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I've got a small pocket closet in a study right next to where I work that is actually a partition of a hall coset in an adjacent building entrance, and therefore not well isolated from it. Recently someone using the adjacent entrance piled some clothing for a few days in the hall closet that appears to have been exposed to mothballs, and the smell lingers. I don't really need my bit of the closet and would like to seal it off so that the mothball smell doesn't get through. I'm a renter (and not handy, and can't have a crew over under current circumstances) so I can't do anything permanent or complicated.

How do I seal off a small closet temporarily with so that the smells there don't leak into the adjacent space? Perhaps there's something I can tape around the opening (a few layers of some airtight material perhaps)?

orome
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  • Why not tape aluminum foil over the adjacent wall? It will still take a few days for the smell to completely dissipate, though. – DrMoishe Pippik Jun 05 '20 at 22:10
  • @DrMoishePippik: I only have access to the closet on my side, not the neighboring entry (and I'd like to be discreet: I think the person who caused the smell is a bit embarrassed by it all and want's to avoid the topic). – orome Jun 05 '20 at 22:45

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I would get some painters plastic it is thin plastic and it will block smells, I use non bleeding (blue masking tape) to hold it in place so it can be removed without leaving the adhesive residue. Cheap and easy to install , easy to remove.

Ed Beal
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  • Are there choices of materials from which the painters plastic is made? I want to be sure to get one that's not going to also be off gassing into the confined space of the study. – orome Jun 06 '20 at 16:54
  • All plastics off gas’s to some extent, when purchasing open the bag it comes in and sniff if a strong Oder it’s probably not the right type for you. – Ed Beal Jun 07 '20 at 02:04
  • So are there products that don’t have a strong odor? – orome Jun 07 '20 at 02:12
  • To me they all are fine if anything the “new car smell” when you first open the bag but I have never noticed it later but that may be because the paint is drying. I did use some to seal up the hole in the wall when I removed a fireplace in my current house and I really did not notice any smell – Ed Beal Jun 07 '20 at 14:27
  • It's in expensive enough that I can give it a try and save it for another day if it's not suitable for this use. I'll report back on how it goes. – orome Jun 07 '20 at 15:06
  • I think what I really need is [some positive pressure](https://diy.stackexchange.com/a/182309/54011) to make sure the mothball smell doesn't get in to the apartment (it comes in via a few other paths as well). We manage that easily in winter with just a bit of heat, but in summer the apartment sucks air from other apartments. Any thoughts on that would be great! – orome Jun 07 '20 at 15:09
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    That would be a second question but they do make small “make up air” fans that are pressure based they keep a small positive pressure in your house to keep smelly neighbors odor with a common wall from invading your space. The problem is these are designed to be mounted in a wall with a hole cut to the outside the fan keeps the house at a slight pressure based on the setting except when doors or windows are opened They are quiet and some have options for filters to filter the outside air I don’t know of any a renter would use but one may be able to set something like this up in a window. – Ed Beal Jun 07 '20 at 15:20
  • So far this is looking good. I still haven't stress tested it under the right kind of conditions, but the plastic off gasses quickly and smell from the mothballs hasn't been as bad. More once we've had the right conditions here. – orome Jun 15 '20 at 15:14