How do you get musty smells out of wood?

Hi Cheryl... sadly that is the battle of every furniture painter ;) There are a few things you can try... leaving it out in the sun or something like putting baking soda or kitty litter in bowls in the drawers. If the smell is really strong though i usually turn the piece upside down, and actually shellac/clear coat the inside of the frame. It will seal the smell if you have tried everything else. The problem is usually on the inside of the dresser frame itself on the large pieces of wood that make up the frame. Good luck!

How to Eliminate Odors in Wood

Your best hope for sealing in any odors is shellac. It makes an excellent barrier coat over all wood species, and it sticks to almost anything. Zinsser makes a great product for this purpose, called Bullseye SealCoat. It’s a clear dewaxed shellac that you can apply to those drawer interiors easily with a brush. It dries quickly and should help to diminish mice, mildew, musty, smoke, urine smell. And since it doesn’t contain wax, you can apply other finishes like lacquer or varnish over it — they’ll stick just fine. SealCoat is also handy to have around the shop as a general purpose wood finish and sanding sealer. So, I’m sure you’ll find other uses for what’s left of the quart you buy.

Hi Cheryl, sometimes it takes a combination of things to get the smell out of furniture. You can try sitting the furniture outside in the sun with the drawers open. I buy these odor eliminators that contain charcoal from Dollar Tree to put inside the drawers for a week or two to absorb odors: https://www.dollartree.com/the-home-store-charcoal-moisture-eliminators-98oz-tubs/160017 You can also stuff the drawers with newspaper and/or use boxes of baking soda

If all else fails, spray the inside of the drawers with clear shellac by Zinsser to seal the wood https://www.lowes.com/pd/zinsser-bulls-eye-clear-shellac-actual-net-contents-12-fl-oz/1053109.