So, I don't know why but I fell in love with this chair (which was given to me by an office neighbor). (scroll down for pics! it's the green one, not the red stripped one)

It's super sturdy, which is awesome for an old rocking chair, and the upholstery isn't torn or worn away.

But it looks like it could use a good cleaning, and it kind of has that old chair smell, not super strong but musty. It's sitting in my office right now, and if I leave the office with the door closed, when I return to my office, it kinda smells. Ultimately, I'd like to have it in our living room at home, so I'd prefer to get rid of the smell. I imagine that setting it outside in the sun would help, for starters.

Any other advice about 1) how to get the smell out of it, and 2) how to clean it without damaging the upholstery?

10 days ago my son threw up on our sofa.


I looked around the internet for advice on how to deal with the stain and smell. What I picked up and did is as follows: (this was after I cleaned it up with paper towels etc, when left with a smelly stain)

1) Put baking soda on the affected area (in your case, all of the upholstery). Don't just shake it on, rub it in gently with your hand

2) Let that sit a couple of hours. Even 4 or 5.

3) Vacuum it out with the upholstery attachment on your vacuum.

4) Repeat that a second time


Then get a cup of seltzer and a sponge. Rub/wipe the surface with seltzer water DOn't be afraid to get it wet. Let it dry over night.


Then repeat the above process as necessary. For me the smell was gone the first time. The stain got lighter each time I did it, I stopped at three complete cycles. In fact just this morning I declared it done.


We were fully prepared to replace the sofa, rachel had all but added it to the cart at Room & Board. But this really worked.

Something like jon's suggestion is good. What you don't want to do is try some sort of de-smell spray (like Febreze), which never really works.

I don't think it would cost a fortune to reupholster the chair (that doesn't look like it's spelled right...?), so I'd be tempted to try a series of escalations (starting with Jon's), with the reupholstery option as your backup worst-case scenario.

I’d start by vacuuming it really well. Then I’d clean it with something like Woolite foam upholstery shampoo. It comes in a spray can.

Scrub the shampoo in with a soft damp brush. Let it dry and vacuum it again. If that doesn’t work find an upholstery cleaning company (maybe Coit) and have it steam cleaned. Those guys can get the smoke smell out of furniture that’s been in a house fire. If they can get that smell out it’s a good bet they can clean your chair.

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions! (Jon, I'm sorry boy_nyc was sick enough to throw up!)

I will definitely start with baking soda. And agreed, I wouldn't use Fabreeze or the like, I think that's just masking it.

Then if that doesn't seem to work, I'll try upholstry shampoo, which I didn't know was a thing.

Oh btw I don't think you can tell from the photos above, but the upholstery actually has two kinds of fabric, one is velour-esque. Maybe this close up will work:



Can I put baking soda on that part too?

I certainly know very little about this stuff, but at first it couldn't hurt to just air it out. I'd wait till a really sunny day, leave the chair out in the sun and fresh air for a few hours. Repeat a second or third day. Then see if the smell remains, and how bad it is. Then proceed with the other ideas mentioned here.

That's a strange back rest. Is it comfortable to sit in?

quote:

That's a strange back rest. Is it comfortable to sit in?

Actually yes! It's really comfy, very sturdy and rocks well.

Baking soda will be fine on it. It doesn't stain. And it vacuums out nicely.

Awesome, good to know!!

Having been in the antiques trade for years, my though is it has nothing to do with the outside, top covering.

It comes from the inside stuffing, straw, horsehair or whatever it is.

To save an old chair correctly, all that old stuff needs to go.

Sorry.

Interesting chair!

quote:

To save an old chair correctly, all that old stuff needs to go.

LL, you may be right. But if I can make the smell less noticeable and we can use it for a few years, I'll do that and then think about getting it reupholstered properly in the future. Eventually it would be great to have it completely refinished and reupholstered, which I'm sure isn't super cheap. So I don't want to do that until we've moved and know what's going to be in our living room and know what we want to spend time on.

It's not super smelly, so I imagine an afternoon in the sun and a baking soda treatment will go a long way!

I have a prized (sentimentally) antique rocking chair I plan to have completely reupholstered. I never noticed any particular smell but that would surely remove any - must be in the fabric, right?

My mother told me it was called "the walking chair" by her mother because it somehow always advanced forward as she nursed her five children in their infancy. I regard it as a pleasant kind of haunting!

As for your chair, even without reupholstering, I'd think thoroughly bagging it in a big enough plastic or fabric container ought to get that deep-down smell out. Key would be sprinkling it with traditional smell neutralizers: coffee grounds (a rolling pin to "open" the pores), cinnamon sticks, mint, lavendar, and pine (Spruce) too. They often come in pillows or bags of DIY fillers. Also, of course, baking soda powder. There are many new specialized chemicals against pet and urine smells, while firms specializing in smoke removal ought to have excellent advice.

Don't see why you'd need to replace them completely, instead of just vacuuming them up periodically, redistributing the materials. Perhaps combining them with moisture to help penetration.

Google ought to provide a gold mine of suggestions. Plain fresh air and sunshine should also help, as time matters.

Nothing to add except-- love the chair! Lucky find!

Whatever method you decide on I suggest you try it first on a spot that is not easy to see. Baking soda is likely to be fine but some fabrics - especially dirty fabrics - react oddly to water.

That chair is unique and worth the trouble IMO.