I don't know why personally, lol, seemed like the right thing since it wasn't how to get a musty smell out of a chihuahua. LOL Lavender works too! Found this on the net for paperback books and a lot of them: http://www.ehow.com/how_5425427_remove-smell-old-paperback-books.html Newspaper is suggested, I'm not fond of the smell of newspaper so I've never used it. Check at Target or Walmart, it's back to school time and they normally mark down plastic totes for the college bound crowd. Good luck!
Sarah
