Mothball smell is one of the hardest odours to remove from fabric and one of the few worth removing for reasons beyond the smell itself. What produces it is a pesticide that sublimes directly from solid to vapour, and that vapour is what has soaked into the clothes.
What mothballs actually are
Mothballs are solid blocks of either naphthalene or paradichlorobenzene, both pesticides.
Neither melts first. Both sublime, meaning they pass straight from solid to vapour at room temperature. That vapour is what kills moth larvae, and it is also what fills a wardrobe and permeates everything in it.
Because the vapour is what does the work, it penetrates fabric thoroughly rather than settling on the surface. That is why the smell survives ordinary washing and why the first wash so often disappoints.
Both compounds are lipophilic, meaning they associate with oils and fats. So they concentrate in wool, in anything with residual body oil, and in synthetic fibres that hold oil, and they hold on there.
Why it is worth removing properly
These are pesticides rather than fragrances, and the smell is the vapour you are breathing.
Naphthalene in particular is one that health authorities take seriously in enclosed spaces, and paradichlorobenzene is not benign either.
That makes airing and removal a reasonable priority rather than a cosmetic one, especially for anything worn against skin, anything a child will wear, and anything coming out of long storage into daily use.
Handle mothballs themselves with gloves and keep them away from children and pets, who mistake them for sweets.
Air it first, and give it real time
This is the step that does most of the work, and the mistake people make is not giving it long enough.
Hang the garments outdoors, in shade, with air moving through them. Space them out rather than crowding a rail.
Leave them for days rather than hours. A week is not excessive for something that has been in storage with mothballs for a season.
Turn pockets out and open every fold, since vapour concentrates where air has not reached.
Shade rather than sun, because sunlight fades stored garments and degrades wool, and you may be doing this for a long stretch.
Because both compounds sublime, they will leave on their own given air and time. Nothing you can buy accelerates that as effectively as patience and airflow.
Washing what remains
Only after airing, since washing a heavily impregnated garment mostly moves the compound into your machine.
For washable items, soak first in cool water with a cup of white vinegar for an hour, which helps break the association between the compound and the fibre.
Then wash warm with an enzyme detergent and a small dose. Warm matters, because these compounds sit in the oils in the fabric, and warm water is what releases oil.
Add half a cup of washing soda, which cuts the oil and softens the water.
Run two extra rinses.
Air dry outdoors rather than tumble drying, and check by smell while the fabric is still damp.
Expect to repeat the whole cycle two or three times on wool. This is normal rather than a sign of failure.
Wool and dry clean only items
Wool is the worst case, because it holds the compound in its natural oils and because mothballs are used on wool more than anything else.
Never use enzyme detergent on wool, since protease digests protein fibre.
Use a wool wash in cool water, and lean far more heavily on the airing than the washing.
For dry clean only garments, tell the cleaner what the smell is. Solvent cleaning removes these compounds well, and a cleaner who knows will treat it rather than press it in.
Airing before and after the clean does more than the clean alone.
What helps and what does not
Activated charcoal in a sealed container with the garment for a few days genuinely adsorbs the vapour, and it is the most effective passive method.
Bicarbonate of soda sprinkled on, left overnight, and vacuumed off helps on things that cannot be washed.
Fresh air and time is the most effective method there is.
Fabric softener and scented sprays do not remove anything, they add a second smell on top of the first, and the combination is usually worse.
Sealing a garment in a bag with a deodoriser does not work, because the compound needs somewhere to go and a sealed bag gives it nowhere.
Heat does not help and it risks setting oils in the fabric.
Clearing the wardrobe too
There is no point restoring the clothes and returning them to the source.
Remove every mothball and every trace of residue, wearing gloves.
Empty the wardrobe completely and leave it open with air moving through for several days.
Wipe the interior with a vinegar solution and let it dry.
Leave a bowl of activated charcoal or bicarbonate of soda inside for a week.
Wooden interiors hold the smell longest, since the compound absorbs into unfinished timber, and those may need weeks.
What to use instead
The most effective moth protection is not a chemical at all.
Store wool clean, always. Moth larvae are drawn to body oil, sweat, and food traces rather than to clean fibre, and a clean garment is largely ignored.
Store in breathable cotton bags or sealed containers with clean, completely dry contents.
Cedar and lavender deter to a degree and neither is as effective as cleanliness. Cedar needs sanding lightly once a year to refresh the oils.
Check stored wool mid-season rather than discovering damage in autumn.
The Glendale part
Two local conditions matter here and they pull hard in opposite directions.
The climate is close to ideal for the airing step. Very low humidity and consistently moving warm air mean a garment hung outdoors in shade here loses mothball vapour faster than it would almost anywhere else. A week of Arizona air on a covered patio does what a month indoors would not. That is a genuine advantage and it is the method to lean on.
The heat is the warning. Both compounds sublime faster at higher temperatures, so a box of stored clothes with mothballs in a garage or an attic through a Phoenix summer is being saturated far more heavily than the same box in a temperate climate. That is why mothball smell in this region is often much stronger than people expect, and it is a strong argument for storing clothes in conditioned space and using cleanliness rather than chemicals as the protection.
Hard water is a third factor at the washing stage, where minerals reduce how much of your detergent is active on the oils holding the compound. Half a cup of washing soda handles that and cuts the oil at the same time.
Where the oil actually comes out
These compounds sit in the oils in the fabric, so removing them means removing the oil, which takes warm water, working detergent, and enough water volume to carry it away rather than redistribute it through the load.
The machines at our self-service laundry on North 35th Avenue run full warm cycles with real water volume, and separate drums mean a heavily scented load never leaves its residue behind for the next one.
Our machines and the store are cleaned daily.
Nou wash-dry-fold service covers the everyday laundry.
For general garment care guidance, The American Cleaning Institute publishes a fabric care guide that is a useful cross-check.
The short version
Mothball smell is pesticide vapour that has penetrated the fabric and settled into the oils in it, which is why one wash rarely touches it. Air the garments outdoors in shade for days rather than hours, since both compounds sublime and will leave on their own given airflow and time. Then soak in cool water with vinegar, wash warm with washing soda and two extra rinses, and expect to repeat it two or three times on wool. Activated charcoal helps and scented sprays do not. Clear the wardrobe as well, and store wool clean instead, since that is what actually deters moths.
WaveMAX Glendale is at 6767 N. 35th Ave, easy to reach from Glendale and the north Phoenix area. If stored clothing needs a proper wash and rinse, call us at 480-278-9685.