Expert: Eileen Cronk - 12/5/2008

Question
Hi Eileen: My mother finally gave me the beautiful hope chest that had been in the family since she was a bride almost 70 years ago. I planned to refinish it, showcase it's beauty and use it but when I opened it up I found that she had kept moth balls in it which had totally deteriorated and seeped into the wood itself. I removed the felt on the shelved area thinking it would remove the problem but it's in the wood. Any ideas?  Thank you.

Answer
Hi Judy
Nice to hear from you.
How nice to have your Moms hope chest.
A lot of the young folks today have no idea what we mean when we say "Hope Chest".
Before I start to ramble, I'll get right to your problem.
I ran across the same thing not long ago while doing another chest.
The moth ball smell was really strong.
As I was refinishing it anyway I thought "what the heck, perhaps I'll just go over the interior with the stripper and perhaps it will take the smell away".
And by golly it did.
Next time though I'll be a bit smarter and sand the interior before I use the stripper. I sanded after I stripped.
So heres the way..
1.. sand the entire interior of the chest with 120 grit paper and vacuum it out. I mean a real good sanding so you will get lots of dust and need to wear a dust mask for sure. Pay particular attention to the area where the moth balls deteriorated.
2.. Apply a generous coat of an MC stripper (ask for it at the hardware) over the entire interior of the chest.
3 wait for about 10 minutes then rag it off one section at a time.
4.. while the wood is still wet in the ragged off area, rub the surface with medium grade steel wool till its dry. Continue around all sides and bottom.
5 ..another good vacuuming.
6..Leave the chest open for several days. My shop gets very cool at night and I think the cold also helped so if you have a garage or porch, put it there for a few days.
Enjoy your wonderful chest.
Kind Regards
Eileen