Outside,open, full sun. At night, dryer sheet with open box baking soda, closed lid. Worked for me. May take a week, but odor will go and not leave another residual odor (which may be worse).
rockyjfs1991
06-30-2012 05:06 AM
I bought an old pie safe that was quite musty smelling, I used the least expensive coffee grounds I could buy and placed them in a container and put it in the pie safe..........NO SMELL
Linda - K.
06-30-2012 08:27 AM
Originally Posted by Michellesews
(Post 5325544)
One method is to take a shop light, the kind with a cage around it that hangs, put a 150 watt light bulb in it...place the light in the case with the lid down and let it sit for 24 hours. The heat from the bulb absorbs the musty odor. Another method is to make a sachet of cheese cloth and charcoal and let it sit in the case for a week. Fabreeze helps in some cases. I have two featherweights and I line the bottom of the cases with dryer sheets, after I treated them with the light method. It helped a lot. Good luck you you. You can also sit the case, open, outside in the sun but you take a chance on cats and birds....
I did the light as you suggest because that is what Dave McCallum recommended in the FW class I took from him. It worked great. He also suggested wiping down the inside after that with a bleach/water solution. I also changed the felt pad out that is the oil catcher. Before I installed the new one, I traced the pattern on a paper and bought the stiff felt at Michaels' (any craft store carries it) and made my own after that. A couple other things to do inside the box after you get the majority of the smell out is to put the silicone packets you get with shoes, purses, electronics, etc., in the box or make small muslin packets (2"x3" - about 4 of them) of shredded soap (Dial, Irish Spring, etc.). I've had no problem with the smell returning and it's been about 7 years since I bought my machine. Dave also showed us how to repair the box if your liner is coming off the box (Elmer's glue all) and if the outer corners are in need of repair (use that black plastic paint in the small bottles you use to put on sweatshirts, etc., to outline decorations - Scribbles 3-D shiny black paint). You put the glue under the fabric and work it smooth, wiping off excess. The black paint is also spread on the bad corners and smoothed over the end. Really works nicely! I highly recommend Dave's book and CD's on taking care of your FW on your own at his web site, www.featherweight221.com. I have purchased from them other things also and they are very nice people. I'm very fortunate that they live only about 37 mi north of me!
Latrinka
06-30-2012 10:28 AM
Ammonia, but be careful, it'll take your breath away!
mycatsmom
07-01-2012 07:17 PM
On the vintage singers website, there have been a lot of instructions. I think the idea of putting the case in the trunk of a car out in the sun was one of the ones most used.
1screech
07-02-2012 05:01 PM
I had some of those fold out cologne sample papers that came in the mail or Sunday paper. Put one in my box and I was amazed the next time I opened the box...no odor not even the sample sheet smelled. I guess it absorbed all the order. Worked for me and I have tried newspaper, baking soda, fabreeze and can't remember what else. Hope this helps.
