Foists Smell In Cupboard

[GeekGirl751]

We recently moved into a new house which has built in cupboards in all of the bedrooms. The cupboard that is in the smallest room (going to be our baby's nursery) has an awful foisty smell inside of it. I have had the cupboard door open to air the cupboard since moving in about 6 weeks ago but it hasn't made a difference. My mother in law suggested washing the cupboard out with a mixture of water and bicarbonate of soda which I have done and it got rid of some of the smell but it's still there. There is also a bowl of bicarbonate of soda in the cupboard but this doesn't seem to be helping! There is carpet in the bottom of the cupboard which has had about half a bottle of febreeze sprayed onto it too!

Does anyone have any advice on what else we can try to get rid of this smell once and for all? We want to try sort this before baby arrives!

I suspect the cupboard has been fitted either before the plastering behind it had dried out or there has been a leak behind the cupboard, quite possibly one which has been fixed, but it hasn't been aired sufficiently to dry it out. Is it an internal or external wall?

I'd pull up the carpet and see what's going on with the floor - any damp or wet patches or water staining? Also have a look at the ceiling in there for any water marks.

The cupboard has 1 external wall, the other 3 are internal. I will have to have a look under the carpet but there's no damp patches/stains on the ceiling or walls of the cupboard. There is a built in cupboard in one of our other bedrooms which had the same smell until the decorator painted it so I'm contemplating painting this cupboard too!