Sprayed vinegar on back of cupboard (porous wood) will the smell go away?

icicat

Hey all,

Back of our wardrobe is bare brown hardboard/mdf type wood. It had suffered green mould growth. So I sprayed it with vinegar which killed the mould. However, the bedroom now stinks of vinegar after day 3. My partner is also allergic to vinegar! I did ask her and she said to do it, but didn't expect the smell to be so overwhelming!

As the wood was so fluffy and bad, I covered it with sticky back plastic in a bid to prevent more mould trapping itself in the fluffy surface. Though will this trap the vinegar smell even more? Should I remove it all and just let it air out? She's worried the smell is permanent and stressing out

Yorkie006

I'd say leave the wardrobe open to air it out. Open the windows if you can. The smell should go away. You could also try to get one of the air freshener sprays designed to remove cigarette smell (I used it to get rid of weed, damp and mould smell in previous house as it reeked of it when I moved in - the house was left in bad state by previous tenant). I think if was febreze or airwick brand, not sure now. The air freshener doesn't smell great but works, so don't use it just before going to bed.

Emmia

Have you tried wiping it with a damp cloth to remove excess vinegar?

Honestly the smell will go but you really need to ventilate it

km1500

might be worth varnishing the back of the door

Emmia

icicat said:

Hey all,

Back of our wardrobe is bare brown hardboard/mdf type wood. It had suffered green mould growth. So I sprayed it with vinegar which killed the mould. However, the bedroom now stinks of vinegar after day 3. My partner is also allergic to vinegar! I did ask her and she said to do it, but didn't expect the smell to be so overwhelming!

As the wood was so fluffy and bad, I covered it with sticky back plastic in a bid to prevent more mould trapping itself in the fluffy surface. Though will this trap the vinegar smell even more? Should I remove it all and just let it air out? She's worried the smell is permanent and stressing out

Do you know why the back of the wardrobe was mouldy? If there is an issue with damp etc. then unless that part is also resolved, you'll end up with mouldy clothes once you put them into the wardrobe.

icicat

Thanks all. The smell seems to be going away a little bit more each day. Wondering if I should remove the sticky back plastic I put on it or just leave it? Maybe it's trapping the smell in?

Yeah not sure why there is mould. Clothes seem ok, though some types of leather in there I notice have dusting of mould spots, very mild. It is next to an outside wall and for some reason the inside wall that runs off from the outside wall where the cupboard is against gets mould spots. I think I need to ventilate and dehumidify the room more in the winter and have the heating on more, which I haven't been doing

casper_gutman

A chemical smell like vinegar should fade away in time. You're smelling it because volatile compounds are getting into the air, and eventually there'll be nothing left and the smell will go.

For a permanent solution to the damp problem you ideally need to make sure there is ventilation/air circulation behind the back of the wardrobe so everything can dry out and stay dry. If the wardrobe is freestanding, can you move it away from the wall for better airflow behind it? If it's against an outside wall, can you rearrange the furniture so it's against an internal wall instead? Outside walls get cold and attract condensation, and when it's blocked from drying out by a large piece of furniture like a wardrobe this leads to damp and mould.

If the wardrobe is built in, could you possibly modify it to add vents somewhere for air circulation? If you're renting the house, discuss this with the landlord first.

Either way, sticky plastic on the back of the wardrobe might possibly make things worse rather than better, by stopping the hardboard from drying out once the damp gets in. On the other hand, if it stops your clothes coming into contact with mould that can only be a good thing.

icicat

the side of the wardrobe is next to an outside wall, though it has quite a gap away from it. What is strange is that it backs on to an internal wall which has mould spread all along. Is it possible the mould starts at the outside wall and spreads along the adjoining internal wall? I may let it completely dry out and try the sticky back again as I may have put it on too soon.

icicat

@casper_gutman the wood I sprayed it on (the backing of the cupboard) is a thin MDF type wood. The surface was very rough and porous after the last time I cleaned the mould off it (with bleach) Do you think the vinigar smell having soaked in, would be permanently trapped in the wood?

Grenage

It's hardboard.  The smell will go with time, vinegar takes a while.

icicat

Thanks. I ended up pulling off  the backboards from the wardrobe and the Chester drawers. I will probably have to leave them outside for a while to air out. The room still has the vinigar smell, but hopefully will go quicker now the wood I saturated it in is gone