Upholstered furniture will experience wear and tear over its lifetime. It will experience stains and smells, and may also experience rough usage from people sitting down too hard or from kids jumping up and down on the couch. Your furniture may also have experienced being used as a dog bed. If your furniture has experienced any of these things, it may have a smell to it. Read on for tips to remove the odors from your furniture.

Vacuum Everything

Disassemble the piece of furniture, removing cushions and pillows that will come off, and vacuum everything to remove dust, dander and other debris that may have accumulated. This will also give you a close look at any stains or damage to your upholstered furniture piece. Disassembling everything will also give you a chance to air out the piece as needed.

Clean The Liner

The liner beneath the cushion may be hiding past stains and odors in addition to the upholstery. Take a cloth damp with a vinegar, water and dish soap mixture. Wring out the cloth and wipe the liner with the cloth to clean it. You want it to be damp, but not soaking wet or sudsy. Clean the liner and allow it to dry thoroughly before replacing any of the cushions.

Remove Odors 

To remove odors from the upholstered parts of your furniture piece, you won't be able to place anything in the washing machine to clean it. You can have the upholstery steam cleaned by a professional upholstery cleaning company to give it a more thorough clean and to remove the odors. If you have a cleaner at home with an upholstery attachment, you can try to clean your furniture piece at home yourself.

You can also sprinkle your upholstery with baking soda mixed with a few drops of essential oil (in scents such as lavender or lemon). Allow the baking soda/oil mixture to sit on your furniture for at least 15 minutes. Vacuum the mixture up with your vacuum and upholstery attachment to remove all of the baking soda. The baking soda will remove the odors, while the essential oil will help give it a fresh scent. You can do this on all of your upholstered furniture including pillows and cushions.

If you have upholstered furniture and it has a less than fresh scent, you need to have it cleaned and the odors removed. Call a professional upholstery cleaning company such as One Step Ahead Rug & Carpet Cleaning for help with this.