My duplex stinks from decades of cigarette smoke. It took me 5 months to figure out where the smell was coming from, and I finally figured out it's coming from the kitchen cabinets which are all raw wood and not even sealed. I am going to seal them today.
My grandfather would redo old furniture. He would mix equal parts ammonia, white vinegar, alcohol or vodka together with a squeeze of dish soap add to this mixture to water in a spray bottle or bucket. You can dilute with alot of water or a little depending how dirt it is. If you use it full strength on really gunky dirty stuff but you ust rinse with a good amount of water.
Best way: buy an ozone machine and put it in near the furniture in an enclosed space. Let it run for a few hours. Don't stay in the room or have any animals or plants nearby. Use the garage and put a tarp around it. It works like a charm. I also have a 20 year old car. I do this twice a year and never have that gross musty smell
Baking soda will also help dry up the wood!! 😁 removes the odor and will help remove the moisture behind them. Great to do in addition to any of these methods
Thumbs up. You forgot to mention to be sure that wood is absolutely dry before applying shellac. Yes Girl, you can get some pretty cruddy furniture, but don't let that stop you. May I detail my method for the most disgusting furniture? On a dry windy, sunny day, take the drawers out in the driveway or somewhere like that. Get your leaf blower out and all hooked up. Fully spray every nook and cranny with undiluted bleach, also make sure your garden hose is on and hooked up. YOU MUST BE FAST! No distractions or phone calls. Fast and methodical are key here. Before the bleach application, blow out everything. Apply bleach, even on the undersides, everything, everywhere. Be methodical work from left to right. Do not get confused or space out. Now, with hose on full, blast it all and rinse fast. ONE pass only, a light rinse only. Grab the leaf blower and blast the water out. Leave the pieces to completely dry in the sun, being sure to rotate. It is a big "NO, NO" to get wood wet, the idea here is to get the bleach on (you could mix TSP with bleach, but no other chemicals, not even DAWN) and rinse before the wood knows that it got wet. I have never had any problem, what so ever. NOT recommended for people who cannot concentrate. Mold, mildew, smoke, and God-knows-what, gone. These things are only on the surface, this is the easiest way for me. Direct sunlight on all surfaces cannot be emphasized enough. As you mention, shellac is the best way to seal in the odors and mold. That gets expensive at least for me and I want all that ick gone and sanitized.
Great list. I have old steamer trunks with that lovely musty smell. Best thing was removing the inside paper lining and glues with vinegar and water then drying them in the sun. The wood and the external painted canvas covers didn't smell after that treatment. Going to line them with cedar for long term use.
Good information. I have a wardrobe that has a musty smell and I just never could get it smelling good. I just keep a bowl with a couple of tablespoons of coffee in there and change it out every month or so.
Searched "How to get smell out of wood dresser and your video came up. Great information, tried the baking soda already and will move on to the newspaper. Had to laugh when you said "If you have stinky drawers" ! I guess my mind wandered to laundry day ! Great information, I did subscribe and look forward to checking out more of your videos. Very well done !!
Thanks for the tips. I’ve helped clean out homes in house flips that were sitting closed up for years. The smell in everything is overwhelming. I’ve been tempted to dump items but will try these instead. 👍anxious to see how you refinish these.
In the intro I was was laughing so hard when you started with, “ I’m a worn out…” I wasn’t sure where you going with that for a second but I was totally relating to it. 😂😂😂 Then “washing your stinky drawers”. I must be in a mood this morning. 🤣🤣🤣
Thank you for inspiring me to try painting some of my furniture that needs to be updating. I always wanted to take woodshop in school, but couldn't because I was a girl. Now I can't wait! I'm going to hijack my husband's tools.
Thanks Katy! If you live somewhere that features cold winters and you have some time and space, you can freeze out the odor in a good old Canadian winter
I am delighted you are settling in! I love that you had to check out bulk trash pick-up treasures! I’m interested to see what you do with those night stands. Since you used all the tricks, please let us know which worked best. When it smells like cigarettes, I wash it down with Krud Kutter. That seems to do an excellent job of breaking down the tar residue. I also use clear shellac and I brush it on.🌸
If it's mostly the drawers that stink, you might have to take at least the bottom off the drawers, so you can clean out the grooves that the bottom plate fit into. Mold can build up there after years of use. Spraying with the enzyme odor remover you get from the pet store can help, too. Just wipe it off any finished surfaces in the first few minutes, so it doesn't damage the finish.
Woohoo,,,,,love all your tips! When I sold Tupperware years ago, we were told to tell our customers if their Tupperware form a smell to put charcoal in them to sit for a week or so, does it work on wood?, not sure but be worth a try cause it pulls moisture out also! I’m so excited Katie for y’all. Can’t wait for the next video ❤️
You’re amazing! Having just moved to a new house, unpacking and organizing, you must be exhausted! But…ready to upcycle furniture! ♥️♥️♥️ I have tried almost all of your suggestions. I find the one that is the ‘tried and true’ guaranteed to work for that old, musty smell or smoke is some form of shellac. Looking forward to the follow up video.
Thanks for all the tips really helpful. I find sunshine best for musty items but cigarette smoke and nicotine ewww the worst. Looking forward to watching all your new projects.
Thank you. I will be trying two or three of these on this Zenith console. It smells like my sisters storage garage in the back yard lol. So this helps a lot.
I literally got a piece yesterday that came from a log cabin that stinks and immediately started googling. I just hopped on RU-vid today (already a subscriber) and saw this!!!!
Hi Katie, so great to see you. Thanks for all the odour tips. Im sure when you have completed the makeover the drawers will look amazing. Pleased you look so happy. I cannot wait to see all the renovations and upcycling you will be doing in your house. Love your channel, I think your work is FANTASTIC. Take care Gale x
thanks for tips! I'm trying to get moth ball smell out of some furniture we got. I did vinegar and water and am now trying alcohol. I hope I don't have to shellac the entire interior or dresser and all the drawers!
Thank you! Very informative. I have 3 pieces that are older furniture pieces, but my in-laws were heavy smokers, I didn't realize how bad they truly smelled until they came to my garage. WOW! really bad.
going to start with vinegar wash, then baking soda, then try the cover up if it persists, and of course, that is always a fun project and allows me to design the color shcheme of the room more fittingly, probably be pretty fun too, but it has a good ammount of drawers, so it might run me like 100 bucks after paint and all. all good
The sign said ," Must wear clothspin " The lights dimmed as the drawers opened ....and ,"ouch" up went the clothespins !! Wood hugged noses tightly as the mouth-breathing began The spotlight blinked on the Professor ... She adjusted her glasses as her voice squeaked as she pinched her nose Weeks of turmoil had landed us all here ... here for the final reveal ... all breaths were held as we leaned forward in our seats .... "And now we shall..." with a sudden wave and snap of a drawer ..... ( To be continued ...)
Can’t pass up that roadside find, Katie! My daughter (our 19yo) dreads bulk trash day bc she knows there’s a good chance Mom’s going “dumpster diving”😂 (no actual dumpster, just in the driveways of our ally). BUT this past week she came in with a perfectly good barstool from our neighbor’s bulk trash! Thx so much for the tips. Always great to have options in our toolbox.💜
I can’t wait to see which one works best. I’m guessing that you ended up using your Zinser BIN But I’d love to know if the other ones helped at all with the smell and even with the stains. Glad you’re getting to settle in.
Katie, thanks for the tips! When all else fails I use Odor Bully. I buy it at Menards in the US. Good luck with these pieces. I'm looking forward to see how you recreate them!
I'm so glad I found this channel. I recently brought a large chest of wooden drawers, and the top one especially is stinky! Fish like and I'm disgusted. They have been aired outside, sprayed with vinegar solution, bicarbonate soda scrubbed in with my hands and left for 5 days, then filled with fabric softener sheets. I then used washing powder detergent again rubbed in with my hands NOPE nothing has worked! I haven't been able to use the drawers and I'm so angry. I even brought drawer liners but nothing, even little pots of bicarb and essential oils but nope it's still stinking. Omg please help me 😢
thank you so much for this!! its spring here in Australia and the smell from my found bedside table is pretty bad. I'm going to go with vinegar and sunshine. if that doesn't work i have 6 more solutions! im so glad i found you!!!
I think I'm going to try to use the clear shellac on a rotten piece of bedroom furniture dresser drawers! What is your advice to getting into the rattan????
I love the idea of bulk trash day but in the UK people are starting to be prosecuted for leaving free items on their driveway because it’s considered fly tipping. Absolutely ridiculous and it makes me very angry. It’s a fabulous way to recycle and reduce waste. Trust the UK to be way behind 😞
Thanks for covering such an important subject. Have you ever tried Odoban? I'm buying some today and bcus it has thousands of amazing reviews. And I would never use bleach, but that's just me. And I like to use clear shellac for surfaces that I don't plan to paint.
I use charcoal that comes in a sheet covered with pockets filled with the charcoal. They look like continuous little tea bags. They work great, you can move them without a mess, and you can place them in the sun to “ recharge” them. I found them on Amazon
I got upper kitchen cabinets from home where they smoked. I used Simple Green and water twice and let them dry in the sun for a few days, stink was gone.
i have a chair made out of synthetic leather and it smells like very strong cologne. ive had it out in the sun for a week, washed it with soap, alcohol and even some blue spray thing they use to clean car seats but it just wont stop smelling like cologne...
I just realized that this is going to be a long post so I wanted to warn you ahead of time. I’ve been writing this for the past five minutes! As a dog and cat trainer I have learned that details are important when you ask somebody a question especially if you’re not asking it in person. I appreciate your and anyone else’s suggestions. Which method do you find works best for cat odors? I know you said that you tend to avoid those pieces. Have ever had a successful experience with the pet waste smell battle? Because let’s face it it really is a battle! Did you ever find a piece that you just couldn’t say no to but it did had the cat urine odor? What did you try to get rid of the smell? Which method worked the best? If you tried multiple things do you mind listing out which order you tried them in and why? What was the piece? Did it stay in its original intended form or did you completely repurpose it to something new? Part of me is curious and part of me is nosy lol, but I also need some help. We have quite a few cats, and one recently had a bladder infection. Unfortunately I’m not sure for how long though but I started noticing a urine odor so I set up cameras where I smelled them in order to figure out what was going on. I was able to figure out which cat it was and see that Sometimes he was napping on top of or inside one the tall portable closets/armoire (sp?) and leakage happened. I made sure to wipe it up as soon as I could with paper towels. I also sprayed it with a pets specific cleaner that helps with the odor that we as humans can smell but more importantly it neutralizes the pheromones. Pheromones are the odors that only him and the other cats can smell that encourage the biological response for them and potentially the dogs to pee again in that same spot/area. Luckily the spray has prevented him or the other cats and the dogs from going to the bathroom in that same spot/area by successfully neutralized the pheromones. The brand I use is called natures miracle and it is specific for cats. They also make one specific for dog accidents. He is feeling much better and makes it to the bathroom box on time now 100% of the time with no more leaks! Any and all suggestions are welcome. Also is the shellac safe to use on laminate floors? And if you made it all the way through this comment, Thank you for reading! Also thank you for sharing your content and putting yourself out there!
I know in the US Dixie Belle makes a lovely buttery orange beeswax thst you can buff on the inside of the drawers, (I would love to get Debi's DIY wax for my work, but can't get it in SA🇿🇦). After a vinegar clean and a lot of sun, I use beeswax, add orange or lemon essential oil drops and buff it inside the drawers, if absorbs heavenly and the wood looks renewed and smells great, none of it comes off on clothes once cured, I also do the underside of the drawers and the inside panels. You smell it when you enter the room but not on your clothes, but then I álways personally use tissue paper as drawer liners. 🦋
I’m trying to buy an old small dresser I have never diyd any furniture one is $20 it’s in pretty rough condition but it’s beautiful (idk if it’s real wood) other one is $80 it’s pretty rough as well and a leg is split in half, the other one is in beautiful condition but it is $200🥲 idk which one to choose I will have to paint which ever one I get though to fit with my bedrooms furniture, if I could send you pictures I would😭😭😭😭 just barely found your channel today
If you put some charcoal in the drawers it will take the smell away. Learned from a used appliance sales person after our breaker tripped to our deep freezer and my family was on vacation.
Can lemon oil polish (like old English) be used inside and around old stinky drawers? Also, I find the wood of the drawers to be so brittle, what can I apply around the drawer upside of them to strengthen the wood fibers? Conditioner like odie’s oil?
I'm super allergic to mildew. I did vinegar and sun on a red oak coffie table, gonna use bleach next and then shellac inside drawers outside wood will get sanded down and ?? Stained/poly??
I sprayed my vintage dresser with the bleach and vinegar mixture and the fumes aggravated my eyes, throat and lungs. She did say to wear a respirator but I didn't. I googled after I finished spraying my dresser and found out that vinegar and black combined create chlorine gas and read up about the side effects. BE CAREFUL. Happy cleaning! Enjoy removing musty odors from your furniture!
She never said to mix the two. She mixed the vinegar with water at a 1:1 ratio, and then the bleach with water and then said to follow the safety protocols on the bleach container (which would clearly say to not mix with vinegar). It sucks that went through that and thank goodness you’re ok, but she never recommended it. Stay safe everyone!
So if you do a good clean with krud kutter or soap and water and the smell is still there, can you just immediately jump to the shellac? I have a dresser that has some blackish spots on the inside of the drawer and not sure if its mold or what it could be.
I realize this is an older video, but am desperately looking for a way to get rid of perfume/cologne smell out of a desk I just picked up. I've tried straight white vinegar and rubbing alcohol. I still can't walk into the room the desk is in without triggering a migraine from the perfume. The time of year does not allow me to put it outside (very wet weather). Thanks for any suggestions.
