getting rid of funky smell in hand-me-down armoire

[marie]

my cousin handed down her armoire, hi-lo dresser and crib to us. we were quite grateful but. . .

the armoire has a funky smell - even after airing it out for weeks now. DH's theory is that one of the kids threw up in a drawer. i have to admit as soon as he said it, i thought "yup, that's the smell."

so any ideas on how to rid this thing of the smell?? it is solid wood (oak, i think) and DH thinks that there is only one offending drawer. sand it down and then bleach it?

TIA,

[MiaPia]

Have you tried using baking soda to absorb the odor? Baking soda can work wonders on smelly stuff!
Good luck getting the smell out! I hope you don't have to resort to sanding it down!

[Dyonia]

I've had a similar problem with antique and garage-sale furniture. Usually its because the furniture was constructed with basswood, which has a wierd smell... kind of musty, a bit sour, sometimes yuckkier than that :)

Try the baking soda suggestion from the last poster first.. if that doesn't do the trick, then go ahead and try lightly sanding (use 120 grit, then 220 to finish it off), but don't bleach it! (Bleaching wood can cause more problems than it will solve.)

After you finish sanding it, wipe the drawer down throughly to get rid of the dust, then seal it with polyurethane (or shellac or lacquer). Also, put wax (a block of clear candle wax would work -- grab one of your old candles) on the contacting parts of the drawers when putting it back together. Basically just rub the candle stub over the areas of the drawer that recieve the most wear.
If the drawer is basswood, that should take seal off the offending odor.

This should only take an hour or two.. the trick may be finding the time!

Cheers, Donna

[angusmom]

I dont know if this would work, but maybe try getting Cedar and putting it closed up in the armoire for a while and see if the Cedar will overtake the yucky smell. Of course this would assume the smell of cedar is pleasanter to you than the yucky smell! :D I suggest this because I remember my aunt had a cedar closet in her house and the smell was strong in such a way that no other scent would trump it (which to me personally I loved the cedar smell so I thought it was a great closet!). They have cedar at wal-mart. If you look online, maybe you can even find stronger versions that wal-mart's if that is possible. Hope you find an easy solution!

[houseof3boys]

I would lightly sand it down, wipe it out with a mild bleach solution (air it for a few days) and then wipe it (I used an old sock) with some diluted essential oil so that it has a nice new smell. I love lavender so that is what I have used in the past. We had the same problem with a piece we bought years ago and that did the trick!

[Jodi]

You may want to try unused coffee grounds--- I don't know why it works, but it does-- coffee grounds in an open container got the stink out of our old, nasty fridge in a NYC pre-war apartment and I can't imagine any armoire can smell as bad as that! Hope this helps!

Jodi

[booboo1]

My mom always used to keep a bar of soap in each drawer of her dresser to keep things smelling fresh - even a bar from a hotel will do! It may help after some of the other suggestions, to keep any remaining smell hidden.

[marie]

thanks for the suggestions! i will try some out during my "nesting frenzy" this week!

:-)