Removed Shelf paper...now What?

Goof Off.

Okay start with rubbing alcohol, less toxic. If that doesn't work, Goof Off!

for the basement: be prepared to have to gut it. If there is moisture trapped behind the paneling, then that may be the source of the odor. You might try sealing the paneling with a good coat of Kilz paint.

When we started updating our basement, we had to pull the carpet & ended up leaving the floor bare. We pulled most of the drop ceilings....it was disgusting how much mouse droppings were up there....yuck! & now we're down to the paneling. We know we basically need to rip it all out.... the house is 40+ years old & it smells down there!

Goo b Gone is another product you can use.
No ideas for the ceiling tiles. :(

I'd sand the inside with a power sander and just paint the interior. Fresh, clean and new. When we moved into our "new" house the shelving was so disgusting we just ripped it all out, sanded and painted the empty interior, cut new shelves and painted each one. It was a lot of sweat equity but we couldn't afford all new cabinetry.

vinegar!!!!!!!!!!! put some in a spray bottle and spray it around the room, then fill a bowl full of it and put it behind a picture to hide it. it will reak of vinegar for a day or two, but the odor will disappear. my sister bought a new house and the previous owners had a dog and she ALWAYS gives me grief about me and my vinegar, but she asked me what she should do and i told her to spray vinegar on the stains and put some in a carpet cleaner and it worked. she said her house smelled like an easter egg for a few days, but it got the odor out. good luck!!! oh or you could use baking soda in a bowl too if you don't want to leave out the vinegar. or do a bowl of both, just not in the same bowl or you will have a volcano...lol.

We removed some sticky paper residue several months back and used soapy water and a paint scraper to get through the layers of sticky-ness.

Spray it with goo gone and let it soak a few minutes, use a scraper to scrape it off.

For musty smells get tons of fresh rosemary and throw it all around. Leave it down for a couple of weeks. No more musty smell and the mildew is gone.

Rosemary in addition to taking mildew out of purses etc is an anti-depressant.

Want the lowdown on herbs? Magical Herbalism by Scott Cunningham and Jeanne Rose's Herbs and Things.

Try Goo Gone for that shelf paper issue. If you want good drinkable water, you should get a water treatment system. I would go online and look for the Amway Water Treatment System. Laugh if you will about the name Amway, but they do have good quality products and have for decades. Their water treatment system is one of the top in the country. And that's due to the block of carbon that catches all sorts of bad stuff. Other products, like Brita, have granules and the bad stuff goes right through.
I would have an inspector come out and analyze the place, to check for mold, and other odors. If you don't have ventilation in the basement you don't want atmospheric risks.

I bought a box of the peel and stick floor tiles and put them under all of the sinks in the kitchen and bathrooms. One box did all of them as well as some of the shelves in the bathroom. (When the shelves were painted, they were not dusted off first so towels would snag on them.) The tiles work great because if something spills, it cleans up really easily. I measured and drew lines on the back. Then I scored them with a utility knife along the edge of a ruler. Then bent them a bit and they snapped apart. If you decide to go that route, be sure to start in the front. It looks nicer and any pieces that you have to cut won't show in the back.

Painting is another good option. Sanding and painting is more work but less expensive than the floor tiles.

You may need to rip off the paneling on the walls in the basement. If it is really musty, you may want to look behind the paneling and make sure there isn't any mold or mildew there. I would wait until Culligan takes care of the water thing and see if that helps.

Definitely sand down the shelf and give it a bright painting. As far as the basement is concerned, open all the windows to air out. Smell really won't go away unless, as one writer mentioned you may have to gutt it out. Remove all carpeting, drop ceilings, panelling etc. Basements always carry a musty smell. The less you have down there the better off it'll be.
Enjoy your home, it's work, but also rewarding.