whats a good way to get a musty, basement smell out of a couch?

Question

and dont say febreeze it doesnt really work

Answer 1

Take it out of the basement and place it on your front lawn...
Take several newspapers and crumple up each sheet individually and stuff them into the sides, under the cushions, up in the undeframe... you need to cram in as much as will fit where ever you can. The object is to let the fabric "breathe", not touching other fabric...
Buy a couple of bags of cedar shavings at a pet store. Cover as much of the couch as you can in a layer of cedar chips. (It's very aromatic!) If you have access to actual pine wood, try placing small boughs or pine cones under your couch also... Ive used flowering heather in place of small pine boughs before...
Call the neighbors, tell them to bring hot dogs, and light the sucker up! I guarantee the musty smell will be gone!... I haven't QUITE figured out what to do about the burnt chemical smell though....

Answer 2

Hi 'dmitts03' :
Big surprise to me that 'Febreez' doesn't work !
So, first, we'll look at saving that couch .
Wait for any real , good hot day . Don't know how heavy your couch is or what the climate is like where you live , so , you may need help to carry that couch outside into the sunlight .
Your couch has to be dried out .... because must is caused by dampness . Leave it outside in the sun as long as possible .
You'll have to bring it back inside before night-fall because of the wet dew effect . Keep taking your couch outside for as many days as it takes to totally dry it out .
If the smell is still there , then, maybe you could try spraying it with your favorite cologne , after-shave lotion or your wife's/girlfriend's perfume ( since Febreez doesn't work ) .
Secondly , what you're gonna have to realize is , that any piece of furniture that you put in that basement ( in the basement's present condition ) is going to become damp and stinky !
It might cost you some bucks , but, turn your basement into a rec-room .... carpet on the floors with the cushioning underneath ( to keep the dampness down ) .... insulation on the walls covered by your favourite wood-panelling .
I mean , any furniture , right now , in your basement is open to the musty smell .
Anyways , Good Luck ! I know this problem is a true pain !

Answer 3

You're right febreeze only works for a short period of time.
If you have removable cushions start there take off every cushion possible. Get the couch along with the cushions in a well ventilated area, open windows use a fan if you have to. Give it a good week or so, at the same time you may want to pin some dryer sheets to the cushions / couch as well. A good steam cleaning would definitely help also. Give it time, how much time did it spend in a basement? Keep that in your' mind.

Answer 4

Cant let the couch go huh? I have had a couch that I fell in love with since high school and I have had this problem before! The best thing to do (if you can afford it), is to strip down the couch to its innards and/or take it to be reupholstered. They will replace the inside cushions (that hold that musty stink), and give your couch a new look if you wish. It cost me a couple of hundred but it was worth it to me! I love my old couch! Too many memories! An at home fix is to soak the crap out of the cushions with a fragrance shampoo (like the ones you use in upholstry cleaners) and let it dry in the sun and repeat as many times as necessary until the smell is to your liking. Good luck and I hope I helped.

Answer 5

Sorry to say, but it sounds like you have a mold/mildew problem within the couch. Nothing really will fix it, and there are obvious health-related potential problems (respiratory).

The way to eliminate the odor from the basement is to run a dehumidifier for as long as there is humidity in the basement, which may be year-round on low speed.

The one thing that will kill-off, and probably eliminate the smell in the couch, is to set the couch in the sun for an extended period of time. That means taking the cushions off the couch and setting them in the direct sunlight also. don't forget to turn them periodically to get good exposure to sunlight. You also can't leave the couch and cushions outside during the night, as the humidity will encourage the growth of the mold/mildew and fungus.

Price the couch replacement value, and also consider how much it cost you new, and then depreciate that value by how long you have owned it, and evaluate if it is worth the time and energy to try to "save" the couch. Remember, if you don't totally eliminate the mold/mildew, it will simply grow back over time and remain a chronic problem.

This rates right up there with trying to eliminate the smell of cat urine from furniture. Best to trash it right away.

Sorry if this isn't the story you wanted to hear, but I tried to be as honest as I could.

Rick

Answer 6

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
whats a good way to get a musty, basement smell out of a couch?
and dont say febreeze it doesnt really work

Answer 7

I had stuff in a shed once that developed a roof leak and by the time I got to things they were saturated with mildew smell. I had a bunch of clothes that were affected and after washing soaking many times in everything from bleach to ammonia nothing worked till I used fabric softener. That did the trick I don't know what there is in fabric softener but it was the only thing that worked. I would shove some sheets down in the cracks and either wipe the dryer sheets all over the couch or take a rag and lightly sponge it all over the surfaces.

Answer 8

Airing it out is the first step, if you are somewhere where it is not very wet out right now put it in a room with all of windows open and all of the fans you can get / borrow going.

(I personally have had lots of luck with Fabreeze, but you seem to have already tried this / don't like it so I'll skip that bit). If you can add decorative pillows with potpourri in it them they will help temporarily, as the smell is dissapating.

If you are a little less patient but willing to spend more, call around to carpet cleaning places, they will be able to steam clean it for you.

If by musty you actually mean got wet and moldy, then there isn't a lot of hope. And breathing in mold is not really wonderful for your lungs, so in that case perhaps time for a new couch.

Answer 9

What you need to do is not kill the odor you need to kill the bacteria or mold causing the odor. Zep makes a product called micro ban that works well ,actually very well. I'm positive a friend of mine bought a similar product at SPAM"S Club . Pay attention cause here's a trick that you may want to use in a different (pet stain) circumstance .Go to feed store ,COOP ,TSC whatever you have in your area and pic up some Pig needles . Yes Hypodermic needle for giving the family sow a shot. Fill it w/ the bacterial killer and give your couch a couple of injections .Lets face it the outside probably isn't what's causing the smell Go to the inside. Pinch the fabric pull it away from the cushion insert needle and inject in a circular motion to cover the area.This applies to carpets too.Do it before you shampoo and let sit a while. Clean . and dry . Then lay down and take a nap you deserve it .

Answer 10

Hi there, sounds to me as if this smell is deep rooted, if febreeze doesn't do the trick. What I would do is, get a basin of warm water and put some biological washing powder in it. Get a sponge and start scrubbing. Open all the windows and let it dry.
Do the covers come off. If so wash them. Can't think of anything else, hope this works.
P.S. Try buying vanish, or something like that.

Good Luck
Deb

Answer 11

Looks like you have a tonne of good advice already...the sunshine and the baking soda are both what I would suggest so I will just add you could make a mixture of Tea tree oil, lavender and Eucalyptus in a spray bottle with water to use after the soda and sunshine... Perhaps on the last day in the sun when you have vacuumed up all the bicarb you could spray it all over so the sun dries the water from the spray yet leaves a lovely smell behind....