Use Bounce dryer cloths. This is good for books too. Any kind of mold is gotten rid of too. Wrap the doll in Bounce and then in a towel. Leave for about 2 days to one week, checking every two days. It will work. I use it on my doll clothes, antique books and everything else.

I'm including a link to a very good (although long) discussion about power vents. So you noticed that pulling a batt of insulation over the attic access/stair reduced the smell. attic vents create a negative pressure on attics. air is then drawn in through openings from the conditioned space into the attic when the fans are in use. (see why it cools off the attic!) when fans are off is when smell would be greater. Don't add insulation until you seal openings from attic into conditioned space. And avoid power vents. They cause more problems than they solve. best of luck..and happy reading! http://www.hvac-talk.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=166795

"The closet the gas furnace is in, is not ventilated. The closet does not have a roof, but opens up into the attic. He does not think there is enough fresh air making it down to the furnace, and he does not think the fumes from the furnace are making it up into the attic." the closet is actually very well vented if it is open to the attic at the ceiling (roof?) of the closet. "He has instructed us to nail some gutter pipe (gutter pipe, because it is square, and will fit the limited space better than round pipe, but to mee gutter pipe seems awfully small diameter) into the closet to increase circulation. One peice going 12 inches into the attic, and another peice 12 inches off the floor. To me this seems awfully suspicious, I cant see how this will work, and I'm scared." I usually install a ceiling in gas furnace closets using ductboard (doesnt burn) from inside the attic. Usually a 5 or 6" vent pipe from inside attic..12" above insulation with a bug screen. the pipe goes thru ductboard ceiling to where the air intake of the gas furnace is located. I've started putting an inline manual damper..open when furnace is in use..closed for cooling season. "He also noticed that someone has stapled fibergalss insulation to the inside of the closet door, and we should remove that. That the entire door needs to be replaced with a very tight fitting door." Someone was trying to overcome the temp transfer from top of heating closet being open to attic. Bat insulation is not a good idea..but ductboard works well. and door should be weatherstripped. while the venting will supply the air needed for the furnace, it won't vent fumes. there shouldn't be any fumes if furnace is operating properly..there are vent pipes attached to the equipment that vent out of the roof. as for the smell...it could have been a sealant that he used or many things. I would call the original person who did the install and tell him your concerns. Granted there are better materials to use but it sounds like he/she was on the right track. better to close in ceiling and make it air tight and bring fresh air to the furnace than to leave the ceiling open to the attic. just my experience here in hot humid La. it may vary if your area is different. best of luck.

This really depends on where you are---in parts of California during the boom (and even today, in some cases) it wasn't uncommon at all for potential buyers to ask for an inspection before submitting an offer. It's also very common for the seller to do an inspection before listing the home and then provide this to potential buyers (often even at an open house). But again, this is in a state with extremely strict disclosure laws, so it's in sellers' interest to disclose anything they know about the property. A home inspector won't give you an estimate of costs of repairs---but you can certainly ask to have a contractor come out and give a bid (or in this case, maybe just a ballpark figure), either before or after you make an offer. (Again, common in some areas but less common in others; can't hurt to ask.) For some of the work like lead and asbestos abatement, you can also call a company that specializes in these fields and ask for average costs for projects on houses such as this one; won't be exact, but will give you an order of magnitude, at least. But yes, it's fair to start deducting from the initial offer for any major problems that come up---though it may still be helpful to have an inspection beforehand in case you decide not to make an offer at all based on the results. The major reason a seller might say no, I imagine, is if you live in a state where they are required to provide any inspection reports to future prospective buyers---in that case, they may want an offer in hand before letting you in, and that wouldn't be unreasonable. Good luck---sounds like it could be a cool project!