If you have wood furniture, such as a dresser, that is playing host to an unpleasant odor, there’s hope for it! Today’s post is all about removing funky odors from wood furniture. So please don’t ditch that antique table or favorite hutch because of an old musty wood smell. Check out these solutions first, because they just might do the trick.
Your old wood furniture might have a smoke, food or mothball odor, but it doesn’t matter which one it is. For any of those smells, the prescription is the same.
- Empty all drawers and cabinets in the piece.
- Line the drawers and spaces with newspaper. Sprinkle the newspaper liberally with baking soda in each drawer and/or cabinet space. Close the drawers and doors and let the baking soda sit for a week to work some magic.
- After the week is up, carefully wad up the newspaper with the baking soda inside and dispose of it.
- The odors should now be gone–absorbed by the baking soda.
If you come back the odor is not gone, it may be mold that is causing the stink. But don’t worry, there are steps to take to eliminate the smell:
- Thoroughly vacuum the interior of the furniture with a vacuum brush attachment.
- Completely remove any existing drawers.
- Set the furniture and its removed drawers outside in the bright sunlight. Mold hates sunlight!
- Let it sit in the sun for anywhere from two to eight hours, depending on strong the musty scent is.
As a final deterrent to unwanted odors, clean and polish your wood furniture with a citrus oil-based wood polish, such as a lemon oil polish. Rub the oil into the wood with a soft cloth to condition and protect it.
For more on the care and cleaning of wood furniture, see our post on How to {Effectively} Clean Wood Furniture.
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