Old wooden drawers smelling a bit musty

[plipplops]

I've just Kondo'd the contents of some drawers so have 2 that are empty and I want to fill again, but the stuff in them had just been sitting there for ages and are a bit smelly. Do smelly paper linings work or just add another horrible smell to the mix?! Or anything else I haven't thought of? The one drawer I've always used regularly (so not leaving stuff to fester) smells fine so it's not the total unit iykwim...

[greenhill]

Is it polished wood or raw wood? Because as long as you've taken the drawer right out, knocked all the stale dust out from the corners and then used furniture polish such as Mr Sheen or Pledge on it, there should be no more smell, unless there was something slightly damp that seeped into the wood.

I've got ancient drawer liners from John Lewis in antique chests of drawers, they smell very vaguely of lily of the valley.

[plipplops]

It's raw I think? Definitely not shiny but I'll give it a good rub with some polish and let them air properly and see how we go...