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Hello - I picked up an old costume trunk that has a musty odor. I'd like to use to store items. How can I remove the odor? Thanks.

Can you open it up and stick it in the warm sun for a few hours?

The folks on the cleaning board might have better suggestions - have you posted over there?

Have you tried baaking soda? Set an open box inside & close the lid. I'd let it sit for a week & see if that helps. Also, you can buy oder eating cans at Lowe's & Home Depot. They destroy animal, smoke, coooking & other odors. Good luck!

I would try putting a shallow, glass pie dish of half inch of white vinegar, open in the trunk and close the lid up for a day or two.

Vinegar is a cheap deodorizer, mild acid and also a great mildew-cide. After a couple of days, open it and do the "direct sunshine treatment" junk collector suggested. (For as long as safe outdoors)

If more deodorizing is needed, then I'd try a spraying with Lysol type air cleaner (helps kill mildew too).
Don't bother with spraying Fabreeze or other scented sprays, as those just mask the odor with another scent, and as soon as that is gone, the mildew smell returns.

You can also try newspapers. Wad up a bunch of newspapers & place them inside...Newsprint paper absorbs odors...I like the baking soda method, myself...maybe baking soda & newspapers. You can try activated charcoal. Then when the odor is gone, put in some cedar chips. Good luck.

I bought one that smelled of mothballs, Yuck.I got a small cedar bale from the pet section. I haven't got back to it yet, but I know it smells better than it did.

A tray of kitty litter in the bottom will help

After you get rid of the musty odor, you are not through. Once you put something in it and close it up, the odor will return.

Even in my mother's cedar lined trunk, about twice a year she removed everything...aired the linens, kept the lid to the trunk open for several days. Then she draped a clean sheet in the trunk to cover the bare wood and placed the refolded linens back in the trunk...along with several dryer softener sheets (not placed against the linens).

(Crumpled newspapers and charcoal are the two things I've used before and they both work wonders!)

DD restored several old trunks for herself, family and friends. 1st she placed crumpled newspapers in the closed trunk to absorb moisture -for several days.
If the trunk's inteior is original paper or cloth & you want to try to save it, open the lid and place outdoors in the shade (if low humidity) If the interior is unfinished wood, probably ok to put an open trunk outdoors in sunlight -again low humidity.
We've used several methods to remove musty odors: a bowl of distilled vinegar, activated charcoal, cat litter. After exhausting those methods, (for one) we sealed the interior surfaces and cut cedar strips to fit.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: tessa89,

I don't like using our newspapers here. It is made of canola oil and ink. I don't trust the canola oil. Your hands get black just from reading it. I won't put anything around our newspaper. A lot of people say to use them to clean windows too. I don't think so. not here.

A product called Nok Out.........

I have an old highboy cabinet that is musty...if I keep a fresh bar of Dial soap or Irish Spring in there, it smells fine.

I have aways used newpaper, keep changing them out until the smell in gone. I had read that somewhere. Also cat litter works as well, but again you have to keep changing it out.

I have not tried this but have heard it works in truck trailers and refrigerators. Buy the cheapest ground coffee, close it up in the item you are working on for several days. Might put several layers of newspapers down then spread out the coffee on top of it. This is unused ground coffee. Let me know if it works.

there is a product called Odo Ban. Works wonderfully.