How to Get Smells Out of a Couch (and Actually Keep Them Gone)

To get a smell out of a couch, you have to find and treat what is causing it, not cover it up. Start by vacuuming and sprinkling baking soda to absorb everyday odor, then treat the source directly, an enzyme cleaner for pet smells or thorough drying for a musty one, before you air the couch out. Air freshener only masks the problem, so the smell always comes back.

A couch soaks up the life of a room, which is wonderful until it starts to hold onto odors. The good news is that almost every couch smell comes from one of a few sources, and once you know which one you are dealing with, it is usually straightforward to clear. This guide covers pet and dog smells, musty mildew smells, and why an odor keeps coming back until you treat it at the source.

Find the source first

Before you clean anything, work out where the smell is coming from, because the fix is different for each cause:

• Pets. Dander, oils and the occasional accident are the most common couch smell of all.
• Spills. Milk, food and drinks that soaked in and were never fully cleaned will sour over time.
• Body oil and sweat. The arms, headrests and seat cushions collect skin oils that slowly turn stale.
• Moisture. A couch that stayed damp, from a spill, a humid room or an over-wet cleaning, grows mildew and smells musty.

Start with baking soda

Baking soda is the safest first step for any couch, because it is dry and works even on a solvent-only fabric. Vacuum the couch first, then sprinkle an even layer of baking soda over the whole thing, working it lightly into the cushions and seams with a soft brush. Leave it for an hour or two, or longer for a stronger smell, then vacuum it all up. It absorbs moisture and neutralizes odor at the same time, and for many everyday smells this alone does the job.

Getting pet and dog smell out

Pet odor is the most common couch smell there is, which is no surprise. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, nearly half of U.S. households own a dog and about a third own a cat, and all of them spend time on the couch. The oils and dander a dog leaves behind, and any accident a pet has, cannot be covered with fragrance. They have to be broken down.

After vacuuming and a baking-soda treatment, spot-treat any accidents or greasy patches with an enzyme cleaner on a water-safe fabric. The ASPCA recommends an enzymatic cleaner for pet odor because it digests the odor-causing residue at the source rather than masking it. Give it time to work, blot it out, and dry the area fully. Deep pet urine that has soaked into the cushions usually needs professional extraction, which is what our pet stain and odor removal service is for.

Getting a musty smell out

A musty smell is mildew, and mildew is caused by moisture that never dried out. Getting it out is really about getting the couch dry and keeping it that way. Air the couch out with good airflow and a little sunlight if you can, run a fan, and use baking soda to absorb the leftover odor. The bigger fix is your room. According to University of Florida IFAS Extension, most molds thrive above 60 percent relative humidity, and Florida averages around 74.5 percent, so a couch here can stay damp enough to smell musty for much of the year. Running the air conditioning or a dehumidifier to keep indoor humidity down is what stops the smell from coming back.

When the smell keeps coming back

If a smell returns after you have cleaned, it is almost always one of two things. Either the source was never fully treated, so odor that soaked deep into the cushions is still there, or the couch never dried out completely and moisture is feeding mildew. The fix is to treat the source thoroughly, reaching as deep as it went, and then dry the couch fully before anyone sits on it again. Chasing the smell with more fragrance only buys a few hours.

When to call a professional

Baking soda and an enzyme cleaner clear most everyday couch smells. It is worth calling a professional when the odor has soaked deep into the cushions and will not lift, when a pet has used the same spot again and again, or when a musty smell keeps returning even after you have dried and aired the couch. A professional hot-water extraction, on a water-safe fabric, reaches the odor and moisture trapped in the deeper padding that a surface treatment cannot.

At Pink Upholstery Cleaning we track couch odor to its source and dry the piece out completely for homes across Orlando, so the smell does not simply return a week later. Our couch and sofa cleaning service handles it from the source to a full dry, and every quote is free.