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This is a problem I have been battling for quite some time. When I bought my credenza off Craigslist (OH MY, it's almost been a year!) the woman delivered it & she delivered it FAST. $100 for the credenza, $20 for delivery. She had the whole thing at the bottom of the stairs of my condo before I even took the elevator down.. granted that's 49 floors.. but... Anyways, point is - it has a musty smell. That I've been in a damp basement for years smell. You know it? Thought so.
I did some searching online & even asked around on some forums I belong too. Found many suggestions, none of them worked.
Crumpled up newspaper.
You are supposed to crumple up tons of newspaper & shove it in there & leave it for 2-3 days. At least this is what the suggestion said. OK, I picked up about 15 unread copies of Now Magazine from near the lake, crumpled them up & left them for 2.5 weeks. Smell remained.
Odor Absorber.
Bought one of those, left it in there. Of course the thing ended up being the size of a peanut in a couple weeks, but the smell remained.
Leaving the door open so it can air out.
Did it, actually was the first thing I tried since it seemed the most sensible & being sensible you'd think that I would have put this first on my list.
Cotton balls with a touch of vanilla extract.
I tried both - vanilla & artificial vanilla extract. It did nothing but make the smell worse.
Any ideas?
Leaving it out in the sun is not an option; as I live in a building with tiny balconies that are full of little bugs & big spiders. The credenza probably wouldn't even fit out the door. |
(i do find it necessary to say that I haven't tried everything under the sun.. http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/antiques/msg0715090030091.html is a link I came across).
I did some searching online & even asked around on some forums I belong too. Found many suggestions, none of them worked.
Crumpled up newspaper.
You are supposed to crumple up tons of newspaper & shove it in there & leave it for 2-3 days. At least this is what the suggestion said. OK, I picked up about 15 unread copies of Now Magazine from near the lake, crumpled them up & left them for 2.5 weeks. Smell remained.
Odor Absorber.
Bought one of those, left it in there. Of course the thing ended up being the size of a peanut in a couple weeks, but the smell remained.
Leaving the door open so it can air out.
Did it, actually was the first thing I tried since it seemed the most sensible & being sensible you'd think that I would have put this first on my list.
Cotton balls with a touch of vanilla extract.
I tried both - vanilla & artificial vanilla extract. It did nothing but make the smell worse.
Any ideas?
Leaving it out in the sun is not an option; as I live in a building with tiny balconies that are full of little bugs & big spiders. The credenza probably wouldn't even fit out the door. |
(i do find it necessary to say that I haven't tried everything under the sun.. http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/antiques/msg0715090030091.html is a link I came across).
how about putting a few dishes of charcoal in it? Supposed to absorb odors. You may just be able to use grilling charcoal. Several boxes of baking soda too. Too bad you can't put it outside to air out for a week, that really does work the best for getting rid of mustiness. Whatever you do, it took years for the thing to get that way, it won't smell better overnight.
ReplyDeleteA good cleaning with murphy's oil soap may help too, that stuff smells so nice.