Stinky sofa

morganlefay

My Mum, now 94, has given my newly-married daughter her sofa, which had belonged to her parents. It's v nice - has a drop-down end and a William Morris fabric cover, all nicely worn in. DD VERY pleased. BUT now it seems that my mother's many years of heavy smoking have seeped into the sofa and can't be got rid of. Clothes left to sit on it pong in minutes and when you walk into the room now there's a floating cloud of ciggie aromas. DD newly pregnant and they don't smoke so sofa is VERY unpopular now. She's washed cover and dried it in garden, and it's OK - it's the sofa itself that smells. She's tried Febreze but it doesn't last. We used to leave things out in the fresh air overnight, but it's a bit big to get out the back, and not quite the weather. Does anyone have any OS ideas for getting some 40 years of accumulated ciggie pong to buzz off ? If not it's curtains for the sofa and as it was my grandmother's I feel that would be sad.

CLARABEL

I would try 2 things


1. get hold of a steam cleaner and give it a good going over

2. sprinkle it al over with bicarb, leave for a few hous then vaccuum it off.

unfortunately stale fags are the worst smell to get rid of and often linger even after all this. my carpets still aheva ligh aroma when vac and it's 6 years on from oving in...eeeurghh


:mad:

halloweenqueen_2

Could she hire one of those steam or foam cleaners?
What about the people who professionally clean carpets - they may be able to do a good job on it.
I'd try the bicarbonate first though!

BillSmith_2

We had a similar problem. We have a big dog that sleeps on the sofa from time to time. We are calling our Clean N Gone cleaning once every six months to clean it for us. I am sure not only them but most of the professional upholstery cleaners will remove the odor for you with the right equipment and chemicals. It is not expensive too.

jennyjelly

Lucky girl!

Some time ago we bought a couple of sofas from a household where they were heavy smokers, and the smell was really strong.

We Febrezed it every night for 2 weeks and eventually the smell did disappear.

squeaky

Yep. Febreze worked on mine too.

The thing you need to remember is that the smell has worked deep into the padding of the sofa, so your Febreze needs to get in deep to sort it out. That means that it needs a really good soaking not just a light spray.

(I even managed to get the cushions into the washing machine )

Kazonline

I tend to use borax on most things with an odour now. On a smelly mattress (lo has the odd accident) I sprinkle it all over and then mist with a spray until thoroughly wet. Once dry I vaccum it. If the sofa has any cushions (foam etc) you could put them in the bath and wash - with a bit of borax in the water. Perhaps give them a night or two in the fresh air also? It doesn't matter too much if it rains on them - if anything it's giving them an extra rinse
As a last resort you could perhaps see if you can buy replacement cushions - our market sells the foam inserts for sofa's...
I hope you find something that works for you,
Kaz x
PS I bought my borax in boots if anyone is interested in buying some.

Danni1979

Hi all,i'd really love some advice,i have 3 dogs and havent been able to wash my sofa covers for a couple of months cos cant dry them,hence Smelly sofa!!
Does anyone have any home made deodirizer tips,i just cant afford febreze right now.
Hugs
xx

mandrose

Try spinkly on Bicarbonate of soda and leaving overnight then hoover off. I used it on my carpet after one of my cats had an accident :eek: and it worked like a dream!

Danni1979

Thanks Mandrose,i ahve some in so i'll give it a go.
Hugs

xx

kazmeister

Hi,

my dear doggie had a little tinkle on mine this morning. I can wash the covers and TD but the cushion part which was wet, I sprayed with a Kim and Aggie style mix of 20 drops tea tree oil to 2 cups water. Worried it might be overpowering but seems to have got rid of weewee smell without too many problems