Expert: Eileen Cronk - 8/22/2004

Question
I am in a qaundary about some bedroom furniture it has been stored in an outside shed for some considerable time, and now i have restored it to how it looks good, ,mainly by paint effect, the interior of the wardrobe and chest of drawers has a somewhat musty smell, i have tried to clean the interior with household cleaning products, and with sprays of air freshener, but to no avail, could you have some sort of solution, as you must deal with old lovely furniture all of the time, however, no matter how good they look, the smell is making it not practical, as i would not dream of filling it with clothing, as the smell would then transfer to the garments

Answer
Hi Vaughn
So nice to hear from you.
This musty smell is a common problem to most old furniture.
Try a good wash with Javex and water.
Mix one part Javex to four parts water.
I remember reading about this problem on an antique restoration board I visit.
They said to try the javex too, but if that failed to seal the interior surfaces with shellac.
Vaughn, I have never had to resort to that, but if all else fails, you may have to.
I also place a lot of Downy fabric sofener sheets inside after the Javex solution has dried.
Good Luck
Eileen