Halloween Decorations Smell Musty From Storage? Here's What to Do

Every October it's the same scene. The kids want the skeleton and the fake cobwebs up today. You drag the bins up from the basement or down from the garage shelf, pop the lid, and the smell hits you before the pumpkin lights do.

It's a musty, closed-up smell, and now it's in your living room. Here's how to deal with the decorations, and why the smell is worth a second thought about where they live the other eleven months.

Open the bins on the porch, the driveway, or the deck, not inside. Pull everything out and spread it in the air. A dry, breezy afternoon does more than any spray. Sun helps too, but bright sun fades fabric and printed plastic, so give fabric a few hours, not a whole day.

While things air out, sort them into three piles.

**Hard stuff** like plastic pumpkins, ceramic pieces, light strings, and metal signs. Wipe them with warm soapy water, dry them well, and they're fine.

**Washable fabric** like costumes, table runners, and small pillows. Check the tags. Wash what you can and dry it all the way.

**Porous things you can't wash** like cardboard props, foam pieces, paper garlands, straw, and some stuffed figures. If these smell strongly or have spots, let them go. They hold the smell and you won't get it out. It's a $5 skeleton, not an heirloom. Take a photo of anything you want to rebuy.

Look at the bottom of the bin and the inside of the lid. Water drops on the lid, a damp bottom, or a dark ring tell you the bin sat somewhere damp, or got packed while something inside was still wet. Cardboard boxes are worse. They soak up moisture from a damp floor and pass the smell to everything inside.

Wash plastic bins with soapy water and let them dry open in the air for a full day. Recycle cardboard boxes that smell.

The smell didn't come from the decorations. It came from the spot. A bin on a basement floor, against an outside garage wall, or under a leaky window picks up the damp of that spot. If the Halloween bins smell, the Christmas bins next to them probably will too in December.

Walk to where the bins were and look around:

- Is the floor damp or darker where the bins sat? - Is there white, chalky powder on the basement wall behind them? - Does the spot get wet when it rains hard? - Is it right next to the water heater, washer, or a sump pit? - Does the area smell musty when you stand there with the lights off and the door closed for a while?

You don't need to fix the whole basement this week. But if one corner is damp, the bins need a new home.

- Lift bins off the floor. A cheap wire shelf or even a couple of boards keeps them out of floor moisture. - Keep a few inches between the bins and an outside wall so air can move. - Use plastic bins with lids instead of cardboard. - Pack everything fully dry. Costumes worn in the rain on October 31st should dry for days before they go in a bin. - If the basement stays damp, a dehumidifier set around the middle of the range on its dial, emptied or drained, helps the whole space, not only the bins. - If you have a dry closet inside the house, that's the best spot for anything fabric.

It's tempting to toss a dryer sheet in the bin or spray the whole pile with something scented. That just layers a perfume on top of the musty smell. You'll still have the damp corner, and you'll have trouble telling next year whether the smell came back.

This is a house check, not a diagnosis. If anyone feels unwell around the stored things, talk to a doctor, and if you find a wet wall or a large area of growth, that's for a licensed pro.

When Your House Doesn't Feel Right is a picture book that shows the basement and garage checks one photo at a time, including the window wells, the downspouts, and where to set a dehumidifier. It's $2.99 at https://clearnestair.com/book, and it's a good thing to read before the Christmas bins come out.