Mitchdesj, I have to disagree, most perfumes I have ever bought are bad after a year, and these little sample bottles were not quite a year old, they were a sample give-away last summer. And the seller refused to refund, but eBay found in my favor and refunded the entire price, I unfortunately left positive feedback too soon before I got to smell it! Doh.

Sorry to ask but are you sure the closets are not cedar lined? For perfume/soap smells just leave the closet door open for awhile, maybe put a fan in the doorway to the closet and let it blow on low.

I had an antique crystal decanter with a small quantity of homemade limoncello (50% alcohol/50% simple syrup) topped with its crystal stopper. I had it sitting in the refrigerator for two months. When I tried to open it, it was super stuck and I didn't think I would be able to get the stopper out. Tried soaking the entire bottle/stopper in a sink of hot water for 20 minutes, then took it out and the stopper started to bubble. Added a Tablespoon of olive oil and within 2 minutes, it came off. Thank you for the tips.

I'm not sure if this is comparable?...Our house had pine paneling in most of the rooms. Stained and varnished several times over the decades. 50+ years of smokers in the house made our house smell like a dirty ashtray. I scrubbed the walls so many times over the years and still smelled of cig smoke/ash tray. When I painted most of the paneling, I primed twice, then two coats of high quality paint in a semi-gloss (more sealing that flat). That helped very much. The bedroom and coat closet that did not get painted still smell of cigs/ash tray, so I know I'm not imagining the improvement. To me, the cig smell is similar to cat urine, in that it's a forever scent once it's built up and very hard to remove. But the priming and painting sealed the cig smell. Maybe think of painting the cabs after a primer? Not sure if applying the schellac like you just did would seal the smell in. Maybe as it cures, it might?