Message-ID: <37794977562E4F66A0FB559085536561@JensenPC> From: "Don Jensen" <dnjkenosha@wi.rr.com> Subject: Re: musty smell from old furniture Date: Mon, 27 Jun 2011 14:48:55 -0500
Caution is good advice, but caution isn’t the same as
don’t use it.
Just be careful to kill the mold first, so it doesn’t get a
chance to spread
to other non-infected artifacts
The musty smell is, indeed, mold, sometimes, incorrecty, referred to
mildew.
The answer to the cautionary advice is to kill the mold, not just cover
the
smell. Mold grows where the temperature is right and there is moisture
(and, sometimes, where it is dark). All those components can happen
when
the furniture is badly stored (in a basement, a garage, etc.)
With an old desk, there are two components... the finished wood and the
unfinished wood. The former is stained and varnished. The latter is
neither, usually the underside and sides of drawers, maybe inside the
drawers) I’m guessingt the drawers are the major focal point of
the mold and
smells, but there also are unfinished areas of the desk itself that
likely
are part of the problem. Mold can grown, though, even on finished
surfaces,
particularly if they have been waxed at some time.
Because they are finished with varnish, those are easier to wash with a
fungicide
cleaner. The unfinished areas will absorb some of the washing liquid
so make sure
they are thoroughly dried after cleaning. I like setting them out in
the sun to really
dry.
I am not suggesting this for any fine old furniture but an old
teacher’s desk likely
has seen lots of practical wear and its original finish was intended to
stand up to hard use.
And if the choice is to try to clean it with a fungicide cleaner or
discard the desk as useless,
I’d opt to clean it.
What cleaner? PPG makes Mildew Check. Others recommended are Ful-trol
64, Century Q 256,
Microcide TV, GS Foaming disinfectant cleaner. Follow directions for
diluting with water.
Sometimes there may be nooks and crannies where you just can’t
get into an enclosed space
to wash it with the fungicidal cleaner, or dry it afterward (though a
hairdryer can work for that).
Then, I have had success with a powdered spray “human
type” fungicide like Tinactin, generally
used for athlete’s foot or so-called jock itch. It can be
sprayed into small joint openings, etc.
you can’t otherwise reach. Indeed, it will leave a powdery
residue but it may be possible to
vacuum that away after it has done its killing work. . . or perhaps just
leave it there. If it is
such a small opening no one will ever see the residue powder there.
don
From: Ann Waidelich
Sent: Thursday, June 23, 2011 11:51 AM
To: localhistory@listserve.uwec.edu
Subject: musty smell from old furniture
From: winifred lacy <pwlacy@chorus.net>
Date: June 23, 2011 11:19:11 AM CDT
Do you have any tried and true method of getting rid of musty smell
from old furniture? We have an old teacher's desk that we would like to
be able to use in our new digs but it won't pass the test of the new
librarian in the condition that it is in now. Any suggestions?
Winnie Lacy, Fitchburg Historical Society, pwlacy@chorus.net 608-845-7594