You bought a home, inherited a dresser or opened up a relative’s closet, and now everything smells like mothballs. It’s a sharp, heavy smell that clings to fabric, wood and drywall, and it can spread through a whole house through the AC. We see it often in older South Florida homes and estate homes where mothballs were used for years.
Why Mothball Smell Is So Hard to Remove
Mothballs work by slowly turning into a vapor. That vapor soaks into anything porous nearby: clothes, carpet, unfinished wood inside drawers, closet shelving and drywall. Long after the mothballs are gone, those materials keep releasing the smell. In a closed Florida home with the AC recirculating the same air, it can end up in every room.
Step 1: Find and Remove Every Mothball
Check closets, drawers, storage bins, garment bags, under beds, the attic and the garage. Mothballs are a pesticide product, so wear gloves, keep them away from kids and pets, and follow the disposal directions on the package or your county’s household hazardous waste guidance. Don’t throw loose mothballs in the kitchen trash.
Step 2: Clean What Absorbed the Smell
- Clothes and linens: wash them, and repeat if the smell remains. Dry-clean-only items can go to a cleaner; let them know about the odor.
- Drawers and closet shelves: wipe them down, let them dry fully, and set an open box of baking soda or activated charcoal inside for a few days.
- Carpet and upholstery: vacuum thoroughly, then consider a professional cleaning.
- Walls inside the closet: wash them. If the smell is still strong after cleaning, a fresh coat of odor-blocking primer and paint may help.
- AC filter: replace it so it isn’t spreading the smell back through the house.
Step 3: Don’t Cover It Up
Air fresheners and scented candles just mix with the mothball smell. Buyers, tenants and guests notice it right away. The goal is to remove the odor, not mask it.
Is It Mothballs or Something Else?
If you’ve removed every mothball and the house still smells, make sure it isn’t a different odor. A musty smell usually points to moisture or mold, especially in closets on exterior walls or near the AC closet. We offer a free visual inspection with moisture readings and an infrared (thermal) camera to look for hidden moisture. Moisture and mold have to be fixed first; no odor treatment can solve a moisture problem.
Step 4: Clear the Odor From the Whole House
When the smell has spread beyond one closet, cleaning room by room often isn’t enough. Our whole-home odor removal treatment treats the air throughout the entire home, including one AC system, to remove the odor left in walls, fabrics and ductwork. You’ll be out of the home for about 8 hours. It works best after the mothballs are removed and the heavy cleaning is done.
Curious how it works? Read how the whole-home odor treatment works, and what it can and can’t do.
Whole-Home Odor Removal in South Florida: $997
Our Whole-Home Odor Removal Treatment is $997 and includes one AC system ($550 for each additional AC unit). You can buy and schedule it online, or call 877-224-2532. We answer 24/7, and hablamos español.
About the author: James Rice-Peña is the owner of FL Cleanup and a Florida-licensed Mold Assessor (MRSA4035) and Mold Remediator (MRSR4158). He has worked in property restoration in South Florida since 2012, and FL Cleanup has earned 200+ five-star Google reviews.
