Getting Rid Of That "Old House Smell"

We love our old house, but it has an unpleasant odor most of the time. In the winter, when we use the wood stove and do a lot of baking, we don't notice it too much. In the summer, it's usually warm and dry. Again, we don't notice it that much. When we go away for the day or on vacation and close it up, the place almost reeks when we open it up again. This summer has been cooler and damper than usual and the problem is so bad I decided it's time to take action.

One of the main problem areas is the old kitchen cupboards. Naturally, we repainted and sealed them when we moved in 3 years ago, but now there's an acrid smell when we open the doors to get out the dishes.

We have 2 identical cupboards in the kitchen--both are original, old wood, from the 1940s. The one with the dishes in it stinks--even the cupboard doors smell. It's a sour, old wood smell--not nice at all.

The other cupboard contains coffee, tea, vitamins, etc. The wood in that cupboard and the doors themselves, smell nice, like a combination of the stuff that's in the cupboard.

Since it took 3 years for the other cupboard to smell bad enough to take action, I've deduced that this "old" smell takes a long time to buld up and is easy to counteract. There's nothing to offset it or control it in a cupboard full of dishes, like there is in the other cupboard.

I took everything out of the cupboard and wiped it all down with white vinegar--including the undersides of the shelves and the inside of the doors. I also put some chamomile teabags in the corners to see if that helps.I'm writing this on 8/14/07. Now we'll see how long that lasts before I have to take action again.

If I decide to repaint, I'll use Kilz, first. We used it to seal the living room walls, which were old wood covered with dark varnish that wouldn't cover with water-based paint (had to use the original product for that). We also used it to cover old water stains on the laundry room ceiling--Kilz2 worked that time. We were completely satisfied with both products. I figured that since it's a sealer, maybe it could seal in our nasty odors. I went to their website and found just what I needed on their FAQ Page.

If you have a sour, old house smell, here are some links that might help:

The Frugal Life "Sour House" page. Hopefully, you'll find your answer, here.

Here's another collection of suggestions for "old house smell" from Times Union.

If your house odor might be caused by cat urine, here's the best solution we've found yet: white vinegar.