OT - Mothball Odor

[pezheadval]

Hi all. Just wondering if any of you have successfully rid your RV of that lovely mothball odor. Last year we purchased our RV from my Uncle, who I know meant well, but stuffed mothballs in every nook and cranny of the 5th Wheel. We have removed all of the mothballs...but that odor sure does linger. And now everything that spends any amount of time in the RV comes out smelling like mothballs...bags, clothes, sheets, pillows etc.

I have had some suggestions of fresh air and sunshine, fabreeze, enzyme neutralizer, newspaper, baking soda etc. Just wondering if any of you tried something that really worked.

Thanks!

 

[Billmel]

We had a really bad mildew problem with one of our campers, once they fixed the water problem, the dealer suggested opening everything up and spraying with Febreeze. It worked. I don't know if it would work for moth balls but it did work for the musty closed up smell we get every year.

 

[auntie]

Oh my, I hate that smell. We have friends who are seasonal in an upstate NY campground..and they use them under their trailer in the winter to keep away mice?? I don't know if they keep the mice away..but it sure keeps me away...we have coffee at their site..and I still get a wiff of it in August! Pretty potent stuff.
I agree about the Febreeze...I use it and love it..very fresh smelling without being perfumey or lysol like smelling. Just freshens things up...hope it helps.

 

[pezheadval]

I think that the Fabreeze is going to work.

We brought in my daughters sleeping bag from the 5th Wheel and it wreaked of moth balls. So I threw it in the wash and then put it in her room. Well, it still smelled bad, and even made her whole room smell, too. Yuck! So I got some Fabreeze (actually it was a store brand like Fabreeze) and sprayed it down and no more odor! I am very hopeful that it will work as well on the 5th wheel itself. I'll give you and update when we try it out!

 

[kg66]

Try bounce sheets! We too did the moth ball trick for winter prevention of rodents, but the trick was on us... it took the whole season to get rid of the moth ball odour! Our mechanic also owns a Motorhome an told us to buy a big box of bounce sheets and spread them all over. We put them in the closets, cupboards, between matresses/cushions, and all over the carpet. There must be something they don't like in it, because, touch wood, we have never had mice since we tried it, and we had them every year before that!! Besides that, it's a nice deodorizer when you open it up in the spring. Good luck, that 's what works for us. But I always carry Febreze too, can't stand the inside of the Motorhome smelling like a campfire the next morning!

 

[johnniecuse]

The moth balls do work with mice. I also put mothballs in aluminum foil and poke holes in the foil. Then I place them on the ground around the camper in various spots. This trick works and it will keeps bears away. The bounce sheets and Febreeze will help with the smell.