How can I get the mothball smell out of my drawers?
Question:It used to belong to my husband's great grandfather, who was apparently obsessed with mothballs. When I first got it a year ago, I just used regular cleaner and wiped it down. I tried putting dryer sheets in there with my clothes but they still smell like mothballs, so now I dont even use the dresser, but I would like to. How can I get the smell out? Btw the wood inside is unfinished.
Answers:
Apply a clear finish over the inside portions of the drawer and any other open wood to seal off as much of the old mothball small as possible. Then add potpourri to the drawers and your clothes.
cedar wood chips
Cedar chips or lavender sachet bags work pretty good. Any cleaner with orange oil works ok on wood too.
air freshaner
coffee (unused grounds).
Cedar chips can come from Walmart of petsmart - it's small pet bedding.
hum mm...you might look up above the draw on the bottom of the top drawer etc. and see if there are any moth balls there.
if not...you will no doubt need to remove everything and pull out what ever can be pulled out, like the drawers and spray them with fabric or something that you like the smell of..spray it very well..so it can soak into the wood.
I would use anything by Johnson and Johnson, because they seem to know their business! Baby powder isn't a good idea!
First I would clean it with Murphy's Oil soap insode and out. Then allow to dry for a couple of days. Once dry put small bowls or containers of baking soda and allow to sit for a 5-7 days with the drawers shut. Once you have done this I would then use orange oil and treat the inside and out. I know this seems like a long process but it should take out odors. Once the orange oil has penetrated I would put in some lavendar satchets for a day or so before I added clothing.
baking soda. you can buy the boxes now where you peel off the sides front and back with same effectiveness and that way there is no spilling.
Put a Downey Dryer sheet In each drawer.
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