# Another mothball question

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mothball-question/104714>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 20, 2002, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mothball-question/104714 "2002-04-20T21:07:03Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\
**Post date:** [April 20, 2002, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mothball-question/104714/1 "2002-04-20T21:07:03Z")

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Just saw the “mothballs in the mailbox” thread and it reminded me I have a mothball question of my own.

What’s the best way to get rid of the mothball smell?

I have a piece of furniture, a console (like a small bookcase with doors), whose previous owner stored many boxes of mothballs in it for _years_. I’ve had it for going on 10 years now and it _still_ smells of mothballs.

I’ve tried a volcanic-rock odor absorber thing I got at Home Depot a while back, to no avail.

Ideas?

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**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\
**Post date:** [April 20, 2002, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mothball-question/104714/2 "2002-04-20T21:22:26Z")

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You might get some ideas here…

[http://www.howtocleananything.com/tipdetails.asp?tid=831](http://www.howtocleananything.com/tipdetails.asp?tid=831)

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**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\
**Post date:** [April 20, 2002, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mothball-question/104714/3 "2002-04-20T22:51:36Z")

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Do you have a hot place, the hotter the better, such as a garage or shed that you can store it in for several weeks ? Mothballs are usually made of napthalene and/or paradichlorbenzene. Both of these compounds have a pretty high vapor pressure even at room temperature; so if you keep the piece of furniture warm and well ventilated the residue should sublime off in relatively short order.

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**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\
**Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mothball-question/104714/4 "2002-04-21T21:04:44Z")

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Thanks to both. Once the weather warms (back) up, I might be able to put it in the attic or on the back porch.

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**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\
**Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mothball-question/104714/5 "2002-04-21T21:52:57Z")

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I forgot to mention that you should leave the doors of the cabinet open to speed the diffusion of the chemicals into the air.

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**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\
**Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-mothball-question/104714/6 "2002-04-21T22:02:47Z")

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The mothball smell has probably diffused into the paint and wood of the console; the odor may take quite a while to dissipate. It might be better to try to mask it with another scent.