How do I get the curry smell out of my couch?

July 10, 2014 8:12 PM

My couch smells like curry after staying temporarily in a home that smells very strongly of curry. What's the best way to get the smell out? Is Febreeze going to work?

This is such an embarrassing question. We had a flood in our house and were able to save our (brand new, not even a week old) couch before water hit it, and our kind and generous neighbors let us keep it in their home for three weeks. I mean, these couldn't be nicer neighbors. Bless them. Awesome people for whom we will be forever grateful.

But DUDE. Their house smells so strongly of curry that my eyes watered when we dropped it off, so I kind of knew it would come home smelling like curry a little. But it is pretty intense. Can't nap on the couch without getting a face full of curry. Definitely smells like curry just sitting on it. It is a tweed (fabric) couch with wooden legs, and the cushion covers are not removable.

Is Febreeze going to cut it here? What do I need to do to get my couch smelling like nothing again? Is there a service I could hire that can get the smell out? I don't know that a regular upholstery shampoo will deodorize the cushions, wood, etc. Or am I wrong?

posted by juniperesque to Home & Garden (6 answers total)

Any upholstery cleaning service should offer a deep (steam) cleaning with deodorizer. You can also rent upholstery steamers yourself.
posted by erst at 8:29 PM on July 10, 2014 [1 favorite]

Before going the steamer route you can try dusting it all in a coating of baking soda and let sit overnight. Vacuum it up the next morning. This always seems to do the trick when my wool living room throw rug starts smelling like wet dogs if it's raining and I accidentally leave the window open.

You can also use Natures Miracle which is a pet spray, but it works on other odors too. It doesn't just mask them, it actually changes the stink enzymes. You can get it at Petco or most big box stores or grocery stores in the pet or cleaning aisle. Love that stuff. I use it on everything now, dogs be damned. Lol.

For the wood use Murphy's wood oil soap.
posted by floweredfish at 8:34 PM on July 10, 2014 [4 favorites]

When my cat had an epic waterfall of an accident on my bed, I mixed equal parts of water and white vinegar and sprayed that on my pillowtop mattress, then covered it liberally with baking soda. I vacuumed up the baking soda the next day. You'd never know that it had been soaked in cat urine - and that is a pretty persistent smell, so I'd wager that it will work for the curry. You may want to test this on an area that doesn't show first, but it shouldn't stain.

Shockingly, my bed also didn't smell like vinegar afterwards. It just smelled like nothing.
posted by sockermom at 8:47 PM on July 10, 2014 [1 favorite]

It is a tweed (fabric) couch with wooden legs, and the cushion covers are not removable.

Cover with baking soda, leave it for 24 hours, and hoover!
posted by DarlingBri at 12:19 AM on July 11, 2014

Nthing Baking Soda. It's super cheap and super effective. If you want something with a bit of fragrance, they make it for carpets.

I'd rather go just with regular, but if you like fragrance....
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 10:01 AM on July 11, 2014

I used Febreze on my husband's backpack when he left a banana in it so long that, when he eventually discovered it, he wondered why he had an eggplant in his bag. It was squishy and really gross, but Febreze took all the banana-y smell out.
posted by trillian at 11:48 AM on July 11, 2014