Sunshine and my quest for a fresh couch
Aug. 10th, 2007 11:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
twirlgrrlThe sun is shining in my backyard right now! (The sun gonna shine in my back door someday, ayyayyyy... March winds will blow all my troubles away... and all you Deadheads know what comes next.)
I don't even usually register how cold and grey and foggy the summer is here, but I've had good reason to think of it often over the past few weeks. I got a wonderful couch on Freecycle a little while ago. I was ecstatic; we got rid of our horribly uncomfortable futon on faith, and the couch appeared on Freecycle not two days later. It's a sectional, so we knew it would fit through the gate and upstairs, and it's a lovely dark sagey green, so it matches our decor, and it's from Crate and Barrel, so it's solid and the cushions are foam + down, very comfy. The giver told me that there was some cat-scratch damage; I was glad, because our cats and their eager claws are the biggest reason we looked for a free couch in the first place. What she failed to mention was that the cushions were soaked with cat piss. Yeah. She tried to cover it up with this really nasty-smelling cleaner of some sort, which frankly smells even worse to me than the animal smell. But after we'd had it in our house for a few hours, the cat pee became extremely apparent. Luckily, my cats have NOT taken this cue; they immediately went to sleep but haven't even so much as sniffed the pee spots.
Well, I could have just trashed the thing immediately, but honestly, it's so perfect for us that I really want to cure it. First I bought a huge bottle of Nature's Miracle, stripped the two bottom cushions and sprayed them within an inch of their lives. I left them in the picture window for more than a week; they smelled better but still yucky. *sigh* Then I googled. Then I took the covers off every cushion and washed them on delicate, twice. They came out smelling like daisies. Well, really, they smell like nothing, because the natural detergent we use smells like nothing, unless we're using the faintly lavendar-scented one. So far so good. Now to solve the hard puzzle... the cushions.
The couch is one of those L-shaped sectionals with the chaise-lounge sort of extension on one end. So that giant long bottom cushion was the one I started with. It wasn't as stinky as the other two bottom cushions, but it's huge and unwieldy. I got four gigantic bottles of white vinegar, a scrub brush, laundry detergent, and some giant trash bags. I covered the garden chairs with trash bags, perched the huge cushion atop two chairs, and went to work with the hose, the scrub brush, and the detergent. I vigorously scrubbed every inch, both sides, and rinsed and rinsed. Then the piece de resistance. Vinegar. I poured vinegar all over the cushion. Lots of it. Then I left it out to "dry."
But for three days, the air was full of so much moisture, if you only looked at the sidewalk you would have assumed it was raining. The trees catch so much fog that they drip 'rain' all day. The cushion just sat there, sodden. I worried that it would mold, and I worried that all the vinegar was getting washed away before it could do its job of neutralizing the piss. Finally, on the third day, the surface of the cushion didn't feel wet anymore, so I pulled it inside and left it standing in my office for three more days. The whole office reeked of vinegar. All I could think of was fish and chips. (It wasn't malt vinegar, just white, but after a point all vinegar smells the same.)
When it seemed dry, I carefully sniffed it all over. Success! And only a faint whiff of vinegar, which I'm sure will fade over time. With the newly cleaned cover over it, the cushion does not smell AT ALL.
Yesterday I went to work on the other two bottom cushions. They were the worst of all. With the big cushion, I was afraid of mold so I tried to keep the water on the surface, but with these two, I stuck the hose INSIDE the cushion where I could. I scrubbed them to within an inch of their lives, and I poured so much vinegar on and INSIDE them, they'll probably always smell a little funny. But I don't think I have to worry about mold this time. Because the SUN! It is OUT! I moved the cushions into full SUN just before writing this!
And now you know why I am so pleased to see the sunshine today.
Wish me luck with the other three, all-down cushions I must somehow wash. And please, if you come over, try to forget you read this when you sit on my gorgeous, freecycle green couch. Or, if you elect to sit on the dining room chairs instead, please know that I understand. :-)
I don't even usually register how cold and grey and foggy the summer is here, but I've had good reason to think of it often over the past few weeks. I got a wonderful couch on Freecycle a little while ago. I was ecstatic; we got rid of our horribly uncomfortable futon on faith, and the couch appeared on Freecycle not two days later. It's a sectional, so we knew it would fit through the gate and upstairs, and it's a lovely dark sagey green, so it matches our decor, and it's from Crate and Barrel, so it's solid and the cushions are foam + down, very comfy. The giver told me that there was some cat-scratch damage; I was glad, because our cats and their eager claws are the biggest reason we looked for a free couch in the first place. What she failed to mention was that the cushions were soaked with cat piss. Yeah. She tried to cover it up with this really nasty-smelling cleaner of some sort, which frankly smells even worse to me than the animal smell. But after we'd had it in our house for a few hours, the cat pee became extremely apparent. Luckily, my cats have NOT taken this cue; they immediately went to sleep but haven't even so much as sniffed the pee spots.
Well, I could have just trashed the thing immediately, but honestly, it's so perfect for us that I really want to cure it. First I bought a huge bottle of Nature's Miracle, stripped the two bottom cushions and sprayed them within an inch of their lives. I left them in the picture window for more than a week; they smelled better but still yucky. *sigh* Then I googled. Then I took the covers off every cushion and washed them on delicate, twice. They came out smelling like daisies. Well, really, they smell like nothing, because the natural detergent we use smells like nothing, unless we're using the faintly lavendar-scented one. So far so good. Now to solve the hard puzzle... the cushions.
The couch is one of those L-shaped sectionals with the chaise-lounge sort of extension on one end. So that giant long bottom cushion was the one I started with. It wasn't as stinky as the other two bottom cushions, but it's huge and unwieldy. I got four gigantic bottles of white vinegar, a scrub brush, laundry detergent, and some giant trash bags. I covered the garden chairs with trash bags, perched the huge cushion atop two chairs, and went to work with the hose, the scrub brush, and the detergent. I vigorously scrubbed every inch, both sides, and rinsed and rinsed. Then the piece de resistance. Vinegar. I poured vinegar all over the cushion. Lots of it. Then I left it out to "dry."
But for three days, the air was full of so much moisture, if you only looked at the sidewalk you would have assumed it was raining. The trees catch so much fog that they drip 'rain' all day. The cushion just sat there, sodden. I worried that it would mold, and I worried that all the vinegar was getting washed away before it could do its job of neutralizing the piss. Finally, on the third day, the surface of the cushion didn't feel wet anymore, so I pulled it inside and left it standing in my office for three more days. The whole office reeked of vinegar. All I could think of was fish and chips. (It wasn't malt vinegar, just white, but after a point all vinegar smells the same.)
When it seemed dry, I carefully sniffed it all over. Success! And only a faint whiff of vinegar, which I'm sure will fade over time. With the newly cleaned cover over it, the cushion does not smell AT ALL.
Yesterday I went to work on the other two bottom cushions. They were the worst of all. With the big cushion, I was afraid of mold so I tried to keep the water on the surface, but with these two, I stuck the hose INSIDE the cushion where I could. I scrubbed them to within an inch of their lives, and I poured so much vinegar on and INSIDE them, they'll probably always smell a little funny. But I don't think I have to worry about mold this time. Because the SUN! It is OUT! I moved the cushions into full SUN just before writing this!
And now you know why I am so pleased to see the sunshine today.
Wish me luck with the other three, all-down cushions I must somehow wash. And please, if you come over, try to forget you read this when you sit on my gorgeous, freecycle green couch. Or, if you elect to sit on the dining room chairs instead, please know that I understand. :-)
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no subject
Date: 2007-08-10 08:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-10 08:21 pm (UTC)The sun is still shining, and I think my cushions are actually half dry now. I think they are not going to smell AT ALL when this is done. WOO FREAKING HOO. I hope I get sun tomorrow so I can finish the other 3 pillows.
no subject
Date: 2007-08-10 11:52 pm (UTC)mabel ruined a huge area of the hardwood floors in the tiny second bedroom. she also ruined an area of it in the livingroom. i guess eventually we will have to have them sanded and refinished.
there is some new peeing going on. at first i thought it was mabel relapsing but i think it's belinda. i think she might have started when her boyfriend tevye died. :(
no subject
Date: 2007-08-10 10:12 pm (UTC)If the tag says to dry clean, a good dry cleaner ought to be able to help get the odor out.
no subject
Date: 2007-08-12 01:11 pm (UTC)I finished the other two bottom cushions and they turned out great! I'm really excited. Countdown to awesome couch in 3... 2...
no subject
Date: 2007-08-11 03:33 am (UTC)Thanks for reminding me of why I love New Orleans and SF not so much! I am typing this in my 82 degree un-ACed house at 10:30 at night with the promise of full-on 99 degrees tomorrow. But at least it ain't cold and foggy!
no subject
Date: 2007-08-12 01:13 pm (UTC)I love warm nights, but I HATE hot days. I positively wilt in the heat. So SF is actually perfect for me. If you visit, come in February or October, when the sun is most likely to come out. But it's almost never hot. No one has AC here--NO ONE.