please help. I asked this question already but I havent received a good answer.?

Question

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! I dont want to just cover up the smell. I want to get rid of it for good. Thank you in advance!

Answer 1

Hi
If it has only been a few days it is a musty smell you are smelling from the water not mould.
First thing I would recommended cleaning your sofa using a disinfectant like Milgo SR (may need to go to a janitorial supply store for this and ask for a disinfectant for carpet and upholstery) and spray the whole sofa (you can use a spray bottle for this). Deodorizers just cover up the smell for a while and disinfectant kill bacteria in the fabric.

When this is done the next step is to clean the sofa with a steam cleaner using a (neutral PH carpet cleaning solution) most of the carpet cleaning solution are ok to use.

When this is done you will need to dry the fabric by setting up fans blowing on the sofa ( this will take two or three days to properly dry). If you can I would rent carpet blowers from a rental place but fans will work. Depending on how much water is in the foam of the cushion you may have to remove the foam from the fabric and dry them separately (should be a zipper on the back of the cushion).

When to sofa is dry you should not be able to smell a musty smell.


In the flood business for 14 years

Answer 2

I am going to assume the it didn't just rain but poured and it got soaked all the way through. I would call a professional, start with a cleaner/restorer if available (they come in after fires/floods etc.) otherwise carpet cleaners explain the problem ask if they can take care of it. Make them give you a WRITTEN guarantee. At the very least have them agree that you will only pay half if they can't take care of the problem. That is fair because they have to pay for the chemicals and people. But you want this guarantee otherwise some unscrupulous businesses will take the job even if they don't think they can take get rid of the smell. You should have a good idea in 2 weeks time. It not only needs to dry, but if it isn't going to work you need to give the mildew time to catch hold and start growing again.
Now you can try this yourself with a rented machine, again a carpet cleaner extraction machine. The cleaner you need must kill mildew, not just clean the smell. Otherwise it will eventually just start smelling again.
If you spent a ton of money on this, then, as a last resort, strip it, take the fabric off, if the frame is not damp, then you might be able to dry the stuffing, try that , but if the frame is damp then you need to get the stuffing out so you can get the frame dry. (The frame is where the real money is.) You can either learn to redo the furniture or you can pay to have it done. (You might want to take a picture of them before stripping to give the upholsterer an idea of what you want). It will cost a bit, but better than replacing the whole thing again.
I am sorry there isn't better news, this is kind of depressing, but chalk it up as an expensive lesson. Good luck!

Answer 3

Where in the furniture does the smell remain? There are mildew killers for upholstery such as Kill Odor Plus, but if the mildew is lower down inside, this won't help. Do you think the frame and stuffing are mildewing? If so, then I'm not sure I'd try to save the furniture.

You could start by taking the furniture outside in direct sunlight to let it dry. If you live in a humid climate......that may never happen.

Procleaners can come in and clean the fabric, but they don't clean the frame inside or even underneath....that you may have to do.

How I wish I could tell you removing the cushion foam and replacing it, washing the fabric would solve the problem, but that still leaves the main part of the couch.

If you or a friend were a great seamstress, you could remove the fabric, clean and treat that, remove and replace the batting, and wash the frame, then reassemble. To have it done professionally, would probably be as expensive as new furtnitue. Still you might investigate having the furniture recovered, not slip covered, but recovered.

Answer 4

Well if you want to get it out and not just mask the odor. Your going to have to re-wet them completely again using a carpet cleaner with an upholstery attachment. Instead of using the regular cleaner in the solution chamber add some non bleaching mild cleaner that works well on molds and mildews ( check with a reputable cleaning company for a good product)and inject the solution deep into the fabric. (make sure the solution is not going to hurt your fabric.) let it soak for an hour or so and then keep extracting all of the wetted surfaces till you don't get any more moisture out. Now clean again with regular upholstery cleaner. The furniture must dry in a reasonable amount of time. To enhance the drying time may i suggest an oscillating fan pointed at the furniture and a nice warm room temperature. Hope this helps you out. If the under surfaces are foam it is really hard to get the water entirely out through suction. If you can get at the under side of the furniture and extract that way as well it will help some more. If your cushion covers are removable than take them off and hand the cushion so air can circulate around them. keep checking the lowest points for dripping and periodically extract the moisture that has collected at the lowest points. Hope this helps you out.

Answer 5

I've had similar problems with wet furniture. I'm assuming your couches are made of some type of fabric? I suggest hiring a carpet & upholstery cleaner. They'll come in with the latest in cleaning technology (Probably a shampooer, special industrial fabric cleaning fluids, etc.), they're fast and once the furniture dries there should be no smell at all. In my experience, their pricing is very reasonable as well ($20-30 per piece max).

Answer 6

Replace the cusions, at least, and try fabreze or other fabric softeners, to try and make it smell better. Covering up the smell for a while may be the only choice. If you have a warentee on the thing, USE IT. So sorry about your luck.

Answer 7

That's horrible. I would strongly recommend trashing them, really. Mold can become harmful to your health in the long run. BUt if you are hell bent on keeping them, you have to dry them out the same way you soaked 'em up, outside in natural sunlight for at least a good 4 hours. Sorry, and good luck!

Answer 8

There is no cover up for mold - you have to cure it or toss it. Look for a facility that you can take them & have them gassed with ozone, (possibley the same people who do bug exterminations) but since it got wet thru to the frame, the cure may be more expenive than the cost of replacing them.

Answer 9

I know that I just answered your last question, but thought that I would do a Google search and found out that you can use a bleach and water mixeror try a lemon and vinegar mix. You really need to be careful when it comes to mold, because it could be toxic. You may want a mold inspector to come out and see what kind of mold it is. Some molds can kill you, so please be very careful.

Answer 10

You could try hiring a dehumidifier (takes moiusture out of the air) and putting it near the seats, but I'm not sure if this'd help. Perhaps try looking for a specialist cleaner?