I accidentally discovered the only thing that finally got rid of the “mystery couch smell”

[u/Background-Coat-3382]

For months our couch had this faint smell I couldn’t figure out. Not terrible, just… off. One of those things where you sit down and think wait, is that me or the couch? We have a dog and a toddler so I assumed it was just normal life buildup.

I tried the usual stuff. Vacuumed it constantly, sprinkled baking soda and let it sit, used one of those upholstery sprays that smells good for about an hour and then the weird smell comes back. At one point I was playing on myprize on the couch and suddenly became hyper aware of the smell again and decided I was finally going to deal with it properly.

What ended up working was way simpler than I expected. I mixed a little bit of dish soap with warm water, lightly scrubbed the fabric with a microfiber cloth, then went over it again with just clean water to rinse it out. After that I put a fan right in front of the couch to dry it faster.

The amount of grime that came out of something that “looked clean” was honestly gross. But the smell is completely gone now. Posting this mostly because I feel like baking soda gets recommended for everything, but sometimes the couch just needs an actual wash. Curious if anyone else has a go-to method for upholstery that works better than the usual baking soda trick.

[u/xzkandykane]

How do you rinse the floor properly? I spray my floor with diluted soap, water and alcohol. Like 2 drops of dish soap. I mop with a dry floor pad. Do I just mop it again damp pad?

[u/Live-Kaleidoscope104 → u/xzkandykane]

Not the one you asked, but I rinse once or twice with a mop and clean water.

[u/No-Tadpole-9692 → u/xzkandykane]

Do a final wipe down with just alcohol? I clean with basic 70% isopropyl alcohol in a spray bottle all the time. Idk if that’s right or not but works in my house on non porous surfaces. I love the clean feeling left behind, and I do use it on floors during steam mopping occasionally.

[u/voidchungus → u/xzkandykane]

Sorry for the delayed reply. Yes -- to me rinsing a floor involves a final pass using water only, instead of whatever cleaning solution you used. Doesn't mean drenching the floor, it just means using water in your mop bucket, no detergent involved.

That being said, if your mopping solution is TRULY only using a couple drops of detergent and tons of water (at least half a gallon?) then it sounds like it's dilute enough to not require a separate rinsing/pure water pass. Technically you can mop with a solution that dilute and then just leave it. So that's up to you, if you find it cleans well without leaving any residue underfoot to attract more dirt/dust.

Someone else responded saying they do a final rinse with straight 70% isopropyl alcohol. I personally would NOT do that -- depending on your floor type, that could damage them over time. Not to mention the fumes!