Oh my God, it smells like something died in here!
Apparently, in my circle of friends, I am the go-to person if you have this kind of problem.
I hope it’s not because my furniture and house stinks but rather because I’m always rehabbing old, musty, dusty furniture. I have a little bit of experience with getting rid of odor in furniture.
My friend, Amy, who is a real-life CSI, recently sent me this query:
You can imagine that crime scene investigators like me get interesting questions. However, tonight’s, though forensically sound, is more appropriate for my Atta Girls. Neighbor: “How do you get the smell of ‘dead’ out of furniture?” 🙂 Seems a 78-year-old, sentimental chest of drawers in her garage became home to a decaying critter without her immediate knowledge. She’s tried Fabreeze and bleach, which not only didn’t work, but also warped a thin, wood packing crate her father used to craft the piece. Any suggestions from the Atta Girls or Friends of Atta Girls?
Well, I certainly have experience with stinky furniture, but thankfully dead is not a stench that I’ve encountered — yet. So, I turned to some of my blogger friends on Hometalk for their input on Amy’s “something died in here” query.
In my experience, the best solution for getting rid of stinky odors is to neutralize them, not to mask them. Because no matter how much air freshener you use, it always seems the stench comes back. I suspect that what the neighbor’s chest needs is a good airing out — lots of sunshine and fresh air — with some neutralizing agent thrown into the mix.
Here are some tips for getting rid of stinky odors, pulled from my own experience and from the suggestions of the Hometalk bloggers:
- Clean the stinky chest of drawers, inside and out, with an appropriate cleanser. For the neighbor’s chest, the safest option may be a slighty dampened rag with water or another furniture-safe cleanser. Vinegar and water is another option. For another stinky container, like a trash can or a dirty diaper genie, I would scrub with a bleach-based cleaner and also apply Lysol liberally. The neighbor may be able to use Lysol on her stinky piece of furniture.
- Sprinkle the drawers with baking soda, which should absorb the odors. Let the baking soda sit for several days, and vacuum it up. You may need to try several applications. Alternately, you can place a bowl of baking soda inside each drawer. The longer it is left in, the better.
- Let the stinky piece air out. Leave it outside in the sunshine — for days, if necessary.
- Line the drawers with dryer sheets, and let them work their magic for several days (weeks even, if the smell is quite malodorous).
- Pour kitty litter into the drawers and leave it for several days. It should absorb the odor. Dump it out, vacuum well and sniff. Repeat, if necessary.
- Put coffee beans inside the drawers to absorb and mask the odor.
- Place a few jars of white vinegar inside the furniture. The vinegar smell doesn’t linger and it should remove the odor. Depending on how bad the smell is, you may need to leave the vinegar in place longer and repeat, as necessary.
- Furniture painting pal Lori Young of Vintage Charm Restored swears by TSP cleaner, available at home improvement stores like Lowe’s and Home Depot.
- Paint can sometimes mask and cover odors. If the neighbor paints the inside of the drawers, the smell may go away.
- Once the drawers are clean and the odor has been removed, consider storing scented candles inside the chest of drawers. The candles will cover up any lingering scent that may return over time.
Thanks to bloggers Janel at Nellie Bellie and Cheri at It’s So Very Cheri!, as well as my friend Kaaren, for weighing in with tips on how to get rid of stinky smells in furniture. And for more tips on removing odors from furniture, check out this post from Living with Lindsay, and be sure to read the comments for even more suggestions.
For answering this question, I think we all deserve a “get-out-of-jail-free” card from the other Amy! 🙂
If you have suggestions for Amy’s friend, please add them to the comments. I’ll make sure you get your very own get-out-of-jail-free card for adding your two cents.
Glenda
I have found, for removing musty smells, wipe clean with lysol inside and out, ball up newspaper, sprinkle with vanilla extract, close drawers, let sit in warm place or sun (if piece will take it ) for a week or longer. Remove, sniff, repeat if necessary.
Ashlyn
Great tips!! I love old furniture but the smell isn’t that great that comes with it 🙂 http://www.lovesthefind.com
Belinda patrick
Spraying the inside of the drawers with clear spray paint is also very effective.
Judy Townsend
Great tips! Instead of vinegar in the furniture I put lemons. I cut one lemon on slices and put them in different cupboards. Thank you for sharing your post! Greetings!
Deborah
I have also read to shellac a piece to “seal” any odors.. Every square inch! And if using chalk paint it will still adhere to the piece. However, that has seemed like such a daunting task I have never tried it! I have two huge French provential piece to do and I have left them sitting just because of the odor issue! Thanks for your advice, now maybe I’ll get started!!!
Atta Girl Amy
Definitely shellac is an option for combating odors. I haven’t done it myself, but I know a lot of furniture painters who have. They also say you should use shellac to seal any mahogany or knotty pine pieces to prevent bleed-through, especially if you’re using a lighter color. Let me know how it goes with your French provincial pieces. I’d love to see the finished pieces.
BoTaylor
I wrote a previous comment and it was never posted. I see there are some old posts. Maybe delete an old post and add mine.
I want people to know, cleaning real wood with vinegar can strip the finish. I would like to strangle the person that suggested vinegar. I have ruined the dresser. It smells terrible AND looks horrible. Thanks a lot!!
BoTaylor
I would like to strangle the people who suggest using vinegar to clean WOOD dressers!!!! I did, it stripped the finish off and the dresser still smells horrible. 😞
Matija
Hi there, not to say too much: tottaly awesome and practical tips. Thank you. Wil follow. Matija, Slovenia
Cindy
I use Odoban on everything! It’s the only thing I’ve found that truly removes the smell of cat urine. It’s environmentally friendly and isn’t tested on animals. I use it as a fabric refresher on stinky wood (don’t use too much at once), and it doesn’t contain the toxic chemicals found in commercial fabric refreshers. I also dilute some in water to gently wipe down surfaces. It works!
Jo
In reference to my post of removing smells from a box of yarn. My hub. got the idea from his former boss. He was a painting contractor. They had a “fire job” to do. The client had an old cedar chest that she thought was ruined so she threw it away. All they did was use steel wool on the inside to scuff up the grain (lightly), then pack it full of crumpled up news papers. They used a refinisher for the out side, but you could still smell the smoke on the inside (& no cedar smell). This was well over 30 years ago, & to this day there is no smoke smell but you can smell the cedar. Go figure.
Jo
My hub & I love to go to rummage sales. He thought he’d surprise me one day & bought my a large box of yarn. (I am also crafty). Proud as can be, he brought this big box of yarn in to show me his thoughtful gift. As I opened the box and stuck my head closer for a better look, I nearly retched. The person who had the box was most definitely a HEAVY smoker and this box had been sitting in a very musty place. There was no way that I would use this yarn to make things for others. The smell was overwhelming. Hub & all his wisdom said “oh, that’s easy, all you’ve got to do is stuff a bunch of crumpled up newspaper up in the box and just leave it sit for a while”. Mrs. Oh I doubt that will cover all that smell, begrudgingly did as he said. Do you know he had the audacity to be right? I opened the box about 2 months later (fully prepared to throw the contents away), and was totally amazed! There was no smell at all in the box (or the news paper for that matter). Now when anything gets packed away, I crumple news paper up in the boxes as I pack them. Try it, it’s the cheapest fix out there! If it doesn’t work for you, go ahead and start spending $ on it 😉
Kellie
I bought a beautiful hutch from a friend with indoor cats. When I was wiping it down with Amish Wood Milk, I noticed the odor of cats, not sure if they peed on it or the wood just absorbed the smell? Will the vodka ruin the stain and finish of the wood? Thanks in advance!
christine
How do you get cigarette smoke out of furniture on the outside of the furniture? Please send answer to my email.
Jen
I recently bought a dresser set that has a horrible stale cigarette odor in the drawers. How can I get that smell out so I can store my clothes in it? I’ll give the Vodka method a try..
Mary Cass A.
I bought an old pine blanket chest that swelled really musty. I think that it had been stored in a barn. I tried washing it out, using baking soda, using coffee grounds with no luck. I kind of gave up and stored some pine cones and pieces of cedar wood in it. After several weeks I decided to use it to store something else and to my surprise when I opened the chest, the stink was gone!
Atta Girl Amy
That’s great. I’m going to have to remember that tip!
Catherine
Have a vinyl hanging pantry for my pop up camper that smelled like mothballs. Vodka really helped. I used part of a big bottle of citrus flavored I had sitting around so I doubt it really matters what kind. Also mixed in a few drops of tea tree oil just to see what would happen.
Donna
i have had some chest of drawers that needed this help and found a great tip. After cleansing the surfaces inside and out,
Place a bar of great smelling soap into the drawer. I used Caress! My undies thanked me too!
Renee
Nilodor….magic solution! Check it out nilodor.com – we’ve used this product many times for odor left by cats spraying in basement windows…just put a few drops ln cotton ball, leave on window sill a few days and smell disappears!
marie
helped clean out old barn. was given some cool wood furniture etc. the problem is that there were mice nests in the drawers, raccoon poop on some areas, and bird dropping on top. my question is this; is it safe to clean and repurpose these pieces of furniture
Diana
My husbands Grandmother put moth balls in a cedar chest years ago. Is there anything I can do to get rid of that smell?