What is that smell?

[HVB]

My wife has inherited a very fine dolls house which we believe was originally made in the mid- to late-1960's.

Unfortunately, when open there is a strong, acrid smell inside the dolls house. In an attempt to get rid of the smell, we have tried washing it out, placing an onion in water, dismantling the house and repainting it. So far, our efforts have been in vain.

We have been unable to pin down the exact source of the smell. It seems to emanate from everywhere.

The house is constructed of plywood and given its age, I was wondering if it could be the resin holding the plies together?

Any other ideas as to where the smell might be coming from, or how we might be able to get rid of it?

Thanks! HVB

[Roger Mills]

I don't know what the smell is, but if the dolls house is big enough to do so without risk of fire, try putting a lighted candle in it for a few hours. This seems to get rid of some smells - such as cigarette smoke - and may help in your case, 'though there's no guarantee!

[The Natural Philosopher]

Probably a cat has pissed in it.

[Stuart B]

Or some sort of animal glue that has been used to hold it together .

[Derek Geldard]

In our experience our daughter's dolls house didn't get played with and ended up shoved in an unventilated cupboard in the spare bedroom with a lot of other unwanted items, sundry old clothing, old rugs etc.

I'd imagine after 30 years it would smell of whatever it had been stored with.

I think whatever it is ventilation is probably the best answer.

DG

[Owain]

Even if it hasn't, filling it with deodorising cat litter should help, be fairly cheap, and not harm the house or contents.

Owain

[Matty F]

Put the doll's house in sunlight all day with an electric fan blowing on it.

[Mike P]

.. >On Jan 6, 10:15 pm, HVB wrote: .. >

.. >> Any other ideas as to where the smell might be coming from, or how we .. >> might be able to get rid of it? .. >

.. >Put the doll's house in sunlight all day with an electric fan blowing .. >on it.

Put the doll's house in sunlight all day with an electric fan blowing on it .... and add two sugars

Mike P

[Peter Parry]

It won't be the resin but if rubber wire has been used (if it has lights) or bits of oilpaper as the floor covering either could smell. Remove old shiny looking floor coverings, ventilate and give it a light spray with Febreeze (which is a starch based odour absorbent).

[HVB]

And if it was a cat, which it could have been, any suggestions as to how I might get rid of the smell. I expected that sanding it down and repainting would have done the job, but no such luck.

HVB

[HVB]

Ooh - a new idea! Ta, I'll give that a try.

[HVB]

I wondered about that... again, I expected the full strip down and rebuild would have solved it.

[HVB]

It did have old rubber wire, which I have just replaced with nice new stuff. The old wire was encased in plaster-filled grooves in the walls.

The plaster has a strong smell to it, but it's difficult to tell if this is the source or not - my olfactory receptors are overloaded. I wonder if the animal products would have been used in the original plaster?

I'm sure Mrs. B has some of that somewhere, that's worth a try. Thanks!

[John McLean]

Try bicarbonate of soda, this takes the smell from fridges that have been off for a while.

[George]

Mae sure your the houses insurance is up to date. :-)

[George]

The walls of the house are they covered with paper acting as wallpaper in the dolls house itself?

If so the flour used as glue will be the culprit.

[Matty F]

Putting the dolls house in the sun would be better, and a whole lot safer.

[HVB]

But if the thing goes up in flames... problem solved... ;-)