Musty furniture...

[audette]

So, we received our stuff from storage yesterday.  The stuff the military stored for us for a couple years.

Yay!!! I forgot we owned some of this stuff...

But, we've noticed the couch and loveseat are a bit... erm, musty... We kinda expected that after 2 years in storage.  It's part of why we shipped our beds to Korea.  (that, and the comfort of our own beds...)

I'm not quite sure how to de-musty-fy the couch and loveseat.  We have a few ideas we plan to try over the next few days, but I'm wondering if anyone else here has had to deal with a similar situation and can help brainstorm other options.  I'd really rather not replace the furniture until after our next move, if I can help it.  But right now, the mustiness is bad enough that I am worried my allergies will act up if I try sitting on them. 

So, any ideas?

(I might cross-post this to MM, too, just to increase ideas...) 

[Ashsmash]

I haven't had to deal with it, but maybe baking soda? Let it sit for a bit then vacuum it up.

[Deleted]

Did they wrap the sofas in plastic wrap?

All of our stuff came out of storage just fine. Well, one table was dinged up, but no mustiness. But it was mostly wood except one leather chair that they wrapped in plastic and a twin mattress/box spring that they put in a box, and both were good as new.

[nsl]

I'd probably get everything professionally cleaned.

[brandienee]

Mar 1, 2015 8:07:50 GMT -5 nsl said:

I'd probably get everything professionally cleaned.

This.

I would have a professional upholstery cleaning company come.

[audette]

@villainv - no plastic. They were wrapped in thick packing paper, but that was it.


Hrm. Guess I need to look up cleaning companies. Blargh. So far this is the only damage we've noticed, if you want to call it damage. (I'm assuming the military is going to tell us the smell is just from the age of the furniture if we try to claim anything for it.)

We were worried about this, so we avoided having them store much of anything that wasn't all hard-surfaces.

[killercupcake]

I'd be concerned about mold, honestly. If they didn't store it properly, that could happen. Musty smells make me nervous.

Have a professional look at it, for sure.

[amaristella]

Yikes. I don't have any advice but this is my concern about my stuff (couch and recliner uncrated) being stored on Oahu. Housing gave us a dryer that had been sitting for some time when the first one broke and it smelled horribly musty. I never really did get the smell to go completely away.


Maybe contact the people who make Febreeze and tell them you'd like to be a case study.

[audette]

Well, it does get sunny here, but it's also winter here (so the yard is covered with snow, got more snow & freezing rain last night)...

I picked up some cleaner that is supposed to help clean and eliminate scents. As soon as I have time, I plan to try that out on some of the cushions, as a test. And, once we have most of our stuff out of boxes, I'm going to get some housecleaning quotes. That progress will get held up with my business trip next week, but hopefully after that I can get some regular cleaning in place, and have them regularly vacuum/clean the couch as part of that...