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Removing Moth Ball Odor From a House?

I am moving into a home that was occupied by an elderly couple who had an extreme fondness for mothballs. The entire house reeks of the odor. How can I remove, not mask with Febreze or the like, but actually remove the odor permanently without tearing out the entire interior of the house. Please please help me.

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By MizAyo from Chicago, IL

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August 27, 20112 found this helpful
Best Answer

A old trick to remove bad odors from a house or room, is placing small bowls of vinegar around.
Place them at the course of the bad smell, or generally around in eye height.
Ofcourse the acid smell of the vinegar will dominate locally for some time, but that's easy to get rid of, by opening a window.

 
March 6, 20180 found this helpful

Absolutely bowls of white vinegar!!!! The basement of my aunts condo reeked of mothballs she used for years. An inexpensive and natural fix for an awful toxic smell!

 
August 29, 20110 found this helpful

Air the house thoroughly. Put fans in the windows turned to pull the air out, not in. I use mothballs and to remove the odor from clothes, I hang them somewhere with good air circulation.

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Good luck. At least you do not have a house full of insects.

 
Anonymous
February 15, 20160 found this helpful

Mothballs don't just smell bad, they are bad for you. Their active ingredients, naphthalene and paradichlorobenzene, are toxic and can cause headaches and confusion, as well as liver and kidney damage.

 
August 7, 20160 found this helpful

fabreeze on you aircondition filter will help

 
September 5, 20160 found this helpful

You need to locate all the moth balls (old days they put them in the attic, crawl space, basement for pest control against spiders, roaches, squirrels, mice, rats, snakes, etc.). Once you have located and deposed of ALL the moth balls turn off your A/C unit. Open as many windows in your home as possible (for a few days (2-3)). Return to the crawl space/attic or basement area and spritz it LIGHTLY with a spray mist bottle containing apple cider vinegar or white vinegar and water at the ratio of 2/1 (2:water 1:vinegar).

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(Caution do not soak your insulation with it). Use the same vinegar and water mix to wipe down your walls and baseboards. After a few days you should be able to turn the A/C back on and be free in clear. Before you turn the A/C back on replace your A/C filter, clean the A/C coils on the outside unit.

 
October 14, 20160 found this helpful

If they were put in the block foundation of your basement can you dilute by pouring vinegar on the inside of the block? I am unable to vacuum out

 
May 18, 20171 found this helpful

I hv a sub basement that's filled with mothballs and have no one to go under to gather the balls. Can I just stand at the entrance way and spray the vinegar?

 
October 21, 20160 found this helpful

I'm having the same issue with moth ball odor in my home. It's been a week and its still very very strong. The owner of the rental put moth balls in our attic and the smell is seeping through the air vents. It has stained EVERYTHING. Every time we leave the home we smell moth balls on our clothing. It's embarrassing! To rid the smell we are going to open every window, turn off the air conditioner and crank up the portable fans in the house for as long as we can (hot weather will cause us to stop doing this step).

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Once we get the smell out we plan on washing everything...yes EVERYTHING from ceiling to floor in vinegar and laundry detergent in the washing machine...yay ....we also bought some arm and hammer carpet odor eliminater...fingers crossed. BUT I do know that airing everything out (clothing, the house, your car, etc.) gets rid of the smell...oh and time. Definitely give it time...its not an overnight fix.

 
Anonymous
May 18, 20170 found this helpful

Please help me my entire studio reeks mothballs how can I get rid of the smell I bought it to chase roaches coming from neighbors

 
May 26, 20170 found this helpful

How do you get rid of the smell out of the house.

 
June 4, 20170 found this helpful

Fresh air . Wash walls with vinager , dawn , warm water .

 

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