Pecan, you're the best. Really. Your posts never fail to lift my spirits!

Yes, the house is vacant, thought the homeowners do have some of their personal items around. I've searched high and low for the offending balls...but to no avail.

I'll try the charcoal, but I'll need to remember to remove it before the next open house. Can you even imagine someone opening a door and seeing that on the floor???

"Oh honey, just look at this great closet....I just...what on earth *is* that?"

LOL!!

I'm wondering if it's actually mothballs. DH's grandmother's house had that smell, and we found no mothballs. Never figured out what it was. I did the charcoal treatment, sat over there with all the windows open for days while I did our taxes, and took over my super-duper air purifier from Sharper Image (purchased online- reconditioned model- for a great price!!) Also sprinkled baking soda on the carpets and left it for a couple of days before vacuuming. Don't run the air purifier till you've vacuumed well.

Change out the filters in the AC! Some homeowners have NEVER done this. That could make a HUGE difference.

Sorry I don't have any insights on the mothballs, but I wanted to give you a BIG congratulations on the listing!

Stephanie, this is gross, but it might not be mothballs. My 2 1/2 year old son's BM's often smell like mothballs. What I'm saying is that it could be remnants of dog or cat poo that soaked into carpets or wood floors. Also, moth balls are made from cedar. Are there any cedar closets or chests in the house? Or cedar panelling?

I've often heard that when holding an open house, you should bake chocolate chip cookies. You could also brew coffee. Many scent shops have fresh coffee grounds for you to smell to clear your nose of the scents.

Good luck!

Mothballs are made from naphtha, which is toxic to humans and animals. Some brands are cedar-scented or mixed with cedar.

If just mothballs were used for something in the house and then removed, the odor should disappear within a few days.

Look in the attic. People used to strew mothballs in the attic for rodent control. Maybe they had rats or squirrels up there. If so, the smell will go away after the mothballs have dissolved, which could take a while.

Another possibility is that they had fleas in the house, and vacuumed up a few mothballs to kill fleas in the vacuum cleaner bag. This will definitely scent the air for a while.

Hope it's better by now!

Whew!!!! Had a buyer come back for a second showing today, and when we were talking about the odor, she told me she'd found the offending box of mothballs! She'd seen them on her first tour through the house in one of the closets.

I laid them to rest in the garage storage, and then we went outside to look at the pool. When we came back in, the scent was already MUCH less noticeable, so hopefully it'll wear off completely b/f the next showing!

I'm SO relieved!

Oh, sure, Reno, after I tell the whole world my son's poo smells like mothballs :-)

Glad you figured out the culprit!

lol proudmama, it's ok, you're amoung (does amoung have a u?) friends!

Fingers crossed for you Reno, hope that 2nd looksie turns into an offer!

Even though you probably don't need this now, I thought I'd post this link I just saw on the Kitchen Table forum.

Here is a link that might be useful: odor absorber