we recently inherited a really nice couch, but the people who had it before smoke in their house. just having it in our living room overnight has made the entire room smell so bad i wont sit in it. sitting on the couch last night made my clothes reek. short of having someone come clean it, how can i remove the foul odor? ******************************************************** 02-05-07, 11:26 AM Walks On Water Where there's smoke, there's fire.
Burn it. I know that's not the answer you're looking for but being a ex-smoker for more then 25 years, I to had a problem with somke in the furniture. To have it clean will only clean the surface and not the padding. It may smell good for a couple of weeks or even months after but the smell will come back.
If you want to try, contact a cleaner the cleans up after a fire. They have the know-how and experience to do a better job the the average cleaner.
One thing to keep in mind, it may cost more then it would to replace it.
02-05-07, 11:30 AM aminator2002 Spray with febreze then vacuum. Repeat and repeat.
Take the cushions and spray them too.
It sounds like a multiple smoker situation... could be tough to save the sofa.
02-05-07, 12:48 PM MrsS If the cushion covers can be removed, take them off and wash them and spray the "naked" cushions and sofa frame heavily with Febreze, the formula that says "Allergen reducer", let dry thoroughly, vaccuum, then repeat process with a spray on/vaccuum off carpet cleaner...If you have a chance to toss the cushions out in the sun, do so... If you can put it somewhere to be ignored for a few days, get a sack of activated charcoal,and "tent" the sofa with a plastic tarp or heavy dropcloth in a warm spot with the charcoal. Or call in a pro... a bit costly, but perhaps worth the investment.
02-05-07, 02:57 PM babthrower I would try an upholstery shampoo.
First, vacuum and brush very thoroughly.
Test this method on a small area, say on the back or even on some of the fabric that has been folded to the underside during upholstering.
You can make this up yourself. Put some liquid laundry detergent in a bowl of warm water, about 1 part detergent : 3 parts lukewarm water, and beat it like whipping cream until it has dry-looking suds on top.
Then take a soft cloth, perhaps terry or cheesecloth, and wring it out well in plain lukewarm water. Use it to pick up some of the suds and spread them over the surface of the uphostery.
Let dry and vacuum off.
If the texture and color are undamaged, and the fabric looks cleaner, you can do the whole couch.
If the results are not satisfactory, you and you don't want to discard the couch, you can use a slightly more drastic method, but again, do a test area first.
Here it is:
After you have spread the dry foam over the fabric, use a soft cloth wrung out in lukewarm water to gently wipe the surface. Then rinse the cloth in clear warm water and gently wipe again. Then wipe with an absorbent dry cloth.
Before drying, if the surface has a nap (such as velvet) it should be gently brushed, first against the nap, then 'with' it, after the final wipe.
If the test is successsful, do the whole couch, a small area at a time.
Tobacco sublimate is mostly tarry/oily. That's why the suds will work -- they contain a de-greaser. But tobacco sublimate is also sort of sticky, so other dirt such as dust from the atmosphere would settle on the surface and stay. That's why a thorough vacuuming first is essential - to get as much dirt out as possible before using a damp procedure.
02-06-07, 01:54 AM mattlynda thanks for the tips guys. im gonna get right down and try the suds. if it was up to me id just toss the thing, but its my brothers girlfriends couch, and she just got kicked out of where she was staying and has no place to go. we have no other place to keep it other than the back yard, and im not that white trash lol. mom has a small carpet cleaner, i might give that a go. im not concerned about discolouring it, as she obviously doesnt care about the life of the couch if they smoked inside. its a shame they ruined such a nice piece of furniture.
just sitting on it for a 1/2 hour show today made my bra smell. through 2 blankets that i put over the couch, a sweater, and a tshirt. id really like to just toss this thing. Mad
02-06-07, 07:17 AM Elexina It might be doomed. And you might not want to have a smoke-filled couch in your house at all. I don’t know what the statistics are on second-hand-smoke-from-couches... That said, in college I acquired a couch from a room full of boys, all of whom were smokers. It then sat in the sun all summer long and was absolutely horrifying once I got it. But, Fabreeze and regular vacuuming worked wonders. I must have used a full bottle of Fabreeze on the thing, and I can’t even describe the strange things I pulled out of the cushions (ah, college), but it really worked. I would probably still have that couch to this day if it hadn’t been stolen over the next summer. Frown So, if you want to try to save it, definitely the Fabreeze is the way to go.
02-06-07, 08:43 AM aminator2002 I hate to differ with babthrower but I've seen many a piece of furniture destroyed because of using a detergent. It might work for the short term but any residue of soap in the fabric will attract dirt and cause a really ugly mess after the fact.
I think you want to try a bunch of febreze first. There is a type that neutralizes smoke odor and it does work.
02-06-07, 09:31 AM clarebear I think you should call a professional carpet cleaner. They will clean your sofa the right way and it will smell good as new. It will be worth the money.
02-06-07, 10:09 AM Sherasi If you have a basement or an attic, you could store it out of the way while you deal with the smoke odours. 02-06-07, 01:25 PM
mattlynda im getting a definate headache from the amount of febreeze ive used lol. for the time being, its going to the basement where i can work on it until the smell is gone. thanks for all the ideas, the only one i came up with was a few bottles of febreeze ^^ im going to use the allergin reducing one first, followed by vaccuming. hopefully i can save it.
02-06-07, 05:53 PM Karrow I find baking soda (bicarbonate of soda) as good as, and in most cases better than, all the new products. Now that the couch is in the basement, just cover it with baking soda and leave for a day before vacuuming it off. You may need to repeat the process a few times depending on the strength of the odour.
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