How to get rid of mothball smell in clothes, closets and rooms

Step by step

1. 1

   Take out every mothball

   Wearing gloves, collect all mothballs, flakes and crystals from closets, drawers, bins and corners. Seal them in a bag and dispose of them as the label and local rules direct. Wash your hands afterward.

   Why: Each mothball keeps turning into vapor until it's gone. Nothing else works while the source stays.

2. 2

   Wash everything that was stored with them

   Launder clothes, blankets and linens that were near mothballs, following the care label, and repeat if you can still smell it. See mothball smell in clothes.

   Why: Fabric absorbs the vapor and releases it slowly. Washing removes the pesticide from the fibers.

3. 3

   Wash baby items first and twice if needed

   Never put a baby in clothing, diapers or bedding stored with mothballs until it has been washed.

   Why: Infants have developed anemia from unwashed items stored with naphthalene mothballs.

4. 4

   Air out the closet or room

   Open windows, run fans and leave closet doors and drawers open. Air unwashable items outdoors.

   Why: Both mothball chemicals evaporate. Fresh air carries the vapor away instead of letting it build up.

What mothball smell actually is

Mothballs are registered pesticides made almost entirely of naphthalene or paradichlorobenzene. Both sublime, turning slowly from solid straight into vapor. That vapor kills clothes moths, and the label requires mothballs to be used only in an airtight container so it builds up inside without escaping into the house.

The National Pesticide Information Center puts it plainly: if you can smell mothballs, you're inhaling the pesticide. Fabric soaks up the vapor and releases it for a long time, which is why stored clothes can smell long after the mothballs are gone.

Why covering the smell is a bad idea

A fragrance spray adds another chemical on top of a pesticide vapor without removing it. The smell is a useful warning that the chemical is still there, so let it guide you: wash, air out and keep going until it's gone. Like other chemical smells, the lasting fixes are removal and ventilation.

In outdoor air naphthalene breaks down quickly, often within a day. Paradichlorobenzene can last up to about a month, so expect airing to take longer if that's what you used.

By situation

Inherited or vintage clothes that reek of mothballs

Wash them if the label allows, more than once if needed, and air them outdoors. Take dry-clean-only pieces to a cleaner and mention the mothballs.

A closet or attic smells of mothballs

Remove every mothball, wipe the shelves and floor, and ventilate for several days. Mothballs in open closets, attics or crawl spaces are an off-label use the label doesn't allow.

Someone used mothballs to repel snakes or rodents

That's illegal off-label use and spreads vapor where people and pets breathe it. Pick them all up and dispose of them according to the label.

You still want moth protection

Use moth products only in an airtight container with no holes or vents, such as a sealed storage bin rather than a vented garment bag, exactly as the label says.

What not to do

• Don't mask mothball smell with air freshener. The smell means you're breathing the pesticide, and fragrance doesn't remove it.
• Don't put mothballs in open closets, drawers, attics or gardens. Labels allow only airtight containers. Other uses expose people and pets and are illegal.
• Don't put a baby in unwashed clothes or bedding stored with mothballs. It has caused anemia in infants.
• Don't leave mothballs where children or pets can reach them. They look like candy, and one mothball can seriously harm a child.

Other methods that work

Airing outdoors

For items you can't wash, hanging them outside lets the vapor leave the fabric. The sources don't give a set time, so air until you can't smell it.

Caution: Keep them away from children and pets while they air.

Stain still there?

Clothes still smell after a wash

Wash again and dry them outdoors if you can. Heavily exposed items may need several rounds.

The room still smells days later

Look for a missed mothball or flakes in corners, boxes or pockets, and keep ventilating.

Safety

• Naphthalene vapor can cause headaches, nausea, dizziness and vomiting, and enough exposure can cause hemolytic anemia. Paradichlorobenzene can cause nausea, headaches and eye or nose irritation.
• If someone swallows a mothball, call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222. For pets, call a veterinarian or ASPCA Animal Poison Control at 1-888-426-4435.
• Wear gloves when handling mothballs and wash your hands afterward.

Never mix cleaning products; see chemicals you must never combine.

Questions