How to Remove the Smell of Mothballs from Furniture

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By kristara
User-Submitted Article

Article Rating: (6 Ratings)

My mother-in-law has some beautiful pieces of antique furniture that she wanted me to have and I really wanted to have them. Until I brought them home and realized the smell of mothballs wasn't just in her house it was in her furniture too. Leaving the furniture outside to air out, wasn't something that I was able to do. I couldn't drag a dresser in and out of the house every day, but I did find an alternative method that worked. It took a couple of weeks, but the dresser no longer smells like mothballs.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Step 1

Place your piece of furniture near an open window and set up a fan to blow directly on to your furniture towards the open window. Let the fan blow on it for a few hours each day.
Step 2

Wrap charcoal briquettes in newspaper. Use 4 or 5 charcoal briquettes and crumple a newspaper around them. Make one of these charcoal briquette sachets for each drawer or door on the piece of furniture. Charcoal will absorb the mothball odor.
Step 3

Sprinkle lavender essential oil on crumpled newspaper. Newspaper will absorb mothball odors and the lavender will both help to get rid of the mothball odor and leave a nice scent.
Step 4

Open all of the drawers and doors of your furniture and stuff with the lavender crumpled newspaper and one charcoal briquette sachet. Close all of the drawers. Let sit for a week.
Step 5

Open all of your drawers and doors and remove the newspapers and charcoal. Throw away the newspapers and charcoal. If the odor is still present, repeat for another week.