What can you do to get smells out of a vintage sofa? Kendall writes:
Hi Pam,
I recently purchased a sweet turquoise sofa circa 1950ish. The upholstery is still in great condition with the exception of a tad bit of fading. However, it stinks… smells much like cat urine. I don’t really think that the smell is cat urine, rather I think it is simply due to the material and aging. I thought that I would be able to get the smell out by steam cleaning using an odor killing additive. But, to no avail. Have you heard of any tricks to removing the aged smell to old upholstery? Crossing my fingers that there is a cure!
Thanks!
Kendall
Gorgeous sofa, Kendall. But, I don’t know the answer to this one. As I’ve said before, buying a vintage sofa can be difficult for this reason, and because the upholstery — especially anything made of foam — can get all stiff. I would think, though, that smells *can* be tackled. So I’ll open this one up to reader: Readers, have you found solutions to this common problem?
How to protect vintage upholstery? Readers: What’s your experience & advice? 
18-foot long sofa — Thayer Coggin vintage 1970s 
Mando is on the lookout for this dream sofa 
Become a fan
Personally, I would be worried that the smell IS cat urine. I’ve never come across anything vintage that had that smell from any other cause. It’s possible that a cat was spraying one area and the whole thing has picked up the smell. Maybe taking a black light and trying to locate any urine-marked areas would help? Then if any are found, they could be tackled with something specific for breaking down old urine stains.
If possible, set the sofa outside in a sunny location for a couple of days. Then, after bringing it back in, steam clean with white vinegar. ( this also works with fabrics )Good luck!
This is one of the reasons I don’t have a vintage sofa, I’m too easily skeeved. Hope that sofa can be fixed, it’s gorgeous!!!
Anyone try Febreeze? I’ve heard the sun thing too. Hope you are able to rid the sofa of any smells. It’s gorgeous!!!
Maryann
Before you use Febreze, please make sure there are no asmhatics in your family or circle of close friends. As a pet owner, I once thought Febreze was one of the world’s greatest gifts, until I realized that when I used it, my lungs and bronchial tubes locked up and I couldn’t breathe.
Try some Nature’s Miracle. Available in pet stores. I would test it first someplace out of sight to make sure it doesn’t hurt the fabric.
Vintage clothing fans have a special trick for de-stinking rayon–which tends to hold odors tenaciously. Fill a spray bottle with a 50/50 mix of water and very cheap vodka, spray the fabric thoroughly, let air in a well-ventilated area, and repeat until the smell is gone.
I’ve read that this will only work with the super cheap stuff because they filter it with charcoal to make it drinkable. It’s the charcoal, rather than the alcohol, that deodorizes.
This may or may not work on a sofa, but it can’t hurt to try. Febreeze and many of the “deodorizing” cleaning products really rely heavily on perfumes, and do not actually do anything to remove the stink.
I sell flooring, and there is a product that takes the urine smell out of carpet that wouldnt harm most upholstery. Out here in Colorado is is called Capture Pet Spray. When I was in Minnesota it was called Maintain pet spray. same exact product just labeled differently. Should be able to find it at any carpet store. Also I would NOT recommend fabreeze for urine…it makes the smell worse in my opinion.
Good luck…the sofa is worth the effort:)
Angela
I take it that you have replaced the foam in the coushions? Does the sofa smell all over or just in some areas? Just wondering. I’ve heard that vinegar works.
I’d hire a professional cleaner, they should be able to get the odor out. Otherwise, Nature’s Miracle is the best product for removing odors.
Odorzout is great too, http://www.88stink.com/
Yeah, I was going to suggest Nature’s Miracle too but I’m not sure how well it would work on old set-in smells. If it’s soaked into in the cushions and dried I’m not sure a surface cleaner of any sort would work. I would probably try a professional service like this one from ChemDry: http://www.chemdry.com/services/professional-carpet-cleaning/pet-urine-odor-removal
Just noticed that link is for carpeting but I’m pretty sure they do furniture as well. I’d check out what sort of chemicals they use first.
I bought a 1950′s Sectional that just reeked of Urine. I had a upholstery service come out to check it out. We took a portion of it apart. It’s not like a bed where there is a liner. It was material then went right to the stuffing. The urine soaked thru the fabric right down to the stuffing. I ended up re-doing the sectional because the smell just wouldn’t come out. The sectional had such a streamlined 50′s look, I spent the money on it. Now it’s Awesome, and btw We covered it in Leopard fabric
Nice sofa indeed and gives me hope that there might be one out there for my 50′s bungalow!
As an Herbalist I read lots of old-weird books on herbs, and the classics too. I think it was a renaissance era Herbalist that contended spearment would get tobacco smoke specifically and most other smells out of fabrics. Having once been in old textile restoration business this peaked my interest. I have used it plenty with good success on all kinds of weird smells. How to do this would be to mix the essential oil into a a liquid and spray it. Try the suggestions of others for the liquid, *either *the white vinegar (got the smell of camel pee out of rugs for me!) *or* the 50/50 cheap vodka/water (ingenious!), but don’t mix the vinegar with the vodka! Start at 8 ounces liquid and 100 drops of spearmint essential oil (not fragrance oil) Shake well each time and test this spray in an inconspicuous place for color-fastness of the dyes in the upholstery. If it works without fade or bleed, try it on the whole couch and more on areas that may smell worse. If it isn’t 100 % better you can add more spearmint essential oil. Work-up to as much as 320 drops (about a half an ounce) for 8 ounces of liquid. Sunshine would help this process too and it can be used with a steam cleaning machine as well.
Good luck and tell us how it goes!
Where ever did you find this beauty?!
Heather
Am I the only one who wonders where Heather came across camel pee?
nope, me too
Definitely avoid Febreeze- it could only make things worse in the long run. Ditto Steve- I would look into having the foam cushions replaced. I bought a Selig sofa and 2 chairs off craigslist and they had cushions made from what I think was latex and they were degrading and had an odor, coupled w/ the fact that the sofa and chairs had been stored in a basement, it wasn’t good. I had them reupholstered and had new foam put in all of them.
I would take the covers off and have them dry cleaned. Check the foam and see if it smells, if it does, simply get new foam.
I used my attachment for furniture that came w/ my carpet cleaner. I used it on a round vintage velvet chair I bought. I did it several times, cleaning, allowing to dry, and redoing, it came out beautiful. I had a fan blowing on it, each time it was drying. Use the carpet cleaner soap, which has a fresh smell, and gets out embedded dirt.
Good luck…what a beautiful find!
If it smells like cat urine, it probably is (the duck theory) – in fact as I look at the picture, it does look like there is discoloration right above the left leg, so I would suspect a spraying cat.
Never heard the vodka trick, but it does make sense about the charcoal. We had a cat that would use our fireplace, and you could never ever smell it because the ashes killed the smell completely. No fun to clean the fireplace, but cats do what cats will do.
Great sofa, let us know if you are successful.
Wow…that sofa IS sweet. I’d have to say that if it smells like cat urine, then it’s probably cat urine. Cat urine is one of the hardest smells to get out due to the ammonia in the urine. I definitely agree with not using Fabreeze. It will only add a perfume smell to the already acrid odor of the cat urine. I know that one from experience….not a good mix. It’s going to be really hard to get rid of the urine smell if it’s soaked deep into the foam inside of the sofa. You have to reach that level to remove that level of smell.
The black light idea is a good one that I have used with much success on both furniture and carpeting. You can get them online or at stores like Spencer’s (or any type store that sells novelty items and those black light posters) or sometimes in garden shops. Though, do know that with the age of the couch, it’s liable to have any number of stains and it might be hard to tell which ones are cat urine. I’m guessing that you don’t have a cat? They are cheaper and easier than black lights – they’ll usually go up and smell the offending area for ten minutes which is a dead giveaway! : )
The issue with cats is that they like to spray vertical surfaces so it might be just one spot or it could be several.
I say that if you know that you won’t be able to live with the smell (and if it’s cat urine, chances are you won’t be able to) you might just call a few companies with good recommendations and see what they’ll charge to give it a go before you try the tips. it might be less than you think. Spot cleaning methods are going to be really hit and miss if you don’t know which spot to concentrate on. In the meantime, lots of air and sunshine…And if you haven’t, maybe take the cushions outside and see if the sofa still smells bad. Maybe you’ll get lucky and it will just be a cushion issue?
It sure would be nice if you could get it worked out so that you can keep that fabric – but if not, know that you can start fresh with new materials inside of the couch instead of what’s in there which may be deteriorating at this point. Good luck! I’d love to know how it turns out!
thankfully when I bought our Milo Baughman couch from the furniture auction I was able to sit on it, inspect it, give it a good sniff, and it was all good. when I first told my mom I was hunting for a vintage sofa the first thing she said was, “make sure it doesn’t smell.” I guess I got lucky.
My “cheap-o” first try would be to bring it outside and place it on a sheet of plastic, layered with a big bag of charcoal briquettes. I would then create sort of a “bio-dome” of plastic over the sofa and let it rest for a few days, out of the sun. The charcoal absorbs odors….but I think latex foam in direct sunlight would create a cycle of smells.
Don’t sue me, but the covering looks pretty indestructible….so I might move to out and out warfare..
MythBusters swears by cheap vodka for getting out saturated cigarette smoke, so I think that would be worth a try. There aren’t a lot of things that smell like cat urine, so I’m sorry to agree that that’s probably what it is.
I confess I used Febreeze and a good airing on the 1920′s sofa I rescued from a friend’s garage, but it only smelled like musty garage, not something much worse, and, in retrospect, I wouldn’t do it again. I worry about Febreeze–I can’t imagine that it doesn’t leave a residue, which can only attract more dirt over time. (Apart from the fact that I don’t really think it works all that well.) At least cheap vodka should evaporate, since it’s mostly alcohol.
I used to work for a veterianrian, we recommended Anti-Icky Poo, we also used it in the office, it’s pretty effective for removing cat urine odor but you have to locate the source. You can find the product on Amazon. Good Luck!
Cute couch! Definitely try the Nature’s Miracle. They now make a cat formula that you can find at Petsmart and other local pet stores in the cat section of the store. I am not sure how it works on old, set in smells and or stains, but this would be your best bet. If I were you, spend the $25ish to get the big jug since this sound like a big job. Nature’s Miracle has well written instructions to follow too.
If you can, take the couch outside on a nice warm sunny day and treat it unless you have a room that is warm and sunny in the summer. (The sun help get old smells out.) This process will take several days, mostly just waiting for the spots to dry! Definitly spot test first. If your spot test goes well, you will need to saturate the spots that you can tell have concentrated amounts of cat urine on them and then let it sit and dry. You may need to treat those stains up to 5 times. After treating the concentrated spots, I would spray Natures Miracle all over the couch, let it dry, and keep doing this until you don’t smell the cat urine anymore.
Good luck!
if you mix vodka and water and put it in a spray bottle and spray it down it should work. The vodka won’t leave any smell after it dries and it is harmless to any fabric. It’s what we use for cleaning costumes in the theatre.
Gorgeous sofa!!! I like the black light idea, if it is coming from the area just above the leg it may be possible to take that section apart and replace the batting and treat the fabric and not have to do as much to the whole sofa.
Is it wool??? It looks like it might be, I LOVE that type of fabric and I think it’s worth the work to rescue it, gorgeous color too! So if it’s the somewhat scratchy loops and flat areas to make the textured pattern, it is likely wool/cotton which wears like iron, but…. If it is I would hesitate to *leave* an enzymatic cleaner on it for long. Some enzymes could damage wool and it might not be immediatley obvious. that said, I would research products and see if you can find an enzymatic cleaner that says it’s safe on wool, if not I’d probably still try it if nothing else worked, cure or kill I guess.
My experience with enzyme cleaner is this ~ I had a soft wood (fir) floor that had cat urine smells that awoke me the first really hot night (6 months) after we had moved in. we had replaced the carpet and pad, but the smell was in the wood and came out when we had a 90+ degree day. The next day we pulled out the carpet and pad and I scrubbed then soaked the spots for about 3 days with a product called “Kids n’ pets”, the smell was completely gone and after 7 years has not returned. I don’t think I needed to leave it to soak so long but since we were going to be putting the carpet back I didnt’ want to risk the smell coming back. I’m not a sales rep or anything but kids n’ pets is on Facebook and was giving a rebate for the full cost of the product last I saw, so maybe worth checking out, I think they sell it on Amazon and at Target,etc.
I’m a DIY gal with not a lot of $ to spend. If it were my sofa and it came down to it, after trying all the easy fixes/ professional cleaning, if nothing worked, I would pull it apart ( take a lot of pictures and notes as you go) and see about replacing the cotton batting or foam inside and either have the fabric dry cleaned (with a cleaner that understands/can solve the problem) or soak upholstery fabric with enzyme cleaner followed by a wool wash in cold water, hand washed gently in a bathtub with a good soaking, line dry and put it back together. If there are sections of fabric that require replacement I’d look into finding a remnant of a contrasting color similar fabric and replace only some of the fabric, in a way that looks nice and solves the problem but costs less. I do think there are a lot of good ideas here to try first though.
Be sure to check out the lively string of suggestions coming in on the Facebook Fan Page, too: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Retro-Renovation/145067618127
There might be other creepie crawlies in there. Best bet is to reupholster the thing. Your own dirt is one thing, someone else’s is another.
That sofa is gorgeous! I hope the problem can be solved. As a dog owner, I agree with the enzyme pet cleaners out there and not febreeze. It sounds like replacing the stuffing is in order though, ugh. Good luck!
natures miracle now sells a spray just for odors (not necessarily cleaning) for both hard and soft surfaces, and for air freshening. I have been keeping it in the bathroom where the litter box is to freshen it up every few days. I like it because it is unscented, unlike Febreeze, which is so strong it makes me nauseous. here is the product i was referring to: http://www.naturemakesitwork.com/catalog/prod_detail.php?id=111
All y’all have inspired me to drag my faintly smelly estate sale wingchair out into the hot Tucson sun for a thorough soaking.
Christ! I just got attacked by a loud Lysol ad on this site. Pam!??? Make it stop!
Ha! My apologies- the ad was on LiveJournal. Equally strange and horrible! But how funny that a LYSOL ad came on while viewing this post.
Is the Internet alive?
it sees we’re talking about cleaners…
LOL at the vodka suggestions. I know I’d much rather have a sofa that smells of booze than of cat urine.
(I do wonder if it’s the foam breaking down that makes that smell. Lots of old plastics smell like various organic yuckythings when they break down. Like hard plastic dolls that smell like somebody threw up in the car, then closed it up on a hot day.)
Lots of responses, don’t know if someone said this yet but what about an Ozone generator? Not good to breathe in for a long time but if in a contained place Ozone can kill just about any smell.
WOW! I’m overwhelmed at the response, thank you to everyone for taking the time to share your ideas. I’m going to start going down the list and will definitely let you know how it turns out…thanks millions!
I’m afraid I haven’t had the same luck with Nature’s Miracle that others have–however I have found the pee vanquishing powers of Crypton products to be astonishing. You can find them (and Nature’s Miracle) at the big chain pet stores.
I skimmed through the comments and didn’t notice one recommending plain old baking soda.
If it IS cat urine, I doubt that baking soda would do anything.
However, if it’s just age-related mustiness and/or smoke odors, baking soda can work wonders. I used it on two 1930s chairs I got for $5 at an auction many years ago. They were smoky, stale and musty-smelling. I put them on my screen porch, and COVERED them (including under seat cushions) with baking soda until they were pretty much white. Baking soda is cheap.
Waited a couple days and vacuumed it off. I had to repeat the procedure but after the second time, they were almost completely fresh-smelling! The baking soda was my mother’s suggestion, by the way, and it was the only thing I tried.
Good luck, it is a FABULOUS sofa!
Lots of good suggestions here already (especially the cheap vodka one!) but I thought I’d add one too. I just discovered a product called Zero Odor. I found it at Bed Bath & Beyond…my husband and I were debating whether or not to buy it when, not one, but TWO other customers overheard us and insisted it was the best thing they’d ever found, so we decided to try it.
I have not yet tried it on upholstery (the label says it’s safe for soft surfaces) but we have used it in our cats’ litterboxes and I was pleasantly surprised at how well it works. I particularly dislike Febreeze and any perfumey sort of products, but this has no smell of its own, so at the very least it won’t wind up making your sofa smell like cat urine with perfume on top. I think it’s worth trying before going through the effort and expense of reupholstery.
Best of luck…like everyone else has already said, that sofa is awesome! Great find!
Are you sure that the product is safe for litter boxes? Many years ago my vet told me never to use Lysol in my cat boxes as it can kill cats over time. I have no idea if the formula has changed since then, but I don’t take any chances. I also volunteer at a shelter and I clean my boxes the same way they do, with a bleach and water solution.
The only reliable chemical that can permanently neutralize feline urine (an amine) is Ordenone, manufactured by BelleAire Fragrances of Mundeleine, IL. They do not sell a product of their own; however, you might try calling them and they can direct you to someone utilizing the Ordenone molecule in a consumer formula. Please do not use Febreeze. It is only marginally successful; and on woven or porous substrates it will leave residual chemistry embedded in the surface. Febreeze utilized cyclodextrins – oligosaccarides – that encapsulate malodors of organic origin. After a while these odors will be again liberated either after cleaning with water-based systems or upon off-gassing as the malodors volatilize. I can’t imagine the toll Febreeze has taken on America’s woven textiles after all that whole-room “chemotherapy”.
Have it professionally cleaned – Simple as that.
I just did professional cleaning with two foam and fiberglass chairs I picked up–I do NOT recommend it! The foam (that didn’t smell before the cleaning) smells worse than ever now… these were in an office for 40 years so I know that no cats were involved in their current smell!
I dust Arm and Hammer baking soda on my carpets, let it sit and then vacuum up. I am not sure if it works, but you could try doing this on the sofa ………I don’t think that it would harm the upholstery.
Woolite makes a spray called Pet + Oxygen, it’s safe for your wool, and it’s basically OxyClean (Hydrogen Peroxide) plus some perfume. Any Hydrogen Peroxide based cleaner is great at ridding um … “bodily fluids” and odors.
Use caution when spot cleaning though, sometimes it can make the spot a lot cleaner than the rest of the sofa and then you have a problem. Try it on an inconspicuous area.
Oh – I see a lot of folks recommending sunlight … do NOT leave foam cushions in the sun. Light turns foam rubber brown and causes crystallization — always keep it out of the light. If you replace the foam yourself, buy from a wholesaler and keep the foam in a black garbage bag.
Gorgeous sofa, good luck!
I bought a vintage sofa that was in immaculate condition from a one owner, pet free home, but it also had this smell. I discovered that an ingredient in the foam cushions is urea. When I took the covers off the cushions, the foam was turning into dust.
Removing the foam and its dust also removed the smell. I highly recommend you start by replacing the foam.
if it is pet urine you need an enzyme cleaner.
For just plain old bad smells nothing beats “Smells Be Gone.” It just removes the smell, it doesn’t cover the smell with another smell.
I would steam clean and replace the cushions, also baking soda soounds like a good idea. Good Luck, it’s beautiful
I don’t have any other suggestions to add to this great list – I just wanted to say that you found an AMAZING, drop-dead gorgeous sofa, and I am extremely jealous. (I know, it’s not a pretty trait but hey, no one is perfect!)
Good luck! Please let us know what you end up doing and how it works out.
Normally I wouldn’t consider a vintage couch for the reasons everyone mentioned… but this is this is one of the best looking sofas I have EVER seen. Good luck with it! It is a showpiece!
Anti Icky Poo is an excellent cleaner for biological based odors and stains. Yes, that is the actual name. Sometimes you may need to apply cleaners to a good saturation point and let dry in order for them to work properly. I’m not sure how long that would take for a sofa. If you don’t let the cleaner reach the deeper parts of the fabric or foam then the odor is going to come back eventually. Good luck! I love the sofa!
I agree with the other posters here that first & foremost you should replace the
cushion foam. You can so easily do this yourself ! I did this myself on an old
1980′s sofa that belonged to my mom by taking measurements (in my case,
measure 3 individual cushions) , do the math: my measurements would fit into
a twin foam mattress easily purchased from Walmart/Target (hi-density/memory
foam) cut with a saws-all tool & don’t forget to purchase “batting” to cover the
foam before you reapply the original fabric.
Good Luck!
I’ve tried almost everything listed above (except for the vodka) for cat urine on carpet/wood and by far the best product out there that I’ve found is
Bi-O-Kleen Bac-Out Stain & Odor Eliminator with Live Enzyme Cultures Foaming Action Sprayer. It has live enzymes that kill the odor, works best if you haven’t used other things on the area. We moved into a new house with pet smelling carpets and I sprayed the carpet a few times and it worked. The foaming spray works better than the non-foaming but both are good depending on how you plan to use it.
I recommended it to a friend whose tenant had cats that sprayed and she swears by it now too.
It’s cheapest on drugstore.com where I buy it, but you sometimes can find it at local
natural food stores:
Read the reviews here for more ideas on how to use it:
http://www.buzzillions.com/reviews/biokleen-bac-out-stain-odor-eliminator-live-enzyme-cultures-32-fl-oz-reviews
Once urine has gotten into any sort of padding or such it’s nearly impossible to get rid of. After it “dries” the salts stay behind, attract moisture, and -presto-the smell goes on for years.
Professional deep-extraction steamcleaning will clean the upholstery fabric but cannot clean deeply into the cushion material.
Enzyme-type products of all different names will break up the salts so they may be steam-cleaned out of fabrics. This is the same as used on carpets, but the caveat is the same as well:
The carpet cleaners can clean the Carpet, but if the padding beneath the carpet was urine-saturated you’re out of luck.
BTW, I have a friend who has owned (what is now) a large carpet-cleaning and damage restoration firm for over 30 years and have moonlighted for him in the past…which is how I come to know a bit about this. I’d echo the suggestion of calling a professional upholstery cleaner on this one.
My OTHER suggestion on things like this…whether it’s carpet, upholstery, or waterlogged sheetrock…is to ALWAYS consult a reputable professional firm FIRST, BEFORE attempting home remedy. Many a cleanable spot has become a permanent stain from folks not doing so, which is too bad. Oftentimes there is only one shot at removal, and if the wrong method or product is used on the first go it can make matters worse or close the window of opportunity forever.
Dave
First, you must get rid of the foam – no other choice here (old foam stinks, and it is usually very hard / clumpy).
The baking soda method MAY work, but definitely not on the foam. We have antique dining room chairs that have the original silk velvet (olive and gold) upholstery with horsehair stuffing. They stunk (like old mothballs, not cat pee). We removed the old burlap from the bottom of one chair and covered the horsehair with baking soda and let it sit; we did this twice. For natural materials this works, as long as they get a LOT of time to air out.
We bought new fabric to re-upholster our chairs though (aqua and red!) because the original was a bit “too” traditional.
Do not place this in direct sun – it will fade the upholstery. Try putting it in the shade outside – get a cheap pole tent without sides (not under a tree – sap will destroy it).
Whatever method you use, do it to the entire sofa so that it doesn’t end up splotchy.
There is a product called Zorbx Unscented that I used when cleaning out my dad’s home 2 years after he passed away. Everything had a musty/mildewy smell, especially the cloth sofa and chairs. Tried the sun/baking soda/Febreze didn’t take the smell out. I ran across this at Lowe’s and was so pleasantly surprised. It took away the odor almost immediately. Make sure to use the Unscented.