Musty Internal Wardrobe

oysterpearl

Hello,

I live in a late 1890s terraced house and I'm mid-terrace.

In my bedroom, there is a built-in wardrobe which has a lingering musty smell in it.

It's not on an outside wall, it's in the middle of the house. One of the walls inside the wardrobe is the one between my and next door's house but their chimney is on the other side of the house and my chimney is also on the other side. There is no sign of mould or damp.

At different times, I've tried leaving an air freshener in there, washing down all the walls with fairy liquid, putting bicarbonate of soda in there on a plate, but nothing has worked and it's making the clothes smell musty too (which I've now removed).

Does anyone have any other advice as to what I can do? Thank you!

RedFraggle

Paint it to create a barrier?

minicooper272

I would start off with a little damp trap - you get them for about £1 in Tesco/poundland/poundstrecher. See if that improves the smell at all. If it sucks up a lot of water, you might have an issue with damp in the house, it's very common in houses that age.

LUHG1878

It may be a condensation issue, rather than damp. Is the wall between the houses noticeably colder than the others?

If so, when warm air from your home hits the colder wall any moisture in the warm air will condense, and because the wardrobe will be mostly closed, i.e. little ventilation, it may be the cause of the musty smell.

Try leaving the wardrobe doors open, or ajar, for a few days.

if this cures or reduces the mustyness, then fitting some insulation boards to the dividing wall may be the solution.

shaun_from_Africa

RedFraggle wrote: »

Paint it to create a barrier?

If you do decide to paint it, make sure to use a water based paint rather than a solvent based one.
Solvent based paints do generally give a better finish but there is usually quite a strong smell with these and in an enclosed area such as a wardrobe it make take a very long time to clear and the small may get picked up by any clothing put in there.
Water based paints are generally far less of a problem in this respect.

tori.k

How much stuff is in there? Try spacing clothing fabric will take up moisture which will get musty if not allowed to breath.

oysterpearl

Thank you everyone for your replies!

The wardrobe was quite full with clothes, which I removed a few days ago, so I could try and clean the walls.

One other possible factor is that three of the walls inside the wardrobe are not made from brick, as the room layout was changed around 20/30 years ago, so they are wooden instead. The joins in the corners are slightly cracked/don't quite meet, so I did wonder if something in the cavities could be causing the smell?