How do I remove a mothball odor from the attic?

by Carole Ann Kaplan

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I put a very large number of mothballs in the attic and on the insulation to deter the squirrels. Now I have the odor of mothballs coming into my home, worse in some areas than others. Could someone please give me ideas on how to remove the mothball odor??? The mothballs are all in the insulation. HELP!!!!

7 answers

Carole Ann Kaplan on Mar 27, 2019

Short of replacing all the insulation. I rent and don't own my home.

Helpful Reply
Alice on Mar 27, 2019

Naphthalene mothballs can take many months for the odor to go away while p-DCB usually evaporates away within a month. Put out a bowl of vinegar or coffee grounds to help absorb the odor. Charcoal will soak up odors as well and help remove the moth ball smell.

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- Caroleann on Mar 27, 2019
  
  Thank you so much!! Very helpful ideas!!!!
  
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- Alice on Mar 27, 2019
  
  I hope one of those ideas helps if it doesn't, keep asking us. Somebody will come up with something that'll work.
  
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- Caroleann on Mar 27, 2019
  
  Alice, is the charcoal like the charcoal a person would put in a grill????
  
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- Lynn Sorrell on Mar 27, 2019
  
  No it's a special charcoal called Activated Charcoal you can buy it online in bulk or at Aquarium stores put it in large flat cookie sheet type pans in attic
  
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- Caroleann on Mar 27, 2019
  
  Thank you so very much!!!!!
  
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- Alice on Mar 28, 2019
  
  I hope one of those things works. I'm weird, I kind of like the smell of mothballs. I understand that the fumes are bad for you to smell. If you can't get rid of the odor, please ask again because this community is a wealth of information. Good luck Carole.
  
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- James Gray on Apr 28, 2020
  
  I have that same problem. Did anything work for you?
  
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Sharon on Mar 28, 2019

I would get Room Shocker thats used by contractors to get rid of obnoxious odors. Amazon has them, home depot, lowes, walmart.

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- Carole Ann Kaplan on May 23, 2020
  
  Thank you so very much. I just saw your reply!!
  
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Caroleann on Mar 28, 2019

Sharon, thank you!!!!

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Rosa Irlanda on Jun 12, 2020

I know that this is a whole year later, but if you still check this and have any advice that served you later that you wish you knew please pass it along! I made the same mistake and boy is my family paying for it.

1 marked as helpful Reply
- Carole Ann Kaplan on Jun 13, 2020
  
  See below.
  
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Carole Ann Kaplan on Jun 13, 2020

Rosa, the mothballs are still bad now that the temperature is getting hotter.

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- Rosa Irlanda on Jun 13, 2020
  
  Are you serious? Even a year later? That’s awful
  
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Anna Kathryn Lusk on Dec 20, 2020

Uhg I did the same thing! Can I get a vaccum up there or just pick them out out by one!? My whole family has a headache !!!

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- Rosa Irlanda on Dec 22, 2020
  
  Anna, I’m so sorry to hear this! It’s such a miserable experience. I must’ve dumped about 50-60 mothballs in my attic. Not the golf ball size but the smaller ones. My husband and I spent 3 days in and out of the attic collecting as many as we could by hand. It was white mothballs in white insulation, a complete nightmare! Unfortunately the only thing that helped, and we still had some smell coming through, was changing out the insulation. It took 2 days for the professionals to take care of it and even after that we set fans facing out of our attic into the garage to air it out. It took about 4 months for the smell to completely go away. After the insulation was changed out it was bearable. I purchased some of the scented plug-ins and that helped some too. If you have any questions feel free to ask. I was desperate when this happened to my family so I completely understand what you’re going through 😞
  
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- Rosa Irlanda on Dec 22, 2020
  
  If you don’t have loose insulation in your attic, picking them out one by one shouldn’t be hard and it will definitely help. Wear gloves to take them out and a mask to avoid getting a worse headache. Once you’ve gotten them out double bag it and dump them outside right away.
  
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