Step-by-Step: Eliminate Mothball Odour on Anything
What is a Mothball?
But before we get into the smell, what is a mothball anyway?
We all store all sorts of things from time to time-be it our favorite sweater that’s out of season or an old rug we can’t part ways with just yet.
Into the fray come mothballs. These little pellets of deodorant and pesticides have long been used to keep those nasty moths at bay from chewing their way through our clothes and furniture when they sit in storage. It does its work pretty good at killing and repelling the moths and most all other insects, but they have very strong smells, and the unfortunate odor they leave behind nearly assuredly long outlives their shelf life, by a lot.
When you smell the mothball fragrance, you’re literally smelling storage. Mothballs, in such instances, emit a poisonous fume while your belongings are kept in storage to kill moths as well as deter other insects. While they do a fantastic job of keeping those pesky pests at bay, they also seem to have a bad habit of hanging around: with time, the balls or crystals break into even smaller, harder-to-spot bits and particles that seep into the pores of wooden furniture, sofa cushions, the fabric of our clothing or even the closet interiors or dressers we keep them in.
The mothball smell is due to the chemicals present in it, such as naphthalene, which is also found in tobacco smoke. The chemicals involved make mothballs dangerous to our health and that of our children and pets, besides emitting the unsavory smell. Overexposure to mothballs can cause headaches, nausea, and dizziness and other health repercussions when inhaled.
If you’ve ever doused yourself in mothballs, or recently brought some thrift store goodies into your home complete with the unmistakable scent, then keep reading below for my easy steps on how to get rid of that smell you just can’t ignore. (Not sure if what you’re smelling is mothballs? Check out this in-depth guide to identifying and eliminating all different odors throughout your home.)
Remove mothball stench, wherever it strikes
It can latch itself onto several areas, rooms, or objects for a much longer period than you had ever planned to use mothballs for.
Removing mothball smell from clothing
Well, mothballs are primarily used to preserve your clothes, but turn out to make them uninhabitable due to the lingering smell it leaves behind. Worry not-the smell can be removed!
STEP 1
Wash with white vinegar
That is the reason why white vinegar has found a permanent place on just about every DIY list of household cleaning ingredients: It contains acetic acid, which makes it able to neutralize alkaline smells, thus acting as a natural deodorizer. The staple ingredient is cheap and versatile, kid-safe and pet-friendly—which is really the better half of all things household-cleaning-related. White vinegar is color-safe and will be safe on the clothing, especially in this situation because it will remove the mothball odor without causing any new discoloration to happen. Run your washer with the affected clothes in a cycle adding only one cup of white vinegar.
STEP 2
Wash with detergent
Once the vinegar has gotten to work eliminating the mothball smell, it only makes sense to actually launder your clothing the normal way. A wash cycle run as usual will only further serve to refresh your garments. Run the second wash cycle using your regular detergent.
Tips:
For more delicate garments, you can combine steps one and two. You can put the clothes in a bucket with eight parts warm water and one part vinegar. Let the clothes soak for almost an hour and then just rinse the clothes dry.
And then if you still smell it, REPEAT! The mothball smell will be gone from the clothing before it dries, as when you dry clothes, you actually set the smell in.
STEP 3
Apply a fabric refresher
I love using Febreze Fabric Refresher daily for clothes to keep them fresh and free of unwanted odors—I especially make sure after just doing the process above.
Removing mothball smell from furniture
Mothball odor can sit in the grains of wood furniture or the fibers of fabric furniture, and that smell can hang around for years—no joke! Here’s how to get it out.
STEP 1
Remove any mothballs
Obvious as this might sound, first remove all the mothballs you may find in or around the furniture.
STEP 2
Wipe with water and vinegar
Mix up a 50/50 solution of water and vinegar. Spray or wipe it over the furniture and let the wood surfaces air-dry. Should that furniture piece have drawers, shelves, cabinets, or some type of enclosed space, fill that with a bowl of coffee grounds or baking soda; these foods absorb odors.
STEP 3
Baking Soda
For fabric covered furniture, such as a couch, spread liberally with baking soda. Note: The end result will not be immediate so allow the baking soda to sit for anywhere from an hour to overnight to soak up that stinky mothball smell.
STEP 4
Vacuum up the baking soda
Let the baking soda sit enough time to soak up that smell then vacuum the baking soda.
STEP 5
Use a Fabric Refresher
It’s just like washing your clothes, but I love to spray my furniture with Febreze Fabric or Febreze Fabric Extra Strength depending on how pungent the smell of the mothballs is.
Removing mothball smell from closets
Going back to mothball smell removal, cleaning your closet’s inner walls is as important as cleaning the garments that you hang on it.
How to Get Mothball Smell Out of Clothes?
Have you ever wondered how to get rid of the smell of mothballs off clothes? It’s pretty frustrating when you find yourself smelling mothballs permeating through your clothes in a closet. Once you’ve lived in your house awhile, this natural mothball smell can start lingering on your clothes. Clothing mothballs are a sure bet for damaging moths and other insects; however, they leave such a pungent, harsh smell that’s difficult to get rid of and can cause much destruction to clothing as well! We’re going to walk through everything you’ll need to know about mothballs as well as how to get rid of mothball smell from clothes, including using a steam iron .
What is a Mothball?
A mothball is a crystallized chemical that emits an odor when warmed. When dry, they are not very toxic towards humans and animals; however, the chemicals within them can be dangerous if wet or heated. There are primarily two types of mothballs: naphthalene balls and camphor balls.
The balls can be made using naphthalene crystals fused together to form a ball. Many people will let those balls breathe out before they use them because of this. They work best in repelling woolen moths and carpet beetles.
Camphor balls are camphor crystals melted together and then molded into a ball. They usually have a moth ball-type smell. They can be very toxic in large amounts and are not safe to use around small children or animals.
What Are Mothballs Used For?
a person holding a pink sweater with a hole in it
Initially, the object of mothballs was an insecticide. They were supposed to trap the insects by putting them in a container holding the substance inside. They would kill any bugs trapped within because of their fumes working in that manner. Later, though scientists found that there were other benefits from using the mothballs themselves.
Perhaps the most common benefit of mothballs, in the recent past, has been to keep the odors of your clothes fresh longer. If you store away your winter coat in a box full of mothballs, then you needn’t worry when it gets moth-eaten. It also prevents the growth of mildew on fabrics.
Another way mothballs help to extend the life of your clothes is by preventing wrinkles. They are a form of dehumidifier because they contain camphor oil; unless your clothes are wet, then they should not wrinkle.
Another reason mothballs might come in handy if you do not mind adding years to the life cycle of your clothes is for removing smells. Most people say mothballs will remove odor better than fabric softener sheets.
I personally enjoy the smell of mothballs. In fact, I love the perfume. Because of this reason, although the items cause allergies in me, I ensure to wear gloves whenever I handle them.
The Smell of Mothball
Both of the mothballs will leave a scent wherever they go. Fortunately, the smell is typically the only impact that this presents. Still, some things you may do to combat any issues that do present themselves. First, always exercise caution with the balls and be sure to use the product according to the instructions given on the label.
Always check clothes for stains or marks before putting them away.
This is particularly important if you’re using camphor balls because the beads can deposit a residue that will inevitably make an impression. I have found some household stain removers work well when it comes to removing this sort of mark if it does occur whilst storing. You can just hang the clothes out to air for a day or two then seal them away. If you have mothball smell in your closet, I recommend the use of some dryer sheets, and then just placing the clothes back in the closet for a couple of weeks until that smell is gone.
This process may take time to accomplish but eventually, the smell will fade away. Scented mothballs or hangers would also be used just in case. To make this process a little faster, I always spray my clothes with Febreeze before putting them away in the closet. Also the air freshener like Febreze Small Spaces Peony & Cedar would help make the whole house smell good. If it’s something you don’t feel safe spraying with Febreeze, or you can’t leave sitting for a couple of days, there’s other things you can try.
First, I would bag the clothes in a large Ziploc bag and vacuum up as much of the mothball smell as possible. If you don’t have a vacuum, simply leave them in your basement or garage for some time before bringing them back into your closet. To remove the remaining odor from various surfaces in the home, one can use baking soda, vinegar, or activated charcoal, for instance. The best thing you could do is to just not use mothballs. You certainly might want to guard your clothes by placing them in storage for months, but there are some better ways to achieve this. If the odor is not a problem, consider using cedar instead of mothballs. Cedar oil has been proven in studies to have an efficacy rate that is three times higher than that of mothballs at keeping moths away!
It can be a lot easier to find as well.
If you have been using mothballs for quite some time, you might even want to consider getting rid of your upholstered furniture and replacing it with cedar or other natural insect-resistant woods.
Soft surfaces tend to attract and hold odors. This will help keep the bugs away from your clothes as well as your other belongings! To switch over to these better products is really an all-around good idea, and you find these products increasingly popular every day. Just keep in mind that it probably takes a little while before you notice a difference between your clothes or home as if the product works. If you’ve tried everything above and the smell still persists, I would recommend one of the five methods below.
How to Get Clothes Rid of That Mothball Smell
Wondering how to get mothball smell out of clothes? First, the best way to get rid of mothball smell is air out all your clothes outside for hours even days. You can start doing that until when the smell has gone. You will also want to do the same thing with your shoes. In case you can’t carry the items outdoors you should put the items in a box and seal the box up to let it take about two weeks there.
If the smell has a strong mothball odor you might want to try one of the techniques below.
Technique 1 Wash with White Vinegar Use a white vinegar and water solution to wash out mothball odors.
Add one cup of white vinegar for every load you wash. Run the washing machine through two complete cycles for best results, even if your clothes are not very smelly. Use the wash cycle with detergent to freshen up the clothes and to drive out the odors. Air-dry the clothes for the complete elimination of the mothball smell. Method 2 Soak Clothes in Vinegar If you really don’t feel like adding the vinegar to the wash, you can soak clothes in it. You might take your clothes, put them into a sealed plastic bag, and close the bag for the night. Due to its acetic quality, the smell of mothballs neutralizes immediately. This will be perfect if the stench is rather weak.
Method 3 Dry cleaning. In case the above methods do not eliminate the smell from your clothes, then you can take your clothes to the dry cleaners for this job. They will make use of strong solvents to eliminate mothball smells from your clothes.
Method 4: Charcoal Use this if you don’t want to wash your clothes but wish the odor gone. You can use activated charcoal. Place it inside a jar or sealable bag, then put your clothes on top of it. The smell from the mothballs will absorb overnight.
Method 5: Try an Enzyme cleaner If nothing else works, you can try an enzyme cleaner. These are specialized products designed to remove mothball odor from your clothing. Spray it on your clothes and let it sit for 30 minutes before washing as you would normally wash. Most grocery stores have them in the laundry detergent aisle.
Some Alternatives to Using Mothballs Include:
• Sprinkle dried lavender flowers onto clothing while still damp. Lavender oil contains natural insect-repellent properties.
• Cedar chips and blocks, placed in closets and chests, help keep out moisture and prevent mildew growth. Cedarwood is one of the most effective woods against mold because it absorbs humidity.
• Store clothing in airtight containers such as shoe boxes, laundry baskets, or even old suitcases. Make sure to label each container clearly with the name of the contents.