Westinghouse 1955 era TV

[kramden66]

I got this recently , the set is made with a fiber board cabinet with leatherette covering , the problem is it smells like musty old record albums the way the cardboard jacket can smell , what can I use on it to get the smell out - Febreze ?

Sams 281-10 in case anyone has one let me know

Thanks

[MadMan]

The musty smell is mildew... pretty sure the only thing for that is a good deep clean, and wiping all surfaces with a disinfectant like lysol or pinesol.

[Phil Nelson]

Whatever cleaner you use, do the inside of the cabinet and the rear cover, as well as the exterior surfaces.

If you live where the sun shines (ha ha, not here!), letting it bake in direct sunlight for a while can also help.

Phil Nelson
Phil’s Old Radios
https://antiqueradio.org/index.html

[Electronic M]

If it has been in a moldy basement and moldy dust has accumulated inside it may be worth hosing down the chassis and letting it bake dry in the sun on a hot day.... I've done that on some moldy sets (cabinet got the same treatment) and had a decent reduction in mold smell radiation.

[ohohyodafarted]

Chlorine bleach is the only thing that will counteract mold and mildew smell. You have to kill off the organism that creates the odor (mold spores/mildew) and chlorine will do that. Everything else will just attempt to cover up the odor and will not get at the source of the problem. I would take household bleach, put it in a trigger sprayer and spray all surfaces liberally. IF you have visible mold, wipe off the mold and bleach and then respray and let dry.

That said, I wonder if an O3 generator might also work as it would kill the mold spores (I think).

[kramden66]

There is no visable mold just the odor that doesn't smell like mildew but like cardboard