Musty-smelling Furniture

From: Jennmommy4

try renting one of those steam cleaners from the grocery store or usually uhaul has them and also small machine rentals or even walmart may have them.Hot water and some oxi clean followed by a few spays of febreeze or any fabirc refresher you life should make them smell great and look great.I just did this with my sofa and chair and had great results.Make sure you get the attachments sometimes the cost extra but the price aorund here is $22 wich is a bargain compared to paying a service to do this cleaning for you.

From: sully7

Use the steam cleaner like suggested above and then for the deodorizer try this: mix 1 quart water and 2 teaspoons of tea tree oil in a spray bottle and spray the couch like you would with Febreeze. It will smell strong! But when the tea tree oil smell goes away the musty smell will be much less, too. You may have to repeat this a couple of times, but it will work. You can get tea tree oil at a health food store. I use this weekly on a couch that sits on my screen porch in Florida and it works great!

I hate to admit that I don't have home remedy but Fabreze as an initial step to kill the odor works extreeeemly well. Just be sure to use the formula specifically for furniture - I'm always afraid of staining so I still test in a hidden area, but I've never had a problem -

hello,
Some weeks ago {almost a month now} our cat drug in a bird and it somehow got away. we assumed it flew outside. We noticed this putrid smell radiating around our living room and mostly in between our sectional where the ends meet along with the deceased bird. we have sprayed it with febreze and lysol as well as steam clean it...nothing is getting this smell out of the base of our couch..help us....what to do...
Down and out
Dayna

Hi,
I have inherited a sofa from a lady who was a chronic smoker. The sofa is lovely but the smell is terrible! I have kept it outside for almost a year now trying to air it out but the smell won't go away. Help! Is there a way to deep clean the sofa to get rid of the las vegas hotel room smell out of this piece of furniture. Thanks.

Good Afternoon,
I wanted to comment on the mildew smell in the couch. I have read all of the comments but I do want each you know that by using Fabreeze you are just covering up the smell for a short time and caking up the pores in the material. Using Baking soda actually clogs the pores up in the material causing it actually mold and causing even a bigger problem. Steam cleaner, think about this. When you add water to dirt, what happens? (Steam is actually water mist) You create mud. Again your cloging the pores of the material. Not letting the material breathe will diffently cause more problems then its worse. Not to mention the health problems that can happen from breathing in mold and mildew. Air bourne sickness is what its called. I have done lots of research on this and the only thing that helps get rid of mildew, mold and air bourne sickness is purification. Yes, this is true. Air purifers is the answer. Now there is a lot of gimmicks out there and I have put each to the test. Adding sprays and fragances will cause health problems. A hidden agenda for those advertisers that don't seem to mention it. Now air purifers is tricky never purchase one with a filter. Carbonized screens, yes but no filter. I do have lots of information on this so if your interested I will send you more or direct you to a website. Let me know.
Yours truly,
Sheila

hi everyone!
i've read other posts and i don't think any of them apply. I just recieved a sofa and love seat set, and left them outside overnight unfortunately in rained (which wasn't in the forcast) so we brought them in in the morning just to get them from outside. Now two days later and hours of blow drying parts are still wet and the smell of mildew is outragous. any suggestions would be great! Thank you in advance!

I am a firefighter and found an antique dress form in a burned out building. I took it home and it smelled badly of smoke as you can imagine. Somebody suggested a mixture of water and ammonia in a spray bottle. I sprayed it down once each day for several days then let it air dry. It worked great. This antique smells clean and new - not even a smell of ammonia. Sorry, but I don't remember what ratio I mixed it at.

I start with a thorough vacuuming and cleaning.
I do use a professional because I don't want my vacuum to be full of the spell and source of odor.

Here is my story of how I discovered the most incredible odor remover that works by breaking the chemical & molecular bonds of odor.

I moved into a house that had all wood floors
EXCEPT for the kitchen. While moving in the neighbors cat crawled in a window and sprayed the carpet in the kitchen and down a heat vent. It was extremely hot and humid....as only the Dakotas can do. Carpet cleaners could not come for 3 days and we were literally sick by the odor.

I purchased spray bottle of Natural Magic Odor Blaster. NON SCENTED as the citrus scented did not work as well. I sprayed the area and down the vent. (I've been told cats have figured out if they spray a vent their scent will fill the house...not that they understand it....but they understand it will work) Anyway, I sprayed it and the smell vanished!! Completely!!! Immediately!!! 3 days later the carpet cleaners came, cleaned, and there was a remnant of the smell. I sprayed it again and never smelled the source. I use it in the laundrey, with old fishing stuff etc. If I could I would buy stock in the company. It can be difficult to find.
I've found it in small hardware stores...not the big ones. But I believe it is on line and you could get your store to order it. Don't use the citrus. I have a couch from the sixties that has a tone on tone Egyptian scene taken from a tomb painting. It smelled awful when I purchased it before they knocked down the abandoned house. I used the above procedure and everything is fine. I have a minor in Egyptology and just could not resist this couch.

Hope this helps. OH!!!! If a child wets the bed, you can use salt to lift the liquid or blot with pampers etc. Then pour hydrogen peroxide liberally. It didn't change the color of my mattress (it could yours) but completely broke down the urine by oxidization.

Jan

The very best thing is straight vinegar (NOT diluted with water), sprayed onto to the carpet, fabric, etc. I have tried it and it works and there is not even a trace of the odour, even on hot humid days. Be sure to spray both sides if possible, repeat a few times, if necessary, but it definately does work.

Jessi Ann