Old Cabinets/Odor

[Jerm188]

I recently found on CL a base and a few upper cabinets for free. They had an old/musty/mildew/awful odor to them. They are going in the attached garage, but wife gave me the "eye" last night because of the smell when we open the door to garage from house. When I received them I wiped them down well and sanded them. I removed a few boards that had mildew and replaced them with what I had laying around. I then tried to seal the odor in with paint, but I think this is my mistake. The smell isn't as bad, but still noticable. My question is...now that they are painted I won't be able to spray and try to get rid of the smell anymore since the paint is the barrier. Anyone got any more ideas? I've read charcoal and newspaper, etc.

I'm also in the mindframe that everything that is done to the garage is recycled or found free (kind of a hobby of mine) and whatever the ideas are, have to be something I'd either have handy or can be found in my home or on CL...free.

Thought?

Other things I've done...coffee grinds overnight in bowls on each shelf, sat in sunshine and breeze for 10 hours yesterday.

 

[benjamintmiller]

Most paints will not block odor, but shellac will. Get a gallon of Zinsser B-I-N primer and use that. It's shellac based, and will cover up anything.

Don't worry about the leftovers... after you use the stuff once, it is the only primer you will ever use on wood again. I use it on wood trim to completely stop knots from bleeding through, and I also use it on MDF to seal cut edges. It sands beautifully, and I can make a cut MDF edge glassy smooth.

 

[Jerm188]

Most paints will not block odor, but shellac will. Get a gallon of Zinsser B-I-N primer and use that. It's shellac based, and will cover up anything.

Don't worry about the leftovers... after you use the stuff once, it is the only primer you will ever use on wood again. I use it on wood trim to completely stop knots from bleeding through, and I also use it on MDF to seal cut edges. It sands beautifully, and I can make a cut MDF edge glassy smooth.

I've already painted. I'll have no worries putting shellac over paint? And I've heard that I need to wait about a week for the shellac to "cure" before putting stuff in the cabinets. It's going to house tools, etc so don't mind it getting scuffed up, but I don't want to destroy it before it does its job

 

[benjamintmiller]

You can apply the B-I-N over anything, and under anything.

It will dry to the touch ridiculously fast... usually under 10 minutes for me. Shellac can take up to a week to fully harden, so as with all paints, the longer you can wait to stress it, the better.

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

Ben's right. It's actually alcohol based but shellac is thinned by alcohol.

That's stuff is old school and excellent.

 

[Jerm188]

Gracias. Found a buddy with a can he's not going to use. Appreciate the input and getting it from my buddy stays with the "everything recycled and/or everything free" vibe

 

[benjamintmiller]

Make sure you have lots of ventilation, and don't stick your head in the cabinets while painting them! Last time I painted a cabinet with the stuff, I got drunk from the fumes and had a nasty hangover the next day.

 

[laser3kw]

Make sure you have lots of ventilation, and don't stick your head in the cabinets while painting them!

sounds like our shop teacher in high school, So, guess what we did.....

 

[Jerm188]

UPDATE:

HOLY FREAKIN SMOKES!!!!!

Painted 1 set of cabinets in the garage but the garage door is open and it's quite windy out. Had to go inside after putting this **** on just the first one. I have 3 more sets to paint AND a base.

Maybe I'll stick to just painting and not painting AND drinking.