporate faster. That's why customers said the longer they sat, the stronger it smelled.

Foam and adhesive inside the chairs

Under the faux leather sits freshly molded polyurethane foam, plus the adhesive that bonds it to the frame. Chairs shrink-wrapped at the factory hold those vapors inside. Unwrap 60 of them in the same room on the same night, and everything they've been storing is released at once.

Contact adhesive behind the acoustic panels

Solvent-based contact adhesive is popular for acoustic panels because it grabs quickly and holds firmly. But it contains fast-evaporating solvents, which, depending on the formula, may include toluene, hexane or acetone. Spread across the whole back of a panel and sealed behind it, the solvent seeps out through the edges and the panel itself for weeks.

Why gaming cafes trap odor worse than ordinary rooms

• Heat from 60 PCs warms every material and speeds up off-gassing.
• Recirculating air-conditioning brings in very little fresh outdoor air, so vapors keep looping around the room.
• Fabric-wrapped acoustic panels are porous, soaking up odor molecules and releasing them again when the air is still or temperatures shift.
• No windows means natural ventilation is close to zero.

Why the Usual Fixes Couldn't Keep Up

Over two weeks, Om tried nearly every tip people sent him. Each one helped a little, but none made the bootcamp room usable for real practice again.

1. Propping open the back door and running four industrial fans. He did this for three nights after closing, but the back door opens onto the mall's inner corridor, so there was almost no exchange with outdoor air. Relying on ventilation alone can take days or weeks, and the cafe was losing revenue every single day.
2. A citrus aroma diffuser. It masked the smell for a short while, but the vapors were still there. Some customers said the perfume mixed with the glue smell made them feel even dizzier.
3. Thirty bags of bamboo charcoal and boxes of baking soda. Their absorption capacity is tiny compared with nearly 600 cubic meters of air, and they saturate quickly.
4. Three home air purifiers. They are sized for bedrooms, their carbon filters fill up fast when faced with heavy VOC loads, and they can't pull vapors out of acoustic panels or chair foam.
5. Wiping down all 60 chairs with cleaning spray. The result was one more chemical smell in the room, a risk of damaging the faux leather finish, and the vapors from the foam inside left completely untouched.
6. Waiting it out, as the contractor suggested. Porous materials such as fabric, foam, gypsum and plywood absorb odor and slowly release it again. In a sealed, air-conditioned room the smell fades painfully slowly, and every day of waiting meant more regulars walking away.

The Solution for Faux Leather and Glue Smell: WHD Ozone Odor & Chemical Residue Removal with the Master Ozone Generator

When odor is embedded in the air, the fabric and the foam all at once, the treatment has to reach every corner of the room and actually break odor molecules down. World Health Disinfection's ozone paint odor and chemical residue removal service uses the Master Ozone Generator, built specifically for this kind of job.

How ozone works

The machine releases ozone (O₃), mimicking the way nature purifies air. Ozone is a powerful oxidizer: it reacts with odor molecules, chemical vapors (VOCs) and germs and helps break their molecular bonds at the source. In other words, it destroys odor instead of covering it up.

Because ozone is a gas, it reaches places a cloth or an air purifier never will: the gaps behind acoustic panels, the seams under chair cushions, the space behind rows of desks. Once the cycle ends, ozone naturally decomposes back into oxygen (O₂), leaving no chemical residue behind.

Real TVOC readings, before and after

WHD is one of the few providers in Thailand that shows TVOC (Total Volatile Organic Compounds) reduction results measured at real job sites, using an AM1310 meter backed by calibration documents. That gives a venue owner something concrete to show parents, players and sponsors, rather than just saying "it feels better now."

Done after hours, ready in about two hours

Ozone treatment is carried out by trained technicians in a closed, unoccupied space, so a gaming cafe can book it after closing time. Areas are typically ready to use again within about two hours, which means no extra days of lost trading.

Worth knowing: brand-new chairs and panels may continue releasing small amounts of vapor for a while. Ozone treatment breaks down the odor and VOCs that have already built up, but the venue should also make sure its air-conditioning brings in fresh outdoor air, so new emissions don't accumulate again.

10 Reasons Gaming Venues Choose WHD Ozone Odor Treatment

1. It destroys odor at the source

Ozone helps break down vapors from faux leather, foam and adhesive. Customers don't end up breathing perfume layered over chemicals.

2. You get TVOC numbers, not guesses

Before-and-after readings taken on site give you evidence you can share with customers, parents and sponsors with confidence.

3. It reaches behind panels and under cushions

As a gas, ozone spreads through the whole room, including the hard-to-reach spots behind acoustic boards and inside chair frames.

4. No need to rip out what you just paid for

There's no need to strip 160 square meters of panels or haul 60 chairs outside to air. The ozone chemical residue removal service works with the venue exactly as it is.

5. It can be scheduled after closing

Treatment happens overnight while the space is empty, so you don't sacrifice a single paid gaming hour.

6. Ready in about two hours

That is dramatically faster than running fans and waiting for weeks, and it lets a competitive team get back on schedule.

7. No chemical residue

Ozone reverts to oxygen, leaving no film or new smell on chairs, keyboards or desks.

8. Technicians protect your equipment

The team assesses the site, asks for PCs to be shut down, and covers or removes sensitive electronics and natural rubber items where needed.

9. It tackles stale air and germs too

Sealed rooms with the air-con on all day often smell of sweat and used headsets. Ozone odor treatment also helps reduce mustiness, germs and mold in enclosed spaces.

10. Proven across many kinds of sites

From condo bedrooms and office meeting rooms to car paint jobs and chemical plants, WHD adjusts each cycle to the size and character of the space.

Before and After Ozone Treatment: Same Venue, Different Atmosphere

How the WHD Team Works

1. Site survey and TVOC check. Technicians inspect every zone, note the materials involved and record baseline readings.
2. Clear people, pets and plants from the area. PCs are shut down, and sensitive items are covered or moved as the technicians advise.
3. Seal off the space and set up the Master Ozone Generator where ozone can circulate evenly.
4. Run a cycle sized to the room volume, treating the main hall and the bootcamp room separately if needed.
5. Allow the ozone to decompose and ventilate. Nobody re-enters until the technicians confirm it's ready.
6. Re-check TVOC and odor and compare the results with the baseline.
7. Hand the space back, typically ready to use within about two hours, with advice on ongoing ventilation.

How Things Turned Out at Nexus Esports Hub

On day 23, Om contacted WHD on LINE. The team surveyed the venue early that evening, took TVOC readings in the main hall, the bootcamp room and the back corner, and booked the ozone treatment for that same night, right after closing.

At 2:30 a.m., once the last customers and staff had gone, the technicians shut down the PCs, covered the equipment that needed protecting, sealed off the space and ran the Master Ozone Generator on cycles sized to each zone. After the ozone had decomposed and the space had been ventilated, they measured TVOC again. The readings had dropped at every point they checked, and the venue was handed back well before morning.

The next afternoon, the Nexus Rangers completed a full six-hour practice in the bootcamp room. Fluke said he could still catch a faint new-chair smell if he leaned right down into a seat, but the room itself no longer felt harsh. Om had an air-conditioning technician adjust the system to bring in more fresh outdoor air, and he sent the TVOC results to the mother who had messaged him.

Over the following three weeks or so, regulars gradually drifted back to close to their old numbers. The sponsor rebooked its content shoot in the same room, and the cafe went ahead with its watch party for the team's qualifier as planned.

How to Avoid Faux Leather and Glue Smell on Your Next Refit

• Choose water-based or low-VOC adhesives, or use clips and rails to mount acoustic panels instead of gluing their entire backs.
• Ask the supplier to unwrap and air the chairs in a well-ventilated warehouse for a while before delivery.
• Leave the adhesive enough curing time, ideally several days, before opening to the public.
• Check that the air-conditioning brings in fresh outdoor air rather than only recirculating what is already inside.
• Schedule ozone treatment before reopening day, and confirm TVOC readings before the first customers walk in.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Do we have to leave the area during treatment?
A: Yes. People, pets and plants must stay out for the entire cycle and may only return once the technicians confirm the space is ready.

Q: How long does it take?
A: It depends on the size of the space, but areas are typically ready to use within about two hours.

Q: Does any ozone remain afterwards?
A: Ozone naturally breaks down back into oxygen, and the area is ventilated before anyone goes back in, so no chemical residue is left behind.

Q: What size of space is it suitable for?
A: Anything from a condo room or meeting room to a gaming cafe, factory or warehouse. The cycle is adjusted to the room volume.

Q: What about our PCs and faux leather chairs?
A: Technicians assess the site first, ask for equipment to be switched off, and cover or remove sensitive items before starting.

Q: Can the treatment be done outside opening hours?
A: Yes. Because the space must be empty anyway, most venues book it late at night or on a closed day.

Q: Will the smell come back?
A: New materials can keep releasing small amounts of vapor for a while. Keep fresh air coming in, and consider a follow-up treatment based on the TVOC readings.

Related Articles and Resources

• Ozone cleaning service
• Disinfection spraying service
• Residential ozone disinfection
• US EPA: Volatile Organic Compounds' Impact on Indoor Air Quality
• WHO: Air quality, energy and health

Don't Let a Faux Leather and Glue Smell Drive Away Your Players

Talk to the WHD team about ozone paint odor and chemical residue removal, with TVOC measured on site.

See the service & get a quote — click here

Call 065-556-6294 · LINE @whd268 · Email worldhealthdisinfection@gmail.com
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