Recipe 48 of 100 · The Country Cleans Mix Book
Homemade Couch Odor Spray That Removes Smells
Not Just Covers Them
Couch smells like dog, smoke or old takeout even though it looks clean? Mix 1 cup cheap unflavored vodka with 1 cup distilled water in a fine mist bottle. Vacuum, pull the cushions, mist a light fog over the fabric, undersides and deck, and let it air dry 30 minutes. The alcohol carries the odor off as it evaporates. Not for silk, rayon or acetate.
What it fixesCouches that smell like dog, smoke, gym bag, or old takeout even though they look clean.
You need
- 1 cup cheap unflavored vodka (240 ml)
- 1 cup distilled water (240 ml)
- 10 drops lemon or lavender essential oil, optional
- 1 fine-mist spray bottle
Mix it
- Pour the vodka into the bottle.
- Add the distilled water.
- Add the essential oil if you want a scent. Skip it entirely if anyone in the house has asthma or a cat.
- Shake for ten seconds. Shake again before every use, oil separates.
Use it
- Vacuum the couch and pull the cushions out. Most of the smell lives underneath.
- Hold the bottle about a foot back and mist evenly across the fabric. You want a light even fog, not wet spots.
- Do the cushion undersides and the deck of the couch too.
- Leave the cushions standing on edge and let everything air dry for thirty minutes.
- Repeat weekly for maintenance, or twice in a row for a couch that has been sitting in a smoker's apartment.
Dale's noteVodka works because ethanol dissolves the odor molecules and then evaporates and carries them off, instead of just covering them with perfume like store sprays do. The cheapest plastic-bottle vodka on the shelf works exactly as well as the good stuff.
Don'tDo not spray this on silk, rayon, or acetate upholstery. Alcohol pulls the dye out of those fibers and leaves pale streaks, and no, they do not fade back. Patch test the back panel first if you are not sure what the fabric is.
This is 1 of 100 mixes in the Mix Book
Glass, wood, bathrooms, mold, kitchens, carpet, couches, laundry, floors, metal, odors and more. Every one with the same exact amounts, steps and warnings. A PDF in your email within a minute.
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