I just got a lot of things out of storage that had been in storage for over a year. There is no visible dust on most things, but they all smell dusty, even the stuff that was inside plastic bins. I am allergic to dust.

I'm washing everything.

My clothes hangers are wood with wire hooks (heads?). I also have a wooden silverware holder. I can wipe them down with a damp cloth, sure, but how can I disinfect them without harming the wood?

I'm afraid a bleach-based wipe would harm the wood, and the smell from vinegar would not come out. I thought of Pledge, but isn't that mostly for shine? Can it disinfect? Is there some home remedy that I could use?

I'm sure one of you will know. :-)

here are a couple of links with some answers
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...7210237AAbVFgK

http://www.restorationsos.com/educat...-furniture.asp
good luck

Thanks for the links--bought some big boxes that need more than wiped. P.U.

Try putting the hangers/tray in a closed container or even tied in a garbage bag with an open container of baking soda for a couple of days. Often the soda will absorb the offending odors. Worth a try.

Or air out in the sun, especially on a breezy day.

I have the wooden hangers and wipe them with water and pinesol all the time to clean. Has never hurt them so far.

Would the disinfecting wipes that you can buy for your hands and surfaces work without damage?

Thanks for all your responses. I guess I should be clearer: the wood hangers and silverware box don't smell, but because other, well-packed items did have the dust smell, I want to disinfect the wood items, too.

Understand, they are not visibly dusty or dirty. It's more that I want to disinfect them than clean them.

Zhillslady, the fact that you yourself have used the Pinesol with good results is what I was looking for. I have a dozen other kinds of cleaners, no Pinesol, but if none of mine work, I'll go buy some Pinesol. (Hate the smell, though.)

Nancy, your Restoration SOS link said it would say how to disinfect, but if it ever did, I couldn't find it.

I love the hand sanitizer idea, but I believe hand sanitizers have an alcohol base. Not sure how that would affect wood. I'll experiment with the Windex and Clorox wipes and see what I think. I don't really want to leave a Windex smell on them either...