4 Steps To Get Rid Of That Musty Smell
This dresser stinks.
It may be curvy, old, and beautiful, but it has that musty smell. The tell tale sign it’s been sitting a bit too long in someone’s basement. Let me teach you how to clean and restore both the inside and the outside of an old piece so it will last for years to come (and so you aren’t afraid to put your clothes in those drawers).
Time to get to work!
First things first to get rid of that musty smell, grab your shop vac and get rid of the dust, cobwebs, spiders, and sawdust.
Next clean with White Lightning and wipe off with a paper towel. REPEAT until the towel wipes clean.
After spraying and wiping, set the piece in the sun to dry. The sun helps deodorize it too.
Next up - wood conditioner and deodorizer. Big Mama’s Butta soft wax re-hydrates the wood and has a nice smell that keeps drawers smelling like roses (or oranges, or just clean wood – depending on the scent you chose). Apply a generous amount with an old rag, and rub into the wood. No more musty smell!
I decided to sand and apply a layer of water based wood stain – Antique Oak - to the drawers. I sealed the wood with Hemp Oil. This soaks into the dry old wood and makes it come to life!
The case of the dresser was painted in Dixie Belle’s Antebellum Blue – a stunning color, that I cannot get enough of and looks great with wood. New simple brass knobs finish off this piece just perfectly.
Now the inside and the outside is like a whole new dresser!
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Resources for this project:
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Comments
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It looks lovely with the paint....but since you painted, please take the word restore out of your opening statement.
These are built and made to be wood. Otherwise they could just use particle... or any other cheap wood/board.... and paint them.
Most can be repaired and "restored" unless they are truly a lost cause. This looked far from a lost cause.
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I’m a little confused you pictured in the material list White lighting (the movie)🤣😂
Frequently asked questions
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The link to your resources for White Lightening is for a hoof cleaner. My guess is that you really used Dixie Belle White Lightening cleaner. Is that correct?
your product links are pretty confusing. Do you really mean Dixie Belle White Lightning cleaner (which is $5 and makes A LOT of cleaner) Or the linked $76 stuff which isn’t exactly a cleaner at all. The Big Mama’s Butta link is equally confusing!! 😉
I thought the wood of the dresser was a form of Tiger Wood, which has a few different designs in the wood but am not sure. Beautiful originally but I understand why the need to clean well. What are the darker spots on the drawer fronts after you cleaned and re-stained from? I am not fond of painting antiques that are not ruined, that being said your dresser came out well. Did you think to paint the knobs the same color blue to tie everything together? If you are not sure you can always use new knobs and paint or even use paper circles of the blue paint to see if you like or not.