Getting rid of musty smells

[MommyofNRM]

I couldn't find a thread about this and it's driving me nuts! We moved into our house about two months ago and no one had lived here in a few years. The basement (which is super damp) had a horrible musty smell. We got a dehumidifier for it and it's helping. But upstairs, all of our closets smell funky, maybe not musty, but not good. It's making all of our clothes and towels stick and not smell clean. It's really bothering me. I'm not sure what to do about it. What can I put in the closets to help them smell better? Thanks! 

[heatherdeg]

I actually really like those "Fresh Wave" things they sell in Bed, Bath & Beyond and places like that (I think Target sells them now, too).

Otherwise, you could try putting some cat litter in a sock and hanging it in the closet...?

[4evermom]

Our basement smelled so good after I washed the floors with that orange liquid spic 'n' span... I bet mopping the basement floors (ours are concrete) and wiping out the closets with that or something similar would do the trick. The dust and dirt (and the wood of course) hold the smells. After that, the key for the basement is air circulation. If you can't open the windows, put a fan down there. You could even have it on a timer so it turned on for just a while every day.

[Oread]

Vinegar vinegar vinegar, clean everything with vinegar! Basically any time I have any sort of smell issue at home, I can take care of it with diluted white vinegar. Give your closets and basement a good scrub down. And I keep little bags of dried lavender and/or cedar in our closets and dressers to keep things smelling nice and fresh, it seems to really help with any sort of musty odors from the old buildings I live in. 

[vrvs1933]

You can eliminate odors by four methods, open windows and air out the rooms, odor eliminating sprays. An air ionizer or ozone generator introduces negative to negate odors. A permanent way to keep odors away and your home smelling fresh and clean is repainting the walls in a room and add the paint additive Air-ReNu, which only has to be applied once works 7/24/365.