Remove Musty Smells

by Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger

26 Nov 2007 05:02 AM

Do you have some old furniture that has been stored too long in a basement or garage? It happens to the best of us. When we moved to our new home, we used our garage as a staging area for some furniture until the time that we could fix up the walls and rooms. The furniture that didn't get placed right away, well, when it came time to clean out our garage, we finally decided that we could do without it. We do want to pass it on to others, but unfortunately, a slight musty smell developed from the time the furniture did spend in the garage.

Fortunately, I know of an easy way to remove musty smells.

I learned this technique a long time ago when I worked in an art gallery. The gallery sold all sorts of art work, from prints to carved pieces. Sometime, antique furniture would also be sold because of its ornate or innovative design qualities. Very often, these pieces would arrive with a musty smell from being in storage for far too long. Not only would no one want to buy a piece with a musty smell, but the smell would have a way of filling the entire area.

The trick that I learned for removing the musty smell from furniture, is this. Take a piece of white bread and put it on a plate. Pour an amount of white vinegar over the bread. Be careful not to spill the white vinegar outside of the plate. Then place the plate inside your furniture. You can place it on a shelf, or in a drawer as needed. Just make sure that you can close the area that contains the plate. The musty odor will be absorbed into the vinegar solution. I suggest leaving it in the furniture overnight.

Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, technology in the Computing Blog, and creating a home in the Home Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here.

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Learn more about Mary Ann Romans

Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat.

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selfhelpqueen (896) 08 Jan 2008 05:22 PM

Really? This works!? I've used vinegar to get smells out of my house, but never out of furniture. Thanks for the tip!

Mary Ann Romans (26886) 09 Jan 2008 05:21 AM

Yes. You may notice a strong vinegar smell when you first open the piece, but it will dissipate in a day or two (or hours, if you put the piece outside), leaving no smell.