Hints from heloise

Dear Heloise: About the musty-smelling piece of furniture: Place pie plates or flat bowls of baking soda in the drawers underneath, on top and on the floor surrounding it. Leave for a week. I have done this to remove the mustiness from an old trunk. Don’t use any oil or wax on the piece until after the mustiness is gone. Oil will only seal in the offensive odor. — Cathy Pavlak, Reston, Va.

Baking soda is a good deodorizer. To make baking soda easier to dispense, put it in a shaker-top container. — Heloise